[jutrewag]

Not sure what you mean. The Middle East is making out like bandits, it makes a sizeable percentage of the GDP in south and East Asia etc. it just feels like you’re putting Norway on a pedestal for no particular reason.

[preommr]

The difference is where the money goes. You can point to any country that scores high on corruption index and go "well actually, these people made out like bandits".

[jutrewag]

The Middle East is very rich with a very high standard of living. A lot of those countries have no income tax and basically free medical and utilities. Much better than what Norway offers.

[whinenot]

Is the standard of living really much better in the Middle East than what Norway offers? I haven't seen any exposés on modern slavery in Norway like I have on the Middle East fiefdoms, but maybe those canny vikings are just better at hiding it?

[googlryas]

I think importantly, the slave-like people in eg Qatar are not Qataris, they're Filipinos, Indians, Bangladeshis, etc.

But, one wonders why a very rich society would need to resort to enslaving people in order to save a buck.

[avtar]

Greed.

Also, I’m not sure how much has changed since I left that part of the world, but for decades the blue collar workers (Filipinos, Indians, Pakistanis, etc.) were considered lower tier class in rich Gulf countries. Probably easier to exploit those who one feels are less deserving.

[jutrewag]

Also it’s a fraction of the Indian/Pakistanis etc. that are in a slave like situation. Almost all business owners are also Indian.

[ubercore]

I think the recently cancelled au pair system was as close as Norway got.

[whinenot]

I wasn't aware of the issue but after reading some news articles, it fully aligns with my impression of Norwegian living standards.