To continue....this saga....as per 09:24 today I formally applied for the German citizenship and passport and will be giving up the US passport due to the fact that a populist pied piper convinced millions of Americans that globalization and immigration can be simply overcome by building a WALL, roadbuilding and creating millions of good paying jobs......AND doubling the annual economic growth %.
So on or about 4 Jan 2017 I will formally be "German and a European" who no longer has to pay taxes to IRS.....and who can visit the US for 90 days per year without a visa....which is far more than I have done in the last years....
A little of my history....and it reflects why the pied piper was and will be totally wrong....in 1964 through 1966 before I volunteered for the Army and went onto to join Special Forces....I was working during my last year of HS and the first two years of the University of Texas as an unskilled oil field worker doing pipeline xray work.....as a "common laborer" EARNING 10 USDs per hour 12 hours per day seven days a week for a monthly take home before taxes of 3,300 USDs in 1966 dollars.....I was making more than my father who had a GI Bill BA and worked for an oil company.
Oil pipeline union welders were earning 75 USDs per hour....AND today what are the equivalent wages?.....no way close to 1966...AND that is not due to "globalization"...
Second example...from 1996 thru to the internet bust in 2000 the average bidding war salaries for internet IT personnel and coders was say 100K to 130K USDs plus options....AND today...lucky to break 65-70K...WHY...IT companies took the bust opportunities to drive down salaries and increase bottom line profits to drive their 90 day earnings cycle for their stock...salaries were not driven down by globalization......BUT by the 90 day stock reporting cycle for their shareholders......in order to increase "shareholder value"......
So when a pied piper sells you that the evil of your problem lies with trade deals....or outsourcing....or the other party.....why do we not see people openly questioning those statements.....is it possibly a total lack of information and understanding just how the world's global marketplace works these days...but how could they know as most only have a HS degree???
I now have started an internet security company on the non profit side....for the last three years.. which is part German/part Swedish using available EU startup development funding streams for 17M Euros for the first two years and a follow on funding of 12.3M....in addition to what we earn in our various ongoing/running projects.
THIS is where the pied piper gets it wrong....I could in fact have taken my business directly back to the US and setup shop anywhere in the so called "Rust Belt" that followed the piped piper....and produced WITH Americans in America and then competed for overseas business.....
BUT HERE is exactly why there is a serious problem in the US and also as well in the UK with globalization...WHEN good to lower paying jobs disappear to even the lower paying BRIC countries .....THEY are simply never going to come back....
WHY not....the pied piper says they will come back....BUT it is all about competing for business and inherently good paying jobs means health insurance and other benefits driving up the overall hourly wage that needs to compete for business....in a global market where price determines everything. I recently lost a large deal because I was 4.50 Euros higher per hour than a competitor in Asia as the project was driven by a large number of man hours...and that Asian competitor was using outsourced US/UK geeks via the internet....
IF I had moved into this Rust Belt....I would have never been able to hire the 55 individuals I have now from five countries speaking four core languages....and yes the salaries of my employees effects my business decisions daily.....
Why BECAUSE all my employees have at least a BA/MA in computer sciences and or in five cases PhDs...in computer science.....WHERE could I have found that combination in say in Ohio...or Iowa....or Georgia....Iowa.....Wisconsin.....etc????
So when a pied piper claims to create millions of good paying jobs...I laugh and ask exactly how is that to happen....building roads...schools...bridges etc takes planning lead times....and money....if from the government then via taxes and if from private sources then via tolls and user fees.....
So again people love the heck out of populists and their speeches...BUT wait to see what they do when they are in power and can do something..BUT do nothing as they are in it for the "power"........
The so called Tea Party has basically controlled the US House for over 8 years AND what did they do to help those struggling in the Rust Belt....nothing at all...SO WHY will it be any better under a new "pied piper"?????
Anyway.....decision made......AND in a growing number of parts of this earth a US passport is not an advantage nor protection anymore....besides these days the only thing a passport is good for is crossing borders......time to finally not having to defend some screwed up FP by some US President who does not "get it"....
BTW....I am not the only one in Europe that is foreseeing major issues between the US and Europe....especially in the area of trade as Trump wants to place tariffs on all non Us produced products which actually then violates WTO regulations AND the US farm industry is then not going to be happy if the EU reciprocates with equal and or more tariffs on US products...Trup might one day wake up and realize just how many American good paying jobs are tied to trade with the EU and Asia..
France and Europe must defend their interests after Donald Trump's win, Alain Juppe says http://bloom.bg/2eL6aCQ
Remember, #Trump snubbed President Poroshenko during UN summit in NYC. #Ukraine could be left out in the bitter coldhttp://foreignpolicy.com/2016/09/20/tru
mp-gives-ukraine-cold-shoulder-in-new-york-clinton-poroshenko/#
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BTW....the German response below was far far different than the UK response....which is interesting as the German view of Brexit with UK is hardening....to the point of making UK pay dearly for leaving the EU...
Originally Posted by Azor
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