Autoblog

I forgot it's the 1800s!

what is this "horseless carriage"?

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Oh sure, its the consumption of oil thats causing this.... the ONLY excuse in the book your kind can find...

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Why do people always make comments like this? You know there are plenty of white people who make money off oil too don't you? Who gives a rats ass where the money goes. In either case it's not ending up in your pocket.

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Chad- My thoughts exactly.

I don't see why people always bring up oil whenever a post regarding the middle east is made- there are, in fact, other ways to make money over there. And look how our own damn president made his fortune- you're quite right, it's not just the ME where people get rich from oil. Too often people forget this fact.

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While its true that "plenty of white people" make money off of oil, few of them are stupid enough to spend it like oil wasn't a finite commodity. What does the UAE - and the rest of the Middle East - think is going to happen in 20 years? When they can no longer afford to pay off their radicals? Region-wide civil war. I look forward to it, actually. In fact, I hope they have the bomb by then, because they'll most certainly do the rest of the world a huge favor and use it against each other.

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SURE THERE ARE PLENTY OF "WHITE PEOPLE WHO MAKE MONEY ON OIL"
--- the Bushes, Cheney, their friends, lobbyists, congressmen, local and state government officials, etc --- LOL

(the idea of contrasting Arabs and "white people" by Chad was a little unsettling, and maybe a bit racist, as well as leaving out all the other groups who profit.)

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You may want to know that Canada is the largest supplier of oil to the United States, so if you want to hate on non-Americans, hate Canada (although having oil is not a reason to hate people). Also, as is brought up in every Dubai related post, oil only makes up a small percentage of the GDP of the UAE, so not all this money is from oil. Even it was, why are you angry about that? Don't pretend that America and Europe have made all their money on just hard work, without having slavery, colonization and stealing of resources from other countries, and luckily having a lot of resources within their own countries. Moral of the story: Don't hate other people, especially without good reason.

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If you can pay for a 400,000 dollar car, then you can pay for 4 dollar gas. Get real.

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"There are plenty of good reasons to hate other people, and Middle Easterners have them in spades."
israel is a middle eastern country. u hate them too?
middle east is not a country. its a region. who exactly do u hate Mr. Hater?



"There isn't a country on this planet that wants them living in their society - they aren't welcomed anywhere."
except wen u stand to earn $$$$ from them.
I'll come to that comment again

"20 years from now when the oil runs out and/or demand drops, their entire culture will implode."
or maybe not. ur guess is as good as mine. 20 years is a long time.
(or maybe ur right, but certainly not about dubai. Also oil might last 50 yrs, especially in the case of iran saudia and iraq. on top of that, iran and qatar collectively have about 25% of the worlds natural gas)


"For those posters pointing to Dubai as an example of a diversified Mid-East economy, while its true that they lack oil, it doesn't mean they've successfully grown indigenous industries."
three of them: tourism, real estate, re-exports.
my family have businesses into of them: real estate and re-exporting cars

"In fact, its quite the opposite. They haven't achieved any of their diversification targets, save for tourism"
one step at a time

"and a few tightly held financial holding companies."
these "tightly held" companies have assets accross the WORLD estimated to be in more than a trillion, and are held by a few rich people. the money that the royals can recv in interest only is huge, yet the arabs actively invest it(saudi prince al waleed bin talal bin abdul aziz al saud is one example. hes a self made billionare worth 20b $ the last time i checked)
all this money enables the kings and shaikhs to reduce tatiffs and taxes attracting people, talent and trade to their country. less taxs make businesses more competitive. no wonder every company wants dubai to be its regional head quarters.
heres something to be jealous about(hate some more) we here in dubai pay income taxes


"Every one of their attempts to develop alternative industries has failed;"
logistics? hotel industry? nearly 50 5 star hoetels to be constructed on the Palm Jumeirah alone. and its the smallest of the trio!


"there's a reason they have to import intellectual capital and skilled labor - they are totally devoid of it naturally (2/3 of their population are not Dubai citizens)."
I'll quote you: "There isn't a country on this planet that wants them living in their society - they aren't welcomed anywhere"

the arabs are welcomed nowhere by no one. ppl just want to live in dubai for no reason.
as far as the intellectual argument is concerned, well UAE was formed only 30 years ago. do u expect them to change so fast? how long did it take the western world to modernize? it takes time to develop human resources(generations) to the level of countries like japan, germany and USA. u expect UAE to do so in one?
If they dont import skilled labour, you'll criticize them for developing so slow, now that they do import it and grow abnormally fast, you criticize them for doing so.
are u an american Mr. Lange? if so heres food for thought: a lot of innovation in usa is done by immigrants. American is a superpower. but the way things are going, it wont stay for long, except of course it continues to attract intellectual immigrants and succeds in keeping them


"So let their small elite buy gold-plated Veyrons and A380s"
they might be small in numbers, but percentage wise many of them are rich. the locals here are famous for being rich, and how wouldnt the? they get free housing, electricity and water. students are payed to learn. now ofcourse this last scheme will take time to produce results, u want them to finish school, and univerisity and their Phds. in one day?
it takes time. generation 1 will finish high school and some crap college, 2 will get better higher education(currently we are in this phase) and the third gen. will be doinf Phds by the dozen.
The change of mentality takes time.

"they'll need them as getaway vehicles when their populations revolt and start lopping off heads."
20 yrs is a loooooong time. your guess is as good as mine.

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With either(including Maybach) you can get whatever color you want if you have a color code.

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100% of what you see around you in Dubai is the result of oil money. Just because it as been laundered...er I mean invested in real estate doesn't change that fact. There is nothing in the middle east of any marketable value besides oil. Turning that cash into tourist attractions is their only hope short of invading a nation with trees.

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WELL SAID abboude92! Dont forget the countless rich europeans and russians who have moved there and taken up wealth as well. Biggest issue with Americans and the like is their narrow mindedness and ignorance! Its hard for them to see others succeed... Anything major happens in that region (middle east), its the OIL, its the OIL! Like their complaining about the VAST sources of coal in this country... just cause it cannot get them $$$$$$... like oil right now....

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Actually, Mid-East oil sheiks and rap stars have a lot in common: they both like to spend their money on garish trinkets and outlandish automobiles. There's a name for that kind of behavior...what was it now...

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