Ethics of having fun in Dubai

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^ You've never been in India for sure.

No, but I did watch "Slumdog Millionaire" once.

Jokes aside, without an explanation, your comment it just a meaningless jab. Amazingly, it is possible to know things about a place that one has never been. Nobody here has ever been to the moon - yet we can still know things about it. Partly by talking to people who have been there. While I may not have been to India, I have known more than my share of natives of India, and through them, I learn things. Also, books exist.

If you feel I'm mistaken in some way, I feel it would be far better demonstrated if you elaborated a bit further as to how you got from A to B, to come to your conclusion, or in what way your conclusion is meaningful.

Did India not live by a specific social hierarchy for hundreds of years? Even before the British invaded them? Are you suggesting that after hundreds of years of having specifically upper and lower class people, that just cos they took those rules off the books, they just magically stopped living that way? And this is hard to imagine in the place that still basically engages in slavery and human trafficking, as is being pointed out by the topic?

I would be delighted to know which part of my quoted comment so stretches the imagination that you'd react with skepticism of any sort.

Bland books, being informed from movie misrepresenting 1.5 billion people and observing immigrants living far away in north America isn't quite the same as lived experience and immersing yourself in a culture, speaking a language, eating food and understanding the connection between intergenerational history and the myriad of different communities more varied > all of Europe.

Last edited by cyberdora on 14 Feb 2026, 7:07 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Nice example where googling stuff doesn't make you an "expert"

Caste in India has nothing to do with slavery (as practiced in the Arab world). I recommend not throwing blanket statements about 1.5 billion people as it comes across as ignorant.

My understanding is Dubai modelled its economy on Singapore and Hong Kong which evolved as trading "entrepots". Idea of low taxation is not just to attract the best talent in the world but also creating conditions where cheap foreign labour and low tax attracts major foreign investors who help build the infrastructure of a trade and manufacturing hub.

And most expats learn to hide their income from their own governments using offshore bank accounts.

The caste system in India has its roots in the religion practiced there (Hinduism); it has origin in ancient times about 3000 years ago way before the British Colonialism, and has nothing to do with slavery.

One of their core beliefs goes like that: if you are a good person you are likely to be born in a higher caste in the next life. If you are born in a very poor family: you must have done something terrible in the previous life

Last edited by The_Face_of_Boo on 14 Feb 2026, 7:59 pm, edited 2 times in total.

^^^ this

^
Also it was of very few ancient civilizations that has NOT practiced slavery.

I really don't like this worldview. It just seems like victim-blaming of the poor, based on something that isn't even provable. It ends up being just a way of justifying social inequality rather than fixing it.

It's like here in the US, where we're taught to view the homeless as criminals (based on the fact that homelessness is criminalized) rather than victims, and that if we try to help them, they'll just take advantage of us by using our money to buy drugs. It's really f****d up, especially since basically everyone who isn't rich is one financial disaster away from being homeless themselves. It's always the people with the least power who are scapegoats for everything.

Last edited by EmpireHonda on 14 Feb 2026, 9:42 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Hinduism is a way of life, it does not compel one to believe. You can come and go as you please.
In any case we have no control over what happens to us anyway after we die.
Message in hinduism is if you don't like what you are hearing the change the channel or switch off the tv altogether and retreat into yourself.

Difference is millions of people don't go to countries with human rights violations for family holidays, expat jobs or vlogging. Dubai will continue attracting people regardless unless governments apply sanctions to the place.

So much false claims and misinformation here:

- Cheap/unjust labor contract is not slavery, it is still very exploitatory in nature but there’s a world difference between it and slavery. Even the Kafala system, while it is extremely disgusting and unfair, cannot be considered as slavery.
- Burj Khalifa plumping: Trucks needed at its early stage of construction.
- Dubai’s GDP relies on investments, banking and not just on tourism.
- “ Seriously, if someone is talking about how much they want to go to Dubai, I immediately assume that person is a sexual predator” - 89% of UAE inhabitants are expatriates, especially from nearby countries, you are insulting all those.

Human rights organizations describe kafala as modern-day slavery.

Examples of slavery-like abuses and forced labor conditions under the kafala system include:
Confiscation of passports and identity documents: This common practice prevents workers from leaving their jobs, changing employers, or returning to their home countries without the sponsor's consent.
Restricted movement and confinement: Workers, especially domestic workers, are often confined to the home or workplace and have their communication with the outside world restricted, including limited access to phones or the internet.
Withholding or non-payment of wages: Employers sometimes reduce or entirely withhold workers' salaries, leaving them in debt bondage and without the financial means to survive independently or leave.
Debt bondage: Workers often take out loans to pay recruitment fees, which are sometimes illegally passed on to them. This debt ties them to their employer and makes them vulnerable to further exploitation.
Abusive working and living conditions: Workers may be forced to work excessively long hours without rest days or time off, and face poor living conditions, including inadequate accommodation or food.
Physical, sexual, and psychological abuse: The system provides little legal protection, making workers vulnerable to physical violence, sexual abuse, and intimidation by their employers with little chance of legal repercussions.
Deception and contract substitution: Recruiters may use deception to enlist workers, promising good wages and conditions. Upon arrival, workers are often forced to sign new contracts with much poorer terms in a language they do not understand.
Lack of legal recourse: Workers who attempt to leave an abusive situation or report their employers to the police often face arrest and deportation for "absconding" or breaking their contract, rather than receiving protection.
Forced labor in specific sectors: Abuses have been widely reported in construction (notably around the Qatar 2022 World Cup), domestic work, hospitality, and security.
These practices create a situation where individuals are treated as commodities or objects, rather than employees with basic human and labor rights, leading to high rates of abuse, and in some cases, death.

^^^ Having posted the above
Kafala is nowhere near as bad as pre-colonial Arab slave trade which includes the transatlantic slave trade
the critical aspects that make kafala labelled slavery is (namely confiscating passport so the worker can't run away and non-payment so they are forced to work for nothing and physical/sexual abuse) while widespread is not the experience of all foreign workers and many employers are reasonable. However, the vulnerability of "guest workers" and potential for abuse under kafala remains an issue.

Or she's just more proud of and attached to her home than she is to America.

Given America's track record as of recent I can't blame someone for not wanting to associate with the s**thole.

The reality is America is no longer America. We're at a point where politicians are just blatantly violating the Constitution with complete impunity. We effectively have no rights as American citizens. Federal agents can gun us down for literally no reason, raid our homes for literally no reason, and there's no longer any legal recourse to stop them from doing that. The only way to avoid that is to keep a low profile and not let the government know that you exist. Every day we wake up knowing that a chance encounter with ICE could mean that we won't live to the end of the day.

I really want to just pack everything up and cross the Atlantic to live in Barcelona or some other easily accessible European city. I have the money to do it (it's like $1000 for a one-way trip on a cruise ship). It's just that it would destabilize my life and possibly make my situation worse. Like what if they turn me away, and I go back to the US, but can't get my current housing arrangement back? I'm kinda just waiting for the right moment, like when Trump starts straight-up arresting his critics and throwing them into ICE death camps... I think that would be grounds for requesting asylum. But I wouldn't be able to work in another country without a work visa (which is really hard to get), so I need to build up my online income streams first. I won't be able to work in Barcelona, but there's no rule against me running an online business while there.