undefined | Better HN

undefined | Better HN

0 comments

You wrote the 40M comment!

keiferskiOP1y ago

Do I win a prize?

yes a lifetime ban! jk congrats!

tomp1y ago

Switzerland isn't the most progressive of countries (it only gave women the right to vote in 1971) but AFAIK you don't go to jail if you fuck a man in the ass, in contrast to UAE.

Not something that directly concerns me, but I'm personally more worried about restrictions on freedom of speech, but regardless not somewhere I'd be willing to live (I currently do live in Switzerland).

keiferskiOP1y ago

I used Switzerland as an example because of its financial industry. I wasn’t making any commentary on the culture. Presumably if the UAE is the Switzerland of the Middle East and Indian Ocean, it’s more adapted for that cultural environment and not for what Westerners are looking for.

These laws are also pretty much never enforced in UAE, as far as I understand.

The laws are enforced enough that the British government gives a warning about them for visitors to the UAE.

https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/united-arab-emirate...

itsoktocry1y ago

>These laws are also pretty much never enforced in UAE, as far as I understand.

They are never enforced, until you become a target, then you're arrested and charged with a list violations.

I mean, we do this too, to some degree. But this is naive.

Why so harsh example?

This one is better: a woman in UAE went to the doctor(gynecologist) and ended up in jail because doctor found out she is pregnant but not married.

zaphirplane1y ago

In America a black man driving a clean car can be pulled over and shot dead by police

In many American states a raped woman has to carry her rapist off spring to term

In America black people are significantly over represented in jails, poverty, illiteracy, single parent families.

I’m sure the 5 largest western democracies have similar issues

You should be worried about gay rights: some years ago, a French teenage boy was raped by some local men, and the authorities initially tried to get the boy to confess.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gang_rape has some more examples.

alwa1y ago

That would be 15-year-old Alexandre Robert, in 2007

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rape_of_Alexandre_Robert

A number of particularly nasty elements to the response—including that the authorities knew that one of the rapists carried HIV, and had previously segregated him in custody to prevent him spreading the virus to other prisoners, but they fabricated medical tests to the contrary and lied to the boy’s family.

tomp1y ago

Which country are you talking about?

Will the world's criminals start storing their money there or did you mean something else with Switzerland of the Middle East?

keiferskiOP1y ago

> The U.S. is the top destination for stashing money illegally, according to a new report from a pro-tax advocacy group.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/fact-coalition-report-us-money-...

trissylegs1y ago

Start? Uae is a place known for storing and moving shady money. Very few extradition treatys.

> Very few extradition treatys.

Which is also excellent not just for stealing, but also for murder. Half a year ago a German-born Pole killed a family in a car crash and run away to UAE.[0] They tried to extradit him but without success.

[0] https://bnnbreaking.com/breaking-news/accidents/suspected-fa...

I didn't know that, but I guess that's not too surprising.

zaphirplane1y ago

Uk is the world’s money laundering capital of the world

cess111y ago

Probably not, they'll still put the money in Luxembourg and Switzerland, but they can exchange gold and diamonds and stuff like that from shady dealings in Africa for money there.

If you look into it you'll find that it's a nice marketplace for israeli oligarchs running operations in DR Congo, e.g. for diamonds which Israel exports unexpected amounts of, and you'll also find that the Rapid Support Forces/Janjaweed in Sudan are buddies of the UAE. Unlike Switzerland the UAE is quite aggressive militarily, e.g. occupying part of Yemen.

I find your second paragraph especially interesting, do you have a source (e.g. a book) to get deeper into this?

ayewo1y ago

I just noticed the roll over to comment id 40000000 and came here, albeit 2 days late :)

lvl1021y ago

Think about the fact that education is pretty much free there. They even pay for Western institutions to set up satellite campuses. You’d think they should have the most educated and skilled labor in the world. At some point, you have to realize it’s cultural: they don’t want to work.

Funny you mention Switzerland because they have some of the highest skilled labor in the world.

keiferskiOP1y ago

You’re generalizing nearly 20 million people in Saudi Arabia alone. How this is even an acceptable thing to say on HN is beyond me.

The Gulf countries have more than enough expertise to manage and run their wealth for the foreseeable future. To say they’ll be poor again without oil is simply ignorant of the facts and probably related to the point I made above.

> To say they’ll be poor again without oil is simply ignorant

I wanted to reply "But Sheikh Mohammed himself said so!" but then trying to back up my claim I realized it's false. [0] It's amazing how many false things we take for granted just because they align with our world-view (and make a good story).

[O] https://factcheck.afp.com/sheikh-mohammed-did-not-say-great-...

oefrha1y ago

I won’t comment on culture but it is a fact that the majority of working Saudis work in bullshit government jobs where they basically collect paychecks for free, and actual labor is overwhelmingly performed by cheap migrant workers, no? Or is my information out of date? That’s an arrangement you can’t find anywhere outside the Gulf, to my knowledge.

lvl1021y ago

You’re right. It’s a gross generalization. But it is based on my personal and professional experience.

itsoktocry1y ago

>The Gulf countries have more than enough expertise to manage and run their wealth for the foreseeable future

There are all kinds of promises when times are good, that change as soon as the economic winds change. This project is more evidence of that.

itsoktocry1y ago

>You’re generalizing nearly 20 million people in Saudi Arabia alone

Yes, this is how you compare populations.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse