Freedom in an Autocratic Society

There are things that you take for granted when they are just a part of your everyday life. Holidays used to mean just another day off from work and I never gave a lot of thought to what they actually meant. As a child, I had no idea that not everyone celebrated Memorial Day or 4th of July or all the other holidays that were just a part of my growing up. Now that I am all grown up and have been exposed to more of the world, I realize that each country has their own celebration and each holiday has meaning that sometimes gets lost.

Our actual 4th of July was very uneventful because Tyson had to work, although we did get to celebrate Canada Day and US Independence Day earlier in the week. Tyson mentioned to me on the way to our workout that he felt more patriotic this 4th of July being away from the United States and living under another countries laws and rules. There are so many things we take for granted as US citizens because freedom has always existed in our lifetime. This doesn't mean that there aren't a million things that could be fixed or changed in our country, but at least the ideals of freedom are present and fought to be preserved.

In an autocratic society like the UAE, the ruling family is free to make laws and decrees without any checks or balances - basically they make the rules and you play by them. The interesting thing about the UAE is that the beloved ruler Sheikh Zayed who was the President of the UAE from 1971-2004 was a fairly liberal leader who allowed freedom of religion and was tolerant of other cultures. He was the one who had the vision to diversify the UAE away from oil and make the country an expat haven with consumerism, tourism and banking. He was smart enough to realize that in order to keep the people happy and the country thriving he had to share his wealth and give the people of his country basic necessities like free housing and utilities. His son Sheikh Khalifa took over as president following his fathers death and follows a lot of the same ideals as his father.

So what makes the autocratic UAE different from the democratic US? I can only speak from my experience and what others have told me. A common misconception is that I am censored from what happens in the outside world. The truth is that I can access any world news organizations websites, including the ones in the US. CNN International, Fox News and Al Jazeera are on all the cable networks. What is censored is the news coming from the UAE. It is against the law for journalist or anyone for that matter to critize the government or any member of the ruling family. Just last week a newspaper was suspended for 20 days when it published a story accusing the ruling family of Abu Dhabi of doping their race horses. People have been jailed because of what they write in their blogs if it critisizes the government or tries to expose certain practices. The government owned communication company and internet provider, Etisalat regularly blocks websites that they deem “morally harmful” and offensive to local “moral, social and cultural values”. These include any websites with the obvious like porn, but also websites like the photo site Flickr as well as blogs that critisize the UAE or it's practices, any website that talks about rerouting IP adresses, Skype, anti-Islam, and any sites that talk about accusations of human trafficking and so on. The truth is, I am not really inconvienced in my everyday life and it is rare that a website I want to access is blocked. I am thankful that some of my favorite sites that allow me to stay connected to my friends and family such as Blogspot and Facebook are not blocked, but I also know that this can change at anytime.

Another misconception I hear is that people think that I have to wear something that covers my face. The truth is that the Emirati women do wear a black robe (abaya) and head covering (shelah) and some of them cover thier faces and some do not. The men wear a white robe (disha dasha) with a head covering (hijab), but no one living or visiting the country is required to wear anything. I can wear whatever I want, as long as it is respectful and modest. I generally wear a lot of capri pants and short sleeves shirts and avoid shorts or tanktops unless I am in an expat hangout or hotel. There is no law about what you can or can't wear, it is just out of respect for their culture and to avoid being gawked at too much.

One major difference between here and the states is the blatant classism that exists in this country. You are treated differently and given different oppurtunties based on the color of your skin or the country you come from. At the top of the pyramid are UAE nationals, then westerners (UK, USA, Canada), and then down the line. At the bottom are people from Pakistan, India or the Phillipines and they make up the majority of laborers and housekeepers. Advertisements for employment include racial, gender and age preferences and many will ask what your citizenship is, your nationality, your gender, your marital status, how many kids you have and so on and it is perfectly acceptable for them to do so. People are paid different salaries doing the same work depending on where they are from. I am not saying that classism does not exist in the states, but you at least have to work a little harder at it to get away with it.

The one thing I find most amusing about the UAE is that the weather reported by news agencies never seem to match the weather that is seen on personal temperature gauges and thermometers. I have hear that if the weather is over 50 degrees celsius (122 F) all businesses must shut down and no one is allowed to do outside labor and therefore they stop reporting temperatures at 49.9. I haven't confirmed this yet, so it is still a rumor to me, but I have seen outside thermometers at 56 degrees celsius (133 F) and I have hear that in August it will get up to 61 (140+ F). I can't imagine that this would be allowed to continue in the states!

With all that said, my experience so far in the UAE has been a good one and I am learning a lot about different cultures and getting to meet people from all over the world. Just like any other country, there are good things and bad things that I see everyday. I could write novels about social injustices in both countries, but for all the bad there is also good. When it comes down to it, I am lucky to have been able to celebrate both US and Canadian independence with people from all over the world in the Middle East! Although I didn't get to see any fireworks, I did get to make new friends and make the world a little bit smaller!