fleh

i feel like a lot of the people hating on Dubai and UAE have never even been there. it’s like schadenfreude and i don’t really get it having lived there for close to a year some time ago, i’ll just say i think the fact that it exists has been a significant net stabilizing and significantly positive force for the region it’s created a legitimate financial and talent capital for the region, giving a place for capital to stay and multiply for wealthy middle easterners, as well as jobs for many of the talented people within the region who might have left otherwise, and ofc attracts world class expat expertise. lots of folks fly out of UAE every week and do work all over the region i also doubt you’d have seen the liberalization programs you see in places like KSA today had UAE not been there. just the fact that a place like it can exist there has forced everyone in the Gulf to step up their game yah, it’s not perfect and i’m def not a fanboy or anything. there’s a lot of fake “rise up out of the sand” stuff there which is gawdy and reminiscent of Vegas or similar, and there is too much emphasis on materialism in places like Dubai in particular. and the migrant labor brings legitimate concerns (though not unique to this region) but i don’t think the whole place deserves to be categorically panned for that i hope it can make a comeback the Middle East needs UAE and Dubai