Yes, all these things are true and more, I learned over 20 years ago on a visit to the Kingdom. At the time, there was no constitution, the king and religious authorities were the law (there is a constitution today, but the king has the authority to pretty much do as he pleases). Things might have changed, but the veil of darkness is still there, I’m sure.
“Welcome to Dharan, Saudi Arabia. Please set your watches back 1500 years” was the joke.
Try reading a magazine article and the page with the final paragraphs were cut out, not by some previous reader, but by the censors who removed pages with alcohol advertising, scantily clad women selling beach vacations or even pictures of six petalled flowers (because the Israeli star of David has six points).
Sure, there is lots of money in this and other despotic countries — after all we gave it to them for their oil (low cost manufacturing in the case of China) and that’s why all these companies are there. Corporations will only have a moral compass to the extent their management, board, shareholders and customers have one.
