Serendipity I
Pardon me if I do a few things here that I’ll generally try to avoid, namely 1) Go off-topic (these days I’m supposed to be discussing the Franco-American split and reactions to it in various national presses), and 2) Pass along pointers which are of relevance only to a sub-set of EuroSavant’s audience, in this case those who can read German. (For those who don’t, no need to read on . . .) I know, EuroSavant is supposed to be the wunder-guide to the European press for those who only read English, but I was off surfing in search of 1) and ran up against something else.
Here goes: there’s a pair of excellent articles I can recommend on the current on-line site for Die Zeit on how America is driving away the international scientists it needs (Sorry, Einstein) and the ambitious, hard-working labor it needs generally (Hot Dogs from the “Terrorists”) by its policy of treating them all as potential terrorists before, during, and after they come to the States to live. Of course, Germany’s record on attracting skilled immigration is much less to write home about itself – all too often, the immigrants’ hostels where they are temporarily housed get burned down by mobs of skinheads – but of course that has no direct bearing on the authors’ appealing analyses of how US society is stifling those very demographic sources that historically have made its economy, scientific establishment, arts scene, etc. so dynamic and world-beating.
