So dramatic! Living in KSA's biggest cities isn't as far fetched from living per-say Doha, Abu Dhabi and Kuwait. You could live lavishly and peacefully no matter what your gender is. You could go from any of those cities to Dubai or Bahrain if you want freedom in your alcohol consumption. I lived in Santa Barbara, California for years but I never felt the huge difference in my life style at all when I go back to Riyadh. I have four sisters, two of whom are doctors and still thrive to achieve more in life.
Please be sensible before painting a whole community in such a horrific themes and accusations with out a clue.
I’m glad your sisters are living what you think is a good life. But please try and understand that I know exactly how life is for those without wealth or access in Saudia Arabia; seeing the attitudes that prevail amongst the ruling classes.
It’s a rather disassociative state one is in when one argues that because one subjectively sees people living ‘good lives’ in a certain place then everything in that place is really okay and all you have to do is ‘try’. Modern psychology is veering towards a selfish gene/mindset being more prevalent in certain individuals where empathy is completely lost, but this is still in its infancy. Not sure if it’s nature or whether nurture can knock the ‘I’m alright, Jack’ culture out of them.
Sadly, certainly anecdotally, you’re not alone in thinking like this. Freedom goes far beyond a good salary and drinking alcohol.
As a side note, I’ve also lived in Los Angeles recently (WeHo) and I didn’t like that either due to the massive disparity in wealth that was on shameful display. This is not an ‘east/west’ argument. It’s about fairness, equality, and having a good life for as many as is humanly possible.
But I’m pleased to say there were people that were working against it in West Hollywood and that’s the kind of thing we all should concentrate on; not defending oppressive regimes because they allow a little freedom here and there (as long as you’re rich and reasonably connected).
Again, I think we have to agree to disagree here but I would suggest you look deeper into the subject of what goes on in your country (and certainly more objectively) before you posit further defences regarding brutal rulers (even if your life is quite nice and you can get a drink).