Dubai's culture is so openly shallow and materialistic, and its social structure is so patently corrupt—its once-vaunted development and luxury are so directly built on the backs of slaves and oppressed people—that I must confess, I think it's the only place in the world that I think less of people for living in. China, Israel—of all the places whose governments I disapprove of, I would never morally judge someone simply for moving to that state or living in that city. But when I meet people, personally or in my business, who live in Dubai, I really do immediately think less of them as people. I am worse inclined to them; I find myself thinking it a moral failure to participate in the waste and vanity that that city produces. It's probably not fully defensible, but there you have it.
Do you not realize that you live in a country where slavery exists? Do you not find the expat culture in Dubai to be vapid and vile? If not, I'd be interested to hear why; everything I've read about Dubai indicates that is very much that way. If you do, then I don't know why you're surprised that someone might think less of you for choosing to live there.
It's not really all that different in North America is it? If you want to stretch the word slavery like that. We exploit people all over the world. I don't think it's fair to be that judgemental towards someone unless you cease to participate in any activities that facilitate someone somewhere being exploited.
It's completely different from North America; your hand-wavy equivocation is completely unwarranted. There aren't vast legions of workers brought into the US under false pretenses, who then have their passports confiscated and are forced to work for several years in excruciating conditions just to "earn" their freedom, simply to build a fake city designed to attract morally blind foreigners.
There are vast legions of workers working in conditions which are neither free nor pleasant to produce consumer goods for North American (and European) markets. They just happen to be conveniently overseas, conveniently one remove away from the multinational brands who contribute to the problem in their quest for ever-cheaper suppliers.
That's true; the vast legions of workers brought into the US under false pretenses, who then have their passports confiscated and are forced to work for several years in excruciating conditions just to "earn" their freedom, are there for other reasons entirely. I recommend reading this article series, "Diary of a Sex Slave":
Also, slavery is an economic institution, and so the benefits flow not only to the slaveholder but also his customers, and they can be exported internationally to customers like you; the costs are borne by the slaves.
Is economic slavery OK if you aren't making people do it? Every first world country relies on people basically working as slaves in some sense or another to function. People feel entitled to a decent well paying job, and don't want do "lower caste" jobs like cleaning.
I did a short stint in Abu Dhabi and it is presented to expats as a wonderful place and is so if you want it to be. Having known someone who worked for Al Jazeera and heard the stories that get supressed involving workers conditions it wiped the sheen right off.
I've read of many cases of maids being imprisoned in the households they serve, not paid, and sexually assaulted by the owner of the household. This is slavery without ambiguity.
The difference for me is that it's very easy to make a difference in this case: just don't go there. Don't spend money there, don't fuel the corruption and slavery and artificial prosperity of a crumbling city.
I don't argue against free trade with 3rd/2nd world nations -- in fact I think that our economic presence in China is a net beneficial thing over the years. However, that also means that I get to make a moral choice of where I spend my money. I don't believe that spending money in Dubai enriches anyone but the exploiters.
