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You're pretty heavily downvoted, but I agree to some extent. Really, I'm just pointing out how marked the trend has been. The line in the sand with Saudi has just blown away in the wind ... of perceived easy money.

I don't agree with the point on blacklisting countries. We boycotted South African goods back in the day when were were pushing for the fall of Apartheid. And I'll be boycotting Israeli goods right now. And I'd stop my boss working with Saudi if I could.

Bring the grey'ness ...




I’m sure I would have a different opinion if I was around for the consumer South Africa boycott and feeling like that succeeded

but nothing remotely close to that has occurred in 30 years and trade is more interlinked as not to really affect countries the same way even if it did occur

with that in mind, how I feel is that harboring that sentiment requires having major blind spots about all the other places you do business with. and the disdain is 100% misapplied to other people or your employer. For example, its one thing if its the Prince’s investment fund, its another thing if its a random private equity fund or private office in Saudi Arabia. The boycotter’s broad, cognitively negligent, generalizations seem far more insensitive than the person disregarding their complaints about human rights abuses.


So you don't feel it is an issue, when you say "prince fund bad, random fund good" that it is fraught with all kinds of ethical issues to bring money and knowhow into a country that has public beheadings?


ah exhibit A: and The West has public extrajudicial executions, as well as semi-public ones more formally

…where is your boycott of Silicon Valley? you don’t feel it is an ethical issue to bring money and knowhow into that country? which country passes your standard exactly


A laughable false equivalance, at least in the West you won't be executed for "crimes" such as apostasy and homosexuality.


why would you not do business with private organizations in one country but not the other over what the state enables?

why would you vilify other people choosing to do business with those private organizations based on their nexus?


Because there are levels of brutality, that's why! It doesn't just matter that you kill people, it also matter for what, and how!

And public beheadings are truly medieval and barbaric.




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