4 ms·
A former president only stayed at properties owned by his company, billing the government millions in extra overhead. His voters love him.
by Workaccount2 3y ago
A former president only stayed at properties owned by his company, billing the government millions in extra overhead.
His voters love him.
- efnx 3y agoAnd they say “if you don’t like it, leave!”. And so now we live in New Zealand.
- rvnx 3y agoHow is it there ? Are earthquake and food (and mosquitoes in the bushes) as bad as the rumours say ? (serious question about the first 2)
- wsc981 3y ago[flagged]
- diggan 3y ago> The whole COVID handling of New Zealand, Australia and Canada proved to me I wouldn't want to live in any of those countries. What countries are you now curious to live in, after seeing how they handled COVID?
- astrange 3y agoJapan, Korea and Taiwan had good results for minimal disruption.
- FireBeyond 3y agoAll of those countries have societal norms that are vastly different with respect to illness. Japanese people voluntarily, proactively wear masks when sick in public, for example. Notwithstanding some of the later research about the efficacy of masks, there was a lot less those governments HAD to CHANGE to minimize disruption, because their populations were already not generally selfish about their needs versus those around them.
- astrange 3y agoJapanese people are not mystically different, their outcomes are a policy difference and you too can have that policy. (And that policy wasn't face masks, it was banning large indoor gatherings but not small or outdoor ones, plus immigration quarantine.)
- FireBeyond 3y agoNo, they're not, but when you have a population that already is (let's be real) significantly more selfless and conscious of the wider impact of infectious disease (or even the perception thereof), you're going to be able to enact other public policies that are consistent with that goal with a lot less disruption or opposition.
- wsc981 3y agoI felt Thailand, where I live, handled it fine. I didn't feel like we got pressured here into getting the COVID vaccination and life could go on quite as normal for me as an unvaccinated person in our village (in the city it might have been different). Though my girlfriend did get the COVID vaccination eventually, due to her being afraid of not being able to visit venues, restaurants and such. She regrets now that she got the COVID vaccination. We know of many people in our neighborhood who've gotten health issues related to the COVID vaccination (e.g. blood clotting, strokes, Guillain-Barré syndrome, etcetera).
- seabrookmx 3y agoI wasn't aware we (Canada) did anything different than the US. We had some press blow up (trucker rally etc) but we didn't have the draconian mandates the Aussies did, that's for sure.
- efnx 3y agoI felt that NZ handled it great! I lived through a year of American lock down and then a year of Kiwi lockdown (we emigrated from the US while on lockdown - it was nuts). IMO Ardern handled it beautifully, at least compared to the misinformation train wreck happening in the states, but that is of course only my opinion.
- CognitiveLens 3y agoEarthquake risk is similar to California, with very low (but not zero) risk in many places, e.g. Auckland. The food is generally excellent in urban areas - cafe culture rules for those who can afford it. Main issue is cost of living - housing and food costs are kind of silly relative to average income. Mosquitos are really not an issue - people up north might have a different experience, but from Auckland on down, no one needs screens.
- rvnx 3y agoThank you for sharing your experience! Big fan of Kiwis and so curious about the country. I really loved to hear first-hand experience.
- efnx 3y agoEarthquakes - so far so good, but I grew up in LA and lived through multiple large-ish quakes (Northridge). One big difference is that many small rural towns only have one road in or out, so a quake could block the road, leaving you stranded, possibly without power. This is the case along the west coast of the South Island. Food - groceries are pricey! It was surprisingly expensive given the lower wages here. CA seems to be catching up though! Mosquitoes - comparable to LA, less than Sonoma County. Smaller too. But here on the South Island we also have sandflies. They vary by region. West Coast has them bad in some remote spots.
- rvnx 3y agoThank you!
- imzadi 3y agoMust be nice to not be over 40 when the world implodes
- efnx 3y agoWell I’m 40 and my partner is 45, but who knows how old we’ll be when/if the shit hits the fan.
- wkat4242 3y agoNew Zealand is the most amazing country I've ever visited. Scenery wise, but also super nice people and politically sane (Andern in particular was great, too bad she left) I'd live there too if it wasn't literally on the other side of the planet for me and I don't want to cause hundreds of tons of CO2 every time I want to see my family :'(
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- transcriptase 3y ago[flagged]
- skhunted 3y ago[flagged]
- dexterdog 3y agoI'm not fan of the guy by any measure, but how is this any different than the government paying to make any president's existing properties places where a president and his massive entourage can stay? It's been done by every president I can remember aside from maybe Clinton because I don't remember him having any significant places.
- lotsofpulp 3y agoBecause of this part: > billing the government
- afavour 3y agoIt's different because other presidents didn't then bill the government for the entourage to stay on a per-night basis for each stay. An added bonus for Trump was that his properties were also accessible to the public, so he got to make extra $$$ from people who wanted to stay close to where the President was. No previous president had that kind of an arrangement.
- skhunted 3y agoWhat other President profited from government employees being forced to rent rooms at his hotels? You really have to be deep in the cult to not see a problem with this.
- willcipriano 3y ago[flagged]
- tekla 3y agoAnd this is a response how?
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- LastTrain 3y ago
- bevekspldnw 3y agoRegular reminder his voters are the minority and he’s never won a popular vote.
- ifyoubuildit 3y agoI have no interest in defending the man, but this argument triggers me. Do you also make sure to regularly remind people that those football players with Superbowl rings never won the world series? Edit: the point is that the win condition is electoral votes. A rational actor will optimize for that, potentially at the expense of the popular vote even, and they will be more likely to win for it. In other words, don't have your quarterback spend his practice time in the batting cages if you want to win the super bowl.
- jmholla 3y agoA better analogy would be the ProBowl, not a different sport, in my opinion.
- astrange 3y agoThat doesn't matter because presidential campaigns aren't designed to get them the popular vote.
- browningstreet 3y agoBut more voters didn’t.