Sunday, March 26, 2017

Fortress Amerika Begins To Pay A Heavy Price

Now that the parody of a president selected by the American people has infected the U.S. national psyche with more than its usual quotient of paranoia and xenophobia, those same people are beginning to get the message that there is a high price to be paid for their irresponsibility. And I, for one, can muster little pity for those sectors that are suffering as a result of their fellow-citizens' choice.

Many are choosing to avoid Amerika for at least the next four years, from individuals to educational institutions. And it is beginning to have a financial impact, as these statistics make clear:
-Tourists spend $108.1 million an hour in the USA.

-Tourists spend $2.1 trillion in the USA every year, half of which goes to secondary small businesses like bars, restaurants, theaters, and so on.

-All of this generates $147.9 billion in annual tax revenue at the city, state, and federal levels.

-Travel ranks as the seventh largest industry in the USA.

Granted these figures represent domestic travelers as well as international ones. If you just look at international travelers, they still supported 1.1 million jobs and $28.4 billion in wages in 2015 alone. And in a divided America, will we see less internal travel, too? Almost certainly.

And as the following report makes clear, the financial health of universities is also in jeopardy:



All of these developments must be humbling indeed for the country that has the hubris to call itself 'the greatest nation on earth."

13 comments:

  1. The fortress called America, better known as "the greatest nation on earth"is in reality self destructing.

    I wonder what it will take for the American people to face that reality?

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    1. Their seemingly limitless capacity for scapegoatism will likely prevent many from coming to that insight, Pamela.

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    2. Pamela, there are plenty of Americans, some of them fairly prominent, who see collapse underway. Watch this interview with retired colonel, Lawrence Wilkerson, chief of staff to former state secretary, Colin Powell.

      http://the-mound-of-sound.blogspot.ca/2017/03/this-is-what-empires-do-when-theyre.html

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  2. Xenophobia may be the most toxic form of fear-mongering, Lorne. Every demagogue invokes it because it works so well, herding your own people, driving them into your own corral.

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    1. I think Americans are beginning to discover that it cuts both ways, Mound. Their singularly unappealing domestic behaviour is driving a wedge between the U.S. and the rest of the world.

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  3. The upside is that Trump's xenophobic policies are likely hurting business at his hotels.

    Cap

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    1. One certainly hopes so, Cap. I know the one in Toronto, to borrow a Trumpism, is "a complete disaster."

      http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/no-bidders-make-offers-to-buy-trump-tower-in-toronto/article34215006/

      As well, the one in Vancouver is being met, shall we say, with some tumult.

      https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2017/02/28/protests-planned-as-donald-jr-and-eric-trump-head-to-vancouver.html

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  4. A good example of that Lorne is the disdain with which Trump treated Merkel last week.

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  5. For a man who owns several hotels, Mr. Trump seems ignorant of a good proportion of his market -- and many other things.

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    1. The scope of the Orange Ogre's ignorance is breathtaking, Owen.

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  6. .. to the point as well, especially if one follows the NFL
    Not a fan of Colin Kaepernick initially, I began to see his point re the national anthem and his views & protest as other players spoke up and sat or knelt with him. Strangely I felt the same way way way back with the Black Power podium protests ie the black glove & raised fists.. I came around..

    Donald Trump manages to grind upon his creepy pet idiocies and the sand traps within his shallow mind.. but that's what I like about him.. he highlights his sick views so all can see..

    Have a look. I especially recall another champion, the late Roberto Clemente who died delivering aid to Nicaragua & Kaepernick seems to be emulating him beautifully.. but that's what exemplars are for eh? And losers like Trumph, Bannon etc to be recognized and examined for rabies ..

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/kaepernick-continues-to-love-so-trump-continues-to_us_58d17ed2e4b07112b6473299

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    1. Thanks, Salamander. The article certainly puts Trump's smallness under the microscope.

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