Slavery in Dubai

reply to post by drsmooth23

Oh yeah I like the way you think! Gift baskets are such a thoughtful gesture

Originally posted by KilgoreTrout
This is an endemic problem that goes way beyond Dubai using cheap migrant labour. Why do you think that corporations use overseas labour? Because it is cheap and because there are no labour laws to protect these 'employees'. Gap, Primark, Tesco and Nike, to name but a few, all use overseas labour, and most of that labour is exploited. Little girls who should be at school gaining an education are too busy sewing sequins onto throwaway clothing lines for a tuppence a pop and as long as we buy those clothes why should the corporations stop? We all play a part in this.

We have labour and employment laws to protect us, they don't, that is why they will and always will be exploited until we stop buying crap knowing that these people are being exploited. Very simple economics at play here.

A building is different of course, different employment practices but it is a cog in the same machine. We shouldn't though assume that we are better because we have laws to protect us from exploitation. Everytime we buy a Nike shirt or Gap Jeans we are saying it is okay. It is a vicious cycle and someone has to break it. At the very least we should all be seeking out 'ethical' products and ensuring that small children are not being used to ensure that we get everything on the cheap.

This all true and thanks so much for saying it,it's a worrisome trend for me that employee protections fought for so hard and for just these reasons are being eroded systematically here in the US

Originally posted by sir_chancealot
Ah, yes. For some of these posters, it's all ok as long as the slaves are treated just a BIT better, right?

New law: You cannot employ slave labor if you have not been a slave for a minimum of 5 years. There. Problem fixed.

Excellent rule! Adopted!

As for the shifting sand issue ,hahahahaha I can't wait until their ridiculous playing God plan ,turns on them all it's going to take is one decent storm ! I guess they don't watch the news and aren't aware of what happened to our gulf coast ! I know I've watched a few shows about this and all I could think was ,do you guys not know the parable about a house built on shifting sand?

Originally posted by AGENT_T

Originally posted by drsmooth23

buy American.

Great idea.. ermm.. what is it that Dubai makes that America can 'make instead'?

America doesnt buy anything from Dubai but used to buy large quantities of oil, since oil production has drastically reduced in Dubai they have moved to alternative source of income which is real estate and tourism. Rich people from west invest a larger sum of money in their real estate. Check out their major world class projects.
en.wikipedia.org...
en.wikipedia.org...

Ofcourse its all western money that helped making all those man made wonders.

You bet it is the_spark! there's also some of the things that have happened there recently like the imprisonment of some British tourists for having sex on a public beach. Now I'm not saying that is the worlds smartest move But how can you have a playground of decadence and then someone takes you up on it and Prison ? For twenty years? Don't vacation in Dubai!,wow that's just over the top. I say make stories like that into internet gift baskets ,and the tourists will stay away in droves

reply to post by invisiblewoman


I know!!! Have you been to Dubai?? I have worked there for a year at major petroleum company. Those janitors and other low level workers were from other nations. They are not Arabs. These workers have very sad stories to tell. Their average salary is 50 to 70 USD per month and they get a raise of $5 per year. They are all stuck there with a employment contract of minimum of 4 to 5 years. They cannot even go back to their countries to see their families. They cannot leave the work. Their passports are taken to employers custody on the day they start their employment. It goes on and on... I felt really bad for those people; Where I can only help them with generous tips which would atleast help them buying some gifts for their loved ones.

wow ,spark so you're a first had observer to this . You know what I find saddest of all?That there are so many people who are blind to the misery around them and don't care that their workers are suffering . I can't function if say one of my pets is sick or someone I know is having a crisis,what kind of disconnect enables these people to laugh when all this misery is all around them?

Originally posted by invisiblewoman
I can't function if say one of my pets is sick or someone I know is having a crisis,what kind of disconnect enables these people to laugh when all this misery is all around them?

be your own person. Live in the beauty of mother gaia and respect, while maintaining an unattachment to everything around you, and you will see that life is livable.

take care of you and yours. give to others after your own are fed and all the problems of "today" could have been avoided. If i see one "Buyout Exec" in Dubai I will FLIP MY LID.

Im not a socialist, but i feel it is a human rights issue with upper class citizens to help those who ARE INDEED truly in need of help. we in the middle to lower classes are also in the scope for helping these same individuals. Do we need both a WII and a 360?

Maybe not.

Any ideas on how to help those people over there?


[edit on 15-10-2008 by drsmooth23]

drsmooth ,I want to do keep my head when all around are losing theirs . Trouble is I realized some time ago that I can't sit around and complain about things like this without trying to make a difference .I cannot walk away from misery ,I'm physically incapable of doing that. I not saying I'm this great person because like I said I'm just incapable of being any other way.So I rescue things people animals, and occasionally plants! I think the only thing that can be done about slavery is to yell about it a lot. I found out a long time ago that contacting your representatives,is way more effective than just voting . So vote but as a citizen just know that your job isn't done there and pressure your Government to do their job . I know you're not going to believe this but it does make a difference. This site is a good place to start petition site

its so crazy that slavery isnt illegal, but Public displays of affection are illegal in Dubai.

news.aol.com...

totally you're so right ,I'm completely disappointed in the fact that none has called Cheney out on living and buying property there thus funding a slave state. What the hell kind of values does that represent ? I don't how how so many blue collar people here in the US don't connect dots like this ,if nothing else it ads up to their only values are greed and power. The trail of misery they leave isn't even a thought to them

What kind of animal is that in your picture???


reply to post by Snift

Originally posted by susieseahag
What kind of animal is that in your picture???


reply to post by Snift

 

Susie that's a Virginia opossum! They are North Americas only marsupial! They are very similar to a cuscus which is a tree dwelling marsupial from Indonesia,maybe you are familiar with them? Any way my husband and I rescue them ,and we always have on or two living with us . They're really the cutest things! O FYI the possum image in my avatar I painted