Dubai Forums Dubai Discussions Dubai Politics Talk

Interesting map from freedomhouse:

Only 2% of the ME population live in freedom:

http://freedomhouse.org/template.cfm?page=363&year=2010

Overall the region is doing the worst concerning freedom.

FD, Do you know why they cannot be free?

Berrin wrote:FD, Do you know why they cannot be free?

For every country/region within the ME different reasons may exist. Some might apply more than others for different countries:

-No middle class to speak of to pressure for freedoms.
-The constant blaming of others for everything.
-Islam doesnt allow for personal freedom

With what has happened in Tunisia there appears change is a coming!!! and there is a domino effect. Quaddafi has already sent a message to his countrymen - they say its out of fear that it could happen in Libya. So far there have been a few in Algeria who have set themselves on fire - seeing as how that started the Tunisia uprising. Cairo is bracing itself for a protest and Yemen has already started protesting. Apparently those countries where the people have been under the foot of dictators who have been in power for too long are finally showing the need for change.

It wasn't the "middle class" that brought about the uprising. It was the large number of people who were tired of being on the bottom rung.

-No middle class to speak of to pressure for freedoms.

You cannot manipulate the people of a nation if you allow middle class to emerge..
If middle class emerge I don’t think there can ever be an admin under single party dictatorships or kingdoms in the ME..
And why one nation(its people) would allow single party dictatorships and kingdoms are another question but I think it's pretty well explained here..
dubai-politics-talk/the-war-democracy-t42959.html
Well you can call it a war on islam if you like, since aforementioned countries are not in Middle East..

-The constant blaming of others for everything.

The rich bourgeoisie don’t complain about anything as they are under guardianship of the manipulating powers. So we are left with the poors but who can blame them for the power and wealth they don’t possess!. But kudos to those impoverished Tunisians where one of them had to burn himself to death in front of a governor’s office and the other by climbing to the power line for death, all- in protest of the poverty, the negligence of the dictatorship which ended over with the start of yasmin revolution. (Sorry that I have been a little sarcastic here, to demonstrate/show impotency, destitute and despair of the people of Tunisia)and in fact the people of Islam nations..

-Islam doesnt allow for personal freedom

it does but it has objectives that are should be considered for the full benefit of society as a whole rather than only freedoms based on individual grounds, hence why there is no absolute freedom..
In reality FD there is no absolute freedom even in most democratic nations, you know you can reflect on this further in all conscience..

Berrin wrote:In reality FD there is no absolute freedom even in most democratic nations, you know you can reflect on this further in all conscience..

Freedom is a gliding scale. Arab countries being on the worse end.

Freedom is a gliding scale.

Depends on what that freedom is..As I said there is no "absolute freedom"..
i.e..sometimes what is not meant to be a personal freedom can be allowed to exist until it becomes a collective attitude for destruction of a society or a nation as a whole..
i.e homosexuality..just imagine the situation where there are not many man left to marry ladies that looking for a heterosexual relationships, marriages and legitimate kids etc..

Berrin wrote:i.e homosexuality..just imagine the situation where there are not many man left to marry ladies that looking for a heterosexual relationships, marriages and legitimate kids etc..

Imagine a vast portion of marriages is between cousins.

You're getting deperate now FD ..There is nothing in islam that enforces marriage between cousins, but if you wish to do so, there is nothing in the way to stop, until of course it is clearly evident that too many successive inter marriages result in emergence of mutated gene pairs for genetic disorders that threatens the health of nation..i.e.continuation of family,human breed..
in this case the principles of sharia will jump in and ban inter marriages until a future date when things are back in track again...

1. The right to the protection of life.
2. The right to the protection of family.
3. The right to the protection of education.
4. The right to the protection of religion.
5. The right to the protection of property (access to resources).
6. The right to the protection of human dignity.

I told you that there was no absolute freedom FD..didn't I eh!

Flying Dutchman wrote:

Berrin wrote:i.e homosexuality..just imagine the situation where there are not many man left to marry ladies that looking for a heterosexual relationships, marriages and legitimate kids etc..

Imagine a vast portion of marriages is between cousins.

Yes this is the reason for the wide spread mental retardation present in the GCC countries