I find this whole discourse incredily interesting. its not so much what people are saying but lies behind the comments. For example, there lurks behind the discussion that "western" societies do not condone such segreation and that Qatar is violating universal principles of human rights by segregating the bachelors. Wwell as Joan Rivers would say GET REAL PEOPLE. Whole scale violations of human rights are going on all across the world: from the secret detention centers in Eastern Europe, to the "Indian" reservations across America and Canada, to the blockage in Gaza, I could fill the site with examples- indiscriminately from one end of the world to the other. The point is there ARE NO universal standards of human rights as standards can not be diabolical- by their nature they have to be transparent and uniform. The fact is Qatar is a lot more transparent about its violations on human dignity, I won't even use the term human rights, than many other countries. It is this transparency that we find so unnerving, rather than the fact that the violations themselves are occuring.
The fact is we benefit from these violations, we the privileged who use internet and sit at home in air conditioned rooms on our vacations. Writing letters to carrefour or whoever else, is a lovely thought, but will do very littlte good. These companies themselves are the greatets perpretrators of human rights violations. With the biopolitics things get blown up in the morning and rebuilt in the evening with the same money.
Someone made the point that this is an issue of buying power and capitalism and it is partly true, though only partly. Was it Malcolm X who said that money is color blind. Yet in the end is the world where everyone has money, the objective we are looking for? or is the objective to challenge how we establish value- of scoieites and of people themselves.
People need to take off their blinkers and stop seeing things through the lenses power tells us to see them. Our gated communities: here in Qatar, in America, and yes in india too, separate us from the reality that we abuse ourselves by ignoring the other. We become less that we are capable of being.
I find this whole discourse incredily interesting. its not so much what people are saying but lies behind the comments. For example, there lurks behind the discussion that "western" societies do not condone such segreation and that Qatar is violating universal principles of human rights by segregating the bachelors. Wwell as Joan Rivers would say GET REAL PEOPLE. Whole scale violations of human rights are going on all across the world: from the secret detention centers in Eastern Europe, to the "Indian" reservations across America and Canada, to the blockage in Gaza, I could fill the site with examples- indiscriminately from one end of the world to the other. The point is there ARE NO universal standards of human rights as standards can not be diabolical- by their nature they have to be transparent and uniform. The fact is Qatar is a lot more transparent about its violations on human dignity, I won't even use the term human rights, than many other countries. It is this transparency that we find so unnerving, rather than the fact that the violations themselves are occuring.
The fact is we benefit from these violations, we the privileged who use internet and sit at home in air conditioned rooms on our vacations. Writing letters to carrefour or whoever else, is a lovely thought, but will do very littlte good. These companies themselves are the greatets perpretrators of human rights violations. With the biopolitics things get blown up in the morning and rebuilt in the evening with the same money.
Someone made the point that this is an issue of buying power and capitalism and it is partly true, though only partly. Was it Malcolm X who said that money is color blind. Yet in the end is the world where everyone has money, the objective we are looking for? or is the objective to challenge how we establish value- of scoieites and of people themselves.
People need to take off their blinkers and stop seeing things through the lenses power tells us to see them. Our gated communities: here in Qatar, in America, and yes in india too, separate us from the reality that we abuse ourselves by ignoring the other. We become less that we are capable of being.