Quote:
Originally Posted by BlackCrayon
well its illegal to show affection in public, illegal to possess many kinds of painkillers, porn is illegal..."recommendations" to dress conservatively, sex outside of marriage is illegal even living with someone of the opposite sex without being married is illegal, taking photos of certain buildings is illegal...etc
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No doubt, you've never spent more than a week in Dubai and you've probably watched too many news stories on extreme cases or those designed to set an example where stupid foreigners didn't respect the local culture.
Many of these are cultural laws, there to protect a conservative culture but in practice are not strictly enforced. However, Dubai is just a tiny part of the country (UAE) and its mostly foreigners so its not a good example. I've never felt more free than in Dubai and I can assure you, its the same with the over 90% expat population.
Is the UAE as a whole less free than the USA?
It's difficult to argue. In some ways it may be but in other ways definitely not. It depends what is important to you but after living in Dubai, I can tell you that my attention has never been drawn to these things and I've never felt more free than in Dubai. So in terms of what matters, there is plenty of freedom.