[brthsim]

Anyone who says "We certainly have a right to raise [...] (issues with) racism, human rights abuse, etc." and immediately follows with "That being said however", is automatically not entitled to an opinion. You're clearly biased and enfatuated with the richness of the country and easy access to slavery and are more than content of looking the other way.

[_hhkg]

I don’t think that’s fair. You don’t know why I’m here and calling me an entitled prick is laughable because of your base assumptions. Maybe I’m here for humanitarian reasons and am trying to improve the lives of many.

I’m not infatuated by anything, I’m simply raising a nuanced opinion about a country that has many faults, but has some successes which are never acknowledged. And that’s fine.

Just thought it might be interesting to hear a viewpoint from someone who actually lives here rather than blindly reads the news and maybe has visited a few times. Labeling me and calling me names doesn’t help or bring anything useful to the conversation. If you can’t name a single positive thing the UAE has done, then to me, maybe it’s worth it to do some further investigation on the topic.

[WilTimSon]

That's a lot of maybes. You said in your initial comment that you fight racism and slavery there every day, so... are you there on humanitarian reasons? Part of an NGO?

[bitcharmer]

No, it's entirely fair. You just refuse to appreciate the dissonance between the country that lets you live a comfy life and actual evil that happens there on daily basis.

There was so much media coverage about human rights violations and slavery you'd have to put in a lot of effort to not see it.

[_hhkg]

I appreciate the dissonance just fine. I live here and face it every day when actually interacting with people. We go out of our way to support them as much as we can (buying furniture and things for those who cannot afford it, proving financial and emotional support, and just hanging out with them).

As I’ve mentioned now several times, I’m not blind to it. The UAE has engaged in many poorly made decisions, however I was simply trying to engage in some conversation about something the western media doesn’t often talk about - the positive things the UAE does. If your response to that is, “the UAE is entirely negative, why engage in anything positive”, then I’d suggest seeking information on the positive things the country has done for others. Maybe it’ll broaden your horizon and bring some nuance. I’d state more positives here, but I keep getting called names, so I won’t list any more positives.

[tasha0663]

Opinions will exist with or without your permission. There's no entitlement about it, and you would have no standing to decide it if there was. "Automatically not entitled to an opinion" is a dog whistle for fascism.

[brynx97]

Well said. They shield themselves well, and they package it up nicely for business interests and tourists to tolerate it or never experience problematic situations.

[thematrixturtle]

By this logic, your own opinions are invalid, since as an American you clearly personally condone every social evil in that country.

[CJefferson]

Does the same apply to America? Plenty of racism, people shot in their homes by police, Guantanamo Bay still open.

[throw__away7391]

I really think an educational program is needed to take people from the US to visit some non-western countries with "human rights issues" and see what this actually looks like for a bit to cure this kind of whataboutism deflections that crop up anytime criticisms are made of conditions for people in foreign countries.

[logicchains]

>take people from the US to visit some non-western countries with "human rights issues" and see what this actually looks like for a bit

I'm sure once they come to Dubai they'll be horrified how the streets aren't covered in human shit and used needles.

[throw__away7391]

I almost feel like you're proving my point. Try going outside the tourist districts. Nobody is complaining that the streets of downtown Dubai are dirty, they're complaining that they're being cleaned by slave labor.