the other side of the mirror

I used to be liberal. I used to go to rallies, protests, events. I waved a coathanger at the first pro-choice rally in DC, high on the shoulders of a friend of mine, high on the sheer mass of people there to be passionate about something. (and don't think you know my views on abortion because of this. you don't. Though I will give you one hint: I believe in choice)

I got older. I decided that I couldn't change the world with protest. I could only teach my child, and the children around me, to be kind, to be compassionate, to be considerate. I'm on a personal crusade for manners, now. I'm a centrist. I believe in family, and the power of humanity to strive always to be better. I don't believe the politics of left or right to be correct. I don't follow a party line.

Now I live in Dubai. There are no politics. The monarchy tells us what to do. If we choose not to do it, fine, we can go home. Now, for someone like me -- white, female, happy not to drink or experiment in a life of crime beyond taking a few extra Splenda packets from Caribou -- this just isn't a problem. I don't have a mother and father, a wife and three kids, my sister's oldest boy, all depending on me.

What Dubai doesn't want you to focus on is the fact that this city-state, like all great nations, is founded upon slave labour. And the real kicker? these slaves are paying brokers back in their native India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Indonesia, to be put into bondage. These workers make a pittance, pay for their own lodging and food, live 15 to a flat, and work through the summer when I get to run away to cooler climes. They make $200 - $400 a month and owe thousands of dollars to these brokers back home. They can't make ends meet. Of course they are rioting. They aren't paid much... but then again, they aren't actually paid, most of the time. The companies tie up the workers' pay for months. And if they don't like it? they can go home. Striking is illegal. These men haven't got the money for legal fees, so due process is duly denied. In the interest of 'national security', the development companies are hiring scabs to continue working. What are these displaced workers going to do? They can't go home. they can't work for another company. They are stuck.

When the Burj Dubai is finished, are we going to look at it in awe? Or are we going to think of the labourers who lost their lives due to shoddy safety standards, heat stroke, and heartbreak? Are our manicures and days on the beach really worth this? Dubai has the potential to be a miracle nation, and the wonders going up all around us are staggering. I love it here. I won't join the work strikes in solidarity. I don't want to be kicked out of the country. I toe the ine.

Had an evening out with a lovely couple on Saturday. He's an urban planner, and regaled me with stories of getting repeatedly fired from the same company for encouraging the Mexican workers to unite and strike for better wages and conditions. The owner of the company kept hiring him back. Street theatre, I suppose. I wonder how this man, new to Dubai, is going to survive working with his crews. He's just balls to the walls crazy enough to try to organize them.

I do what I can. I pay my babysitter well, and always a little bit extra. I don't haggle very well in the shops. If it's a good price, and I can afford it, and it costs less than it might if i were home... I pay. I leave a small tip in the coffee shop for favorite servers. I give alms to folks on the street. Some expats tell me I shouldn't treat these people well, they will only take advantage of me and think me weak.

from this article on MSNBC:

"We're here to earn money, not for happiness," Amin said. "No one comes to this country for happiness."

Animosity on the rise
Most of the hundreds of thousands of low-skilled workers are from India and other South Asian countries, with strong union traditions. Episodes of unrest began last year over living conditions, low pay and hazardous workplaces. At Amin's site, two Indian painters had died a few days before, when ropes holding their platform aloft snapped. In the worst outburst, as many as 3,000 workers rioted in March at the site of Burj Dubai, wrecking cars, computers and construction equipment.

Amin and Miah's complaints echoed others: The company seized their passports when they entered the country, their pay comes months late, complaints can lead to deportation and they make too little to offset the $175 they pay every month for rent and food.

"The law doesn't protect us," Miah said. "The government looks after the companies, and the companies don't care about us."