[driftless2]

I have a bro-in-law who worked in a Arab-Muslim country in the Mideast. He said the locals only came in to pick up their paychecks which were guaranteed by the government. All the real work was done by non-Muslim foreigners. Needless to say, he is very contemptuous of the work ethic of Muslims.

I should add I don't particularly agree with a blanket statement about their work ethic. I'm sure there are millions of Muslims around the world who are hard workers. But when people anywhere are coddled by the state, they'll do as little work as they possibly can. That holds true for many people in this country who aren't Muslims.

[Tax-chick]

I'm sure there are millions of Muslims around the world who are hard workers. But when people anywhere are coddled by the state, they'll do as little work as they possibly can.

It's true that handouts encourage idleness, but there are also cultures which discourage or denigrate work. I don't recall whether it's Indonesia or Malaysia in which (according to Thomas Sowell) anyone who can will pay someone else to carry things for him, because that was traditionally a task for slaves. Other societies, such as Spain, also have a culture that looks down on work.

In matters like this, I don't think it's useful to generalize about "Moslems," because that includes people from many different nations and cultures, in a variety of situations. For example, this article says that Bangladeshi and Pakistani men have over 50% unemployment in Britain, but they make up a considerable part of the workforce in Arab countries.