six weeks ago I spent 5 days in Dubai. I love Arab countries. I worked in Oman for 4 months about 20 years ago.

Dubai was an eye-opener. It is really unbelievable and I wasn't expecting the almost futuristic city I encountered.

it's not necessarily my style- 100s of glittering gleaming buildings and hotels to die for. Amazing shopping plazas everywhere. So hot you really spend most time hopping from one air-con building to the next.

In any high up building you look out and realise you are surrounded by desert. Not a natural tree to be seen or strip of grass.

BUT : 23 years ago it was basically a shanty town. It is a miracle city. Like Las Vegas but Vegas took nearly 100 years to build with Mafia money.

How did they do it Dubai ? : by retaining ownership of every single asset that the country has. Arabs are light years ahead of us in many ways.

They do not sell off their natural assets to every carpetbagger at knock down prices. Dubai is a great example of how government can actually do it far far better than private corporations. ( as is Singapore- very similar)
Arabs always pay top dollar to get the best private corps to build things for them- but they retain ownership of the assets always.

## I had to visit someone in a public hospital. Unbelievable- modern with superb equipment making the NHS like very sick.

Tories, New Labour have sold off Britain and it's a f**king scam.

comrade hedda wrote:
New Labour have sold off Britain and it's a f**king scam.

It's very easy when you are awash with (oil) money.

WHERE would the dole money have come from if assets had not been sold to raise cash?

Thats the question the loonies cannot answer !

as usual you entirely miss the point and reduce everything to another dole recipient moan.

Britain was once the wealthiest country ever dreamed off.

and that is why Tories should run corner grocer stores as Maggie's dad used to. Difficult to fuck up as she did a country (aided by new Labour)

hedda wrote:
Britain was once the wealthiest country ever dreamed off

.... then the peasants got the vote (and we had to pander to them).

Everyone should have the right to vote, even prisoners and dolers.

I agree.

I suggest it should be in direct proportion to the contribution made ....
no contribution = no votes (Richard Branson would get about 3,000,000 votes as he single handedly keeps a couple of hospitals going and pays for several dolers !)

There's certainly no reason why people on the dole should be able to vote. Most people have be out of a job or between jobs at some point...

Anon wrote:
There's certainly no reason why people on the dole should be able to vote. Most people have be out of a job or between jobs at some point...

wacky comment.

another miracle of modern development without the oil but a country that still owns it's assets and has a high standard of living : Norway.

and this is the point : Australia has possibly the highest living standard in the world including the best health system etc etc...but 88% of it's assets have been flogged off to foreign owned corps or given away to dunderheads like Gina Rinehart.

All that profit goes directly overseas. Yet even on the pittance retained we do well. Imagine if the country owned the lot !!!

privatization is the biggest scam of them all (closely followed by "free trade")
nationalise, nationalise nationalise

The problem I have with nationalisation, Hedda, is that the people running it then tend to be of such inferior quality. Whilst greed and ambition are such unattractive qualities they do tend to provoke better management in practise.

shurley shome mishtake..

all the asssets sold off by Noo Labour are run by former public servants.

you are perpetuating one of the greatest myths of modern times that private enterprise does it better.

China which will outstrip us all within 20 years shows the opposite.

You are also mis-reading the core of the comment : Arab countries (those not destroyed or invaded by the US/UK) hire the best to do the work for them and pay them top dollar.

just as the British Empire was built by Britain using privateers, the army etc etc

But in the end they (and the people) own the assets.

Again- Singapore another great example.

Jesus christ- it's not rocket science.

## cue ITK with some comment about dole scroungers

hedda wrote:
China which will outstrip us all within 20 years shows the opposite.

YES - because they never let the peasants outstrip their station, did they ?

Try telling the Chinese that you want a (loony) Union, and "workers rights" !!!! ..... LOL !