3 ms·

To not assume complete stupidity, I'd imagine the Saudi's are looking at Dubai's success in locking in foreign capital into real-estate speculation, and want to

by mihaic 4y ago

To not assume complete stupidity, I'd imagine the Saudi's are looking at Dubai's success in locking in foreign capital into real-estate speculation, and want to imitate that. I'm sure they're hoping to stir up interest and lock in as much speculative commitment before anything is done and are treating it like the world is their Softbank. Doing this while being surrounded by yes-men and not being grounded in reality is a recipe for disaster, I just hope they don't burn some pension fund money along the way. I for one don't wish to see Megacity Wahid built, but I hope they burn as much money as possible along the way.

webmobdev 4y ago
Saudi Arabia has a looooong way to go before they can imitate Dubai's (or even the whole of UAE's success). One of the key to Dubai's success is that it's cultural climate is not restrictive and not as repressive as other countries of the middle-east (even the other emirates in UAE are way more open then Saudi Arabia). Compare that with the outlook of Saudi Arabia who think that women need to be segregated into their own city to be allowed to work ( https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/aug/12/saudi-arabia-city-women-workers https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/aug/12/saudi-arabia-c... )! Even muslims from many asian countries that make up the majority of expats working in the middle-east find Saudi Arabia's version of "Islamic Society" repressive (why wouldn't they - imagine not allowing muslim women to work because of their warped understanding of Islam, when the Islamic Prophet's first wife was an international business women who was once also his boss - https://www.news18.com/news/opinion/not-just-a-footnote-prophet-muhammads-first-wife-was-a-successful-businesswoman-who-paid-to-free-slaves-3497774.html https://www.news18.com/news/opinion/not-just-a-footnote-prop... !). Speaking anecdotally, I know many who work in the middle-east, who have declined to work in Saudi Arabia despite better pay, simply because they are concerned about the cultural environment of Saudi.
- erenyeager 4y ago
  Saudi arabia is in a transitional era right now, if you visited post-covid you would see the changes occurring. This is not only because of MBS but he is a factor. I think it is hard to explain the workings of a society to one who has not visited. To give you an example, on a recent pilgrimage a few months ago, in the Holy Cities of Makkah and Madina, I saw both women and male workers. To be sure there are still many issues (labor notwithstanding), but I'm told the country post-covid is different than pre-covid. Anyways, we can also say a lot about terrible things happening in the US and Europe, but with Saudi Arabia specifically I think people put misplaced hate on things when there are in reality problems everywhere.

by mihaic 4y ago

webmobdev 4y ago

Saudi Arabia has a looooong way to go before they can imitate Dubai's (or even the whole of UAE's success). One of the key to Dubai's success is that it's cultural climate is not restrictive and not as repressive as other countries of the middle-east (even the other emirates in UAE are way more open then Saudi Arabia). Compare that with the outlook of Saudi Arabia who think that women need to be segregated into their own city to be allowed to work ( https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/aug/12/saudi-arabia-city-women-workers https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/aug/12/saudi-arabia-c... )! Even muslims from many asian countries that make up the majority of expats working in the middle-east find Saudi Arabia's version of "Islamic Society" repressive (why wouldn't they - imagine not allowing muslim women to work because of their warped understanding of Islam, when the Islamic Prophet's first wife was an international business women who was once also his boss - https://www.news18.com/news/opinion/not-just-a-footnote-prophet-muhammads-first-wife-was-a-successful-businesswoman-who-paid-to-free-slaves-3497774.html https://www.news18.com/news/opinion/not-just-a-footnote-prop... !). Speaking anecdotally, I know many who work in the middle-east, who have declined to work in Saudi Arabia despite better pay, simply because they are concerned about the cultural environment of Saudi.

erenyeager 4y ago
Saudi arabia is in a transitional era right now, if you visited post-covid you would see the changes occurring. This is not only because of MBS but he is a factor. I think it is hard to explain the workings of a society to one who has not visited. To give you an example, on a recent pilgrimage a few months ago, in the Holy Cities of Makkah and Madina, I saw both women and male workers. To be sure there are still many issues (labor notwithstanding), but I'm told the country post-covid is different than pre-covid. Anyways, we can also say a lot about terrible things happening in the US and Europe, but with Saudi Arabia specifically I think people put misplaced hate on things when there are in reality problems everywhere.