[lvl102]

Think about the fact that education is pretty much free there. They even pay for Western institutions to set up satellite campuses. You’d think they should have the most educated and skilled labor in the world. At some point, you have to realize it’s cultural: they don’t want to work.

Funny you mention Switzerland because they have some of the highest skilled labor in the world.

[keiferski]

You’re generalizing nearly 20 million people in Saudi Arabia alone. How this is even an acceptable thing to say on HN is beyond me.

The Gulf countries have more than enough expertise to manage and run their wealth for the foreseeable future. To say they’ll be poor again without oil is simply ignorant of the facts and probably related to the point I made above.

[benterix]

> To say they’ll be poor again without oil is simply ignorant

I wanted to reply "But Sheikh Mohammed himself said so!" but then trying to back up my claim I realized it's false. [0] It's amazing how many false things we take for granted just because they align with our world-view (and make a good story).

[O] https://factcheck.afp.com/sheikh-mohammed-did-not-say-great-...

[oefrha]

I won’t comment on culture but it is a fact that the majority of working Saudis work in bullshit government jobs where they basically collect paychecks for free, and actual labor is overwhelmingly performed by cheap migrant workers, no? Or is my information out of date? That’s an arrangement you can’t find anywhere outside the Gulf, to my knowledge.

[lvl102]

You’re right. It’s a gross generalization. But it is based on my personal and professional experience.

[itsoktocry]

>The Gulf countries have more than enough expertise to manage and run their wealth for the foreseeable future

There are all kinds of promises when times are good, that change as soon as the economic winds change. This project is more evidence of that.

[itsoktocry]

>You’re generalizing nearly 20 million people in Saudi Arabia alone

Yes, this is how you compare populations.