Posted On: Wednesday - March 5th 2025 6:58PM MST
In Topics: Immigration Stupidity Trump Economics
For the first time in as long as I can remember - I imagine since President Reagan - I watched (some of) the State of the Union address. I won't review it here. I was getting very sleepy anyway, but after President's Trump's stupidity about the Golden Buy-your-way-in immigration cards, that was enough.
I guess in addition to being the most important President since George Washington, Trump fancies himself the next Willie Wonka. Rather than springing for a candy bar and getting very lucky, Trump's Gold Card winners will just have to come to America with $5 Million... to give to America, well, the Government anyway, to help pay off the national debt. According to "Sovereign Man":
I remember this Sovereign Man from my dozen years ago days of reading ZeroHedge daily. Going by the pseudonym Simon Black then, this Jim Hickman is one of those men about the world*. This Sovereign Man bit is far different than the Sovereign Citizens of said movement in America (something we discussed recently in comments here). Regarding the former, it's easy to go on about where in the whole wide world you should move next, park your money, and how to escape or minimize taxes. I'm guessing he's not a family man.
All that vagabond stuff** doesn't work too well for those who are established people of the land. Such people don't necessarily relish guys like Jim Hickman or a few million rich guys buying out their country.
I really don't think President Trump understands exactly how much his scheme resembles selling out the country. Along these lines, why doesn't he just sell National Park land, square mile by square mile, to Chinese investors? They could also move here to develop and live on that land, the big old-growth trees serving well for a chopstick factory. (Yeah, I mused about doing a calculation for the Olympic Nat'l Park being cut into chopsticks while writing this post.***) We may be able to cover the whole national debt with these and other assets, their becoming property of foreigners, with the heritage of those who settled and built America lost. Whose debt will we have paid off?
I'd known that Portugal has been doing this selling of citizenship for cash thing, until, as this article admits, the people got mad about rising real estate prices. I've heard the same about New Zealand - now the formerly White British-heritage nation is diverse, with a large crown of Chinese exodees. The writer mentions Puerto Rico too, but, haha, were I some kind of Sovereign Man myself, I might be asking the Puerto Rican government for cash in return for my deigning to live there!
I've repeatedly said that Trump is no numbers man. He's got starry eyes about that cash from millions of new foreigners and probably had listened to Elon Musk on this one.
While Trump naively thinks we'll have 5 million Elon Musks (though at the $1 Million we'd need a Texas-sized crowd of 'em) coming here, instead it will be Latin American cartel owners, Chinese $1,200/month government
Sovereign Man adds, trying to sell his advice later:
On the other hand, from an individual American’s perspective, it’s great that there are already golden visa programs around the world that can help you diversify internationally with foreign residency, property ownership, and investment.See, we'd better find our own bug-out places too. We can all mix and match until some sort of equilibrium is reached, or what? Or do we all spend our lives running... and a million bucks each time... I mean, you've got that much at least, right? (Maybe you've not been reading his newsletter.)
Mr. Hickman is not so sure he's right here, so to be fair to his newsletter readers:
Because if you live, work, invest, and have everything you hold dear in one jurisdiction (which happens to be the most indebted government in the history of the world) that’s a significant risk.Sovereign Man didn't get around to asking himself where these problems came from to begin with. Just keep on running...
With problems the size of America’s, you don’t want all your eggs in one basket.
Enough about Sovereign Man. It's Trump who brought up this insanely stupid idea, just when I'd gained a modicum of respect for the him too. This kind of off-the-cuff stupidity bothers me most when it's about this most existential issue.
I urge the Peak Stupidity reader to go to the link above to read more from the ZeroHedge commenters. These guys usually don't disappoint. All the comments I've read so far are against this stupid idea. I wish I could copy the whole thread. BTW, there are good ones under the ZH post discussed under our previous post. I don't want to become, in the fast food industry parlance, a Heavy User, but I have been enjoying the reading there.
A final though for the post: How's that Million Dollar Ticket rich immigrant plan gonna work out when the US $ has gone down the toilet and a Million bucks only gets you a 5 y/o Kia Soul with no time remaining on the warranty?****
* The website is Schiff Sovereign now, per the website. Hickman shares billing with Mr. Peter Schiff, the gold bug of the multiple Gold v Bitcoin debates Peak Stupidity has featured and commented on. Mr. Schiff may have had to backstop this man-about-the-world. Traveling the world can get costly... well, yeah, he probably lost it on some broad...
** That's not to knock it for a young man, along the vein of Rod Stewart - about that, Every Picture Tells a Story, don't it? See footnote* for a warning though.
*** That was Part 5 of our 4 year-ago series Will America be Looted by China?, that one on "The Wilderness". See also Part 1: Intro -- Part 2: Housing -- Part 3: Big Biz -- Part 4: The Fruited Plain and Part 6: Conclusion - The Golden Rule .
**** That thing and the similar-looking Honda Element give the old Pontiac Aztec a run for its money in the running for the Ugly Car Hall of Fame. (oops, I hope I didn't lose too many Aztec-owner readers with this one...) Oh, and yeah, I guess you're still covered as far as the power train.
Comments:
Moderator
Thursday - March 6th 2025 4:23PM MST
PS: "But hey, the US has the same problem with out-of-staters in places like Aspen and Jackson Hole,..." Not to mention nearly the whole of the South. They're off the Florida kick somewhat, and they've crowded NC (Ashville for along time) and Raleigh... They don't seem to want to buy in the black belt of Mississippi and Alabama for some reason... I don't know why ...
As for your main point, Alarmist, I don't want any of it, at least in any serious numbers. 50,000 - 100,000 yearly and NOT any significant chunk of that from the ME, Africa, etc... that wouldn't be too bad. I am not sure what Trump thinks, but, as I wrote before, he doesn't like scams. If he could be convinced that most immigration is a scam on the American people, he might get on-board.
As for your main point, Alarmist, I don't want any of it, at least in any serious numbers. 50,000 - 100,000 yearly and NOT any significant chunk of that from the ME, Africa, etc... that wouldn't be too bad. I am not sure what Trump thinks, but, as I wrote before, he doesn't like scams. If he could be convinced that most immigration is a scam on the American people, he might get on-board.
The Alarmist
Thursday - March 6th 2025 1:51PM MST
PS
Having actually expatriated, I can tell you that Sovereign Man talks a good game, but glosses over some of the things that really matter when it comes to making it a serious go.
Letting people buy visas is not all it is hyped to be, but it beats giving dot-Indians preferences for small-business loans or outright grants to buy into gas-station, donut shop, ice cream parlor, and other franchises, which is actually happening in the USA.
To be frank, I’d rather the US import Russian and Ukranian oligarchs who largely mind their own business rather than more chain migration of our new overlord class from South Asia.
I didn’t need a golden visa, I just married a local and bought a derelict farm house in the countryside that I jokingly call a château, so it’s not like I took a desired property off the market. In places like Portugal and Spain, the Brits are selling their vastly overpriced hovels in Blighty and using their filthy lucre to outbid and snap up properties that would normally go to locals, hence the rightful ire. But hey, the US has the same problem with out-of-staters in places like Aspen and Jackson Hole, while nobody really cares about the transplant who builds an off-grid homstead in the middle of Bum-F*** Utah.
Peace Out.
🕉
Having actually expatriated, I can tell you that Sovereign Man talks a good game, but glosses over some of the things that really matter when it comes to making it a serious go.
Letting people buy visas is not all it is hyped to be, but it beats giving dot-Indians preferences for small-business loans or outright grants to buy into gas-station, donut shop, ice cream parlor, and other franchises, which is actually happening in the USA.
To be frank, I’d rather the US import Russian and Ukranian oligarchs who largely mind their own business rather than more chain migration of our new overlord class from South Asia.
I didn’t need a golden visa, I just married a local and bought a derelict farm house in the countryside that I jokingly call a château, so it’s not like I took a desired property off the market. In places like Portugal and Spain, the Brits are selling their vastly overpriced hovels in Blighty and using their filthy lucre to outbid and snap up properties that would normally go to locals, hence the rightful ire. But hey, the US has the same problem with out-of-staters in places like Aspen and Jackson Hole, while nobody really cares about the transplant who builds an off-grid homstead in the middle of Bum-F*** Utah.
Peace Out.
🕉
Moderator
Thursday - March 6th 2025 7:45AM MST
PS: Yes, SafeNow, the idea is that these "newcomers" will invest in American business and create jobs. It will not turn out this way, but when it comes down to it, there are Americans who can create jobs with great ideas too. It's the stifling regulation and taxes - things that Trump does address, BTW - that discourages this.
Musk got a whole lot of breaks from the US Government. Will every new $5 million immivestor get the same?
It will be scammed as almost all aspects of immigration, legal and illegal, are, to various degrees.
I like your Biblical reference too.
Musk got a whole lot of breaks from the US Government. Will every new $5 million immivestor get the same?
It will be scammed as almost all aspects of immigration, legal and illegal, are, to various degrees.
I like your Biblical reference too.
SafeNow
Wednesday - March 5th 2025 9:35PM MST
PS
Trump claimed that these $5M guys will be creators of jobs. (Sort of a capitalist version of the biblical “Follow-me, and I will make you fishers of men”?) The tacit implication of this Trump claim is to concede that the gold-card guy himself is, as a person, unseemly; the benefit is extrinsic to him. This is going to spawn a cottage industry of gold-card-applicant counselors, who will coach the applicant in how to cast himself as a terrific creator of jobs. Yes, just like the private guidance counselors who coach college applicants in how to write a compelling admissions essay.
Trump claimed that these $5M guys will be creators of jobs. (Sort of a capitalist version of the biblical “Follow-me, and I will make you fishers of men”?) The tacit implication of this Trump claim is to concede that the gold-card guy himself is, as a person, unseemly; the benefit is extrinsic to him. This is going to spawn a cottage industry of gold-card-applicant counselors, who will coach the applicant in how to cast himself as a terrific creator of jobs. Yes, just like the private guidance counselors who coach college applicants in how to write a compelling admissions essay.
𝐼 𝑎𝑚 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑇𝑟𝑢𝑚𝑝 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑘𝑠, 𝑏𝑢𝑡, 𝑎𝑠 𝐼 𝑤𝑟𝑜𝑡𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒, ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑜𝑒𝑠𝑛'𝑡 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑠𝑐𝑎𝑚𝑠.
Perhaps you mean Trump doesn't like being scammed.(?)
https://i.ibb.co/B5hdhsTZ/Trumpcoin-Price-Chart.jpg
https://www.kraken.com/prices/official%20trump
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trump_University
https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/trump-university-scam/
https://theweek.com/articles/783976/brief-history-trumps-smalltime-swindles
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/hundreds-claim-donald-trump-doesn-t-pay-his-bills-n589261
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/mar/7/donald-trump-stiffed-casino-builders-while-spendin/
https://apnews.com/article/10bbe40a86774bac9ad1fbd3a936c808
https://usw.org/billionaire-trump-fleeces-workers-small-businesses/
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2016/06/09/donald-trump-unpaid-bills-republican-president-laswuits/85297274/
https://www.cnn.com/2016/09/13/politics/trump-small-business-owners/index.html
He seems quite adept at scamming others. ☮️