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Re:Laid-Off Americans, Required to Zip Lips on Way Out, Grow... by dominotw on Saturday June 11, 2016 @06:07PM (#11885573)
I am an immigrant living in the united states. I still can't believe my luck that I get to live in this paradise on earth called USA. I also feel guilty that got this incredible opportunity while much of my extended family and friends rot in third world hell holes waiting for their lives to be over quickly so they can be put out of their misery.

One of my uncle works as day laborer in dubai. He works 14 hr days of hard labor in extreme heat and lives in a some shanty where he has to share a bathroom( hole in the ground) with 14-20 other people. His passport got confiscated by his "owners" as soon as he landed there and was put under some sort of draconian "contract" where they get to work him to death, work place deaths are extremely common and no one cares if its an immigrant. In native's eyes they are basically slaves with no rights. You can see videos online where the 'owners' beat the shit out of them for real or imagined slights. I went to a restaurant once in Dubai with my uncle, all the immigrants were separated out into a different room with no air conditioning and that is where immigrants were supposed to sit you could never eat with locals. I've also heard of many second-hand stories where women who go there to be be domestic help get sexually and physically abused for years. And shocking part is that he does all this voluntarily for the most part even though he never gets to see his family and kids and gets to have sex only when he goes back every 4-5 yrs. We had houses on the our street referred to as 'dubai houses' meaning houses build with money made in dubai, you can feel the eerie sadness when you look at a house. I can go on forever but I think you get the idea.

Seeing yourself as an individual and as a human being is privilege inaccessible to most people in countries like mine. Even Our philosophical frameworks and belief systems are designed to explain away and make sense of unbearable misery of life with concepts like karma and preordination.

Re:Laid-Off Americans, Required to Zip Lips on Way Out, Grow... by solipsism on Saturday June 11, 2016 @09:34PM (#11886224)
Never thought of karma that way (as a westerner with no particular exposure to it). I always thought of it as, "Do good now and you'll be paid for it later."

"You are where you are because you deserve it, due to what happened in past lives" is a much sadder message. Good for societal stability perhaps, but horrible for ideas like individualism and self determination.

Re:Laid-Off Americans, Required to Zip Lips on Way Out, Grow... by sangnoir on Saturday June 11, 2016 @06:23PM (#11885638)
> I also feel guilty that got this incredible opportunity while much of my extended family and friends rot in third world hell holes waiting for their lives to be over quickly so they can be put out of their misery

Goodness - I know it's probably hyperbole, but what kind of fucked-up country do you come from?

Re:Laid-Off Americans, Required to Zip Lips on Way Out, Grow... by yourapostasy on Saturday June 11, 2016 @08:11PM (#11886024)
India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh are common labor pools that many Mid East nations draw upon for physical laborers. It isn't just Dubai, though they are among the most egregious; you'll see these arrangements in nations like Saudi Arabia as well, even though it is not nearly as well-publicized.
Re:Laid-Off Americans, Required to Zip Lips on Way Out, Grow... by nopzor on Saturday June 11, 2016 @09:55PM (#11886280)
It's not just middle eastern countries.

Many developed countries in Asia (eg Singapore) use foreign labor for jobs that "no Singaporean would do". This includes jobs like construction.

Unlike the U.S., these foreign workers are truly 2nd class citizens. Often passports are confiscated, and the idea that they'd ever start a life or family in their host country is completely off the table.

It is official policy that they can be paid less than local workers for the same job, and have far fewer legal protections.

I don't think it's black and white though. Many of these foreign workers would be worse off in their home country.

It still rubs me the wrong way. For all its flaws, I still like the U.S. System better.

Re:Laid-Off Americans, Required to Zip Lips on Way Out, Grow... by mschuster91 on Saturday June 11, 2016 @07:09PM (#11885820)
Probably India or Pakistan, common sources of Dubai slave labor.
Re:Laid-Off Americans, Required to Zip Lips on Way Out, Grow... by JorgeGT on Saturday June 11, 2016 @07:19PM (#11885858)
I'm guessing India because of the karma comment. What here in HN is a number on your profile, there it is a promise of a better future (but maybe in the next life).
Re:Laid-Off Americans, Required to Zip Lips on Way Out, Grow... by shoo on Saturday June 11, 2016 @07:39PM (#11885922)
Karma is also an explanation/justification of why your current life isn't so good - you're making amends for something bad you did in a previous life.
Re:Laid-Off Americans, Required to Zip Lips on Way Out, Grow... by tamana on Sunday June 12, 2016 @01:25AM (#11886776)
A rationalization.
Re:Laid-Off Americans, Required to Zip Lips on Way Out, Grow... by tamana on Sunday June 12, 2016 @01:24AM (#11886775)
A false promise.
Re:Laid-Off Americans, Required to Zip Lips on Way Out, Grow... by tamana on Sunday June 12, 2016 @01:23AM (#11886773)
What's the point? Why have children if one's best opportunity to support them is to go be a slave in Dubai?