Baffled European

Tag: 51st state

  • Holiday in Cambodia

    Two 19 year old German women decided to take a trip to Hawaii. A day later, after being strip-searched and interrogated for hours, they were deported back to Germany. Appalling, of course, but at least it’s not El Salvador.

    This sort of thing has been going on since the start of the new administration, but is not letting up. As a result, the number of visitors from Europe to the USA has dropped by 30%. Still more Canadians are avoiding the country: they’ve been threatened with annexation as well.

    It’s obviously a bad thing for the tourist industry, which looks to be in big trouble if this continues into the summer. By coincidence, the effects of the trade war should hit at the same time.

    I think I’ve worked out the strategy.

    There are 12 million people working in tourism. Hotels, shopping, events, guides and so on. At the same time, there is a shortage of people to staff the new factories. Sewing machines, welding, assembly, packaging, that sort of thing.

    If the new factories are all ready in time, and if they manage to sort out the supply chain problems, these extra workers will come in handy. Provided their skills are transferrable, and maybe also if they are in the right location. Could work.

    Maybe this is what the president means when he says the tourism collapse is “not a problem”. He’s looking forward to the new tourist resort in Gaza.

  • Lose-lose

    The USA has been the leading country for research and innovation since WWII. The government itself has done very little of this work. It decided back then to outsource the work to universities. There were a few steps between what the president wanted and what the universities did, but that’s what happens when you delegate and don’t try to micromanage.

    As with so many other things, it’s easy to take this success for granted, to assume it is the natural order of things. But what happens if the president does try to micromanage the research? What if the president doesn’t understand the system he is in charge of? What if he is a gangster as well?

    In this case, research money is not there for the good of the country, but as a means to threaten and extort. He thinks that everybody is like him and only interested in money, and that they will do anything to protect the precious government grant money.

    Harvard has done the calculation. If they give in, they will lose their reputation for academic independence and excellence. The brightest and best will go elsewhere, where they can pursue their research outside of a dictatorship. If they resist, the brightest and best will still go elsewhere, because there is no government money to pay them – but they retain their integrity and reputation. If they can weather the storm.

    They are suing the government. Other universities are taking note.