https://www.essentiallysports.com/ufc-mma-news-aussie-mma-coachs-trip-to-america-goes-horribly-wrong-as-he-ends-up-in-jail-deported-after-arriving-in-united-states/?utm_source=article_copy_link&utm_medium=website&utm_campaign=article_head

I know there are a lot of Americans who think Trump and MAGA have some down to earth simple good ideas. If you think this important then please take a few minutes to read some key points on what I hear are some of the main beefs Americans have.

Seems we are here because a lot of Americans are sick of

• Globalization.
• Other countries riding on their back for free.
• Being the world military policeman for free.
• The Deficit.
• Wokeness.

RIDING ON YOUR BACKS FOR FREE All the focus on physical products is rediculous. The money the US pulls out of other countries (massive surplus for you) through the tech / knowledge / service industries (eg. Mag7, big pharma, big consultancy, etc), Defence spending, entertainment, etc just dwarfs the physical product deficit. I might also add these giant American companies largely choose how much tax they pay on revenues from other countries. No surprise, the tax they choose to pay is a drop in the bucket. SO IF YOU THINKS THIS IS A PROBLEM, then blame your billionaires and big knowledge businesses. They are making vast amounts of money from the rest of the world but not even paying their fair share of taxes in the US to provide better services for you.

GLOBALIZATION Globalization didn’t just “happen” to America, you were the biggest drivers for it and your businesses and billionaires profit massively from it. American car companies didn’t move factories to Canada or Mexico or get China to make everything from iPhones to cheap consumer goods to help Canadians, Mexicans or Chinese. US capitalism ( profit ) is the main driver. So American and other countries businesses setup factories where labour is plentiful and cheap., along with other sweeteners like lower environmental standards, lower employee conditions, quicker approval processes, lower tax, etc. What a surprise! SO ONCE AGAIN IF YOU WANT TO GET MAD, get mad at your own billionaires and businesses taking advantage of cheaper, quicker, more flexible manufacturing elsewhere.

The ONLY way America gets those manufacturing jobs back is if they match the wages, working conditions, ecological and other conditions in those countries currently producing your goods. Your only other option if you want to keep some sort of reasonable wages and other ondition is to produce more expensive goods which you will only be able to sell in America because the rest of the world will continue to get things made where they are cheapest / best made.

SICK OF BEING THE WORLD POLICE AND SACRIFICING OUR SOLDIERS AND TAXES FOR OTHERS. Let me remind you that pretty much every war, action, peace keeping exercise you have been involved in was started by America, for America’s perceived benefit. From Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, etc, where you demanded and got the help of your faithful allies in all these battle arenas. Allies who also lost people and military assets. Oh and don’t forget we also contributed to the purses of giant American services companies like Halliburton, etc. I think the tally from the Iraq war alone was $138Bn to mainly US contractor companies.

WOKENESS I sometime get sick of the do gooders as I call them wanting so much diversity and correct speak. But… I hardly think it’s more important than the staples of just living a decent life. Or that it affects me directly in any real way. It’s not at the root of any of our current problems and for me the live and let live rule works well.

OH I ALMOST FORGOT the DEFICIT A countries debt is NOT THE SAME AS PERSONAL DEBT. Most modern countries run some level of debt. However I suppose it shouldn’t get out of control. I’m not American so I don’t know how your national budget works and where the money goes. But as an outsider, it seems to me many other advanced countries in the world seem to make ends meet and still provide things like social welfare, free or close to free healthcare, education, policing, Defence, etc. Maybe your billionaires and big business are taking way more than they are giving. I’m sure if we can do it you can too, without blaming the rest of the world for your problems.

Oh and I almost forgot to mention America gets massive benefits from being the world’s trading currency of choice and the largest stable investment hub of the world. Which is now looking a lot less… stable.

A VIEW FROM THE REST OF THE WORLD The rest of the world especially allies now see that America can turn on a dime and no longer be relied on as a stable trading partner or even Defence ally. Scary awakening for us “other” countries who thought we were friends, trusted allies and close trading partners. My country as an example has almost no tariffs and average taxes. We are not particularly outstanding in any way. We have free hospitals and healthcare, reasonably generous social welfare, quite diverse, ridiculously expensive housing, etc. We actually have a massive (for us) trade deficit with the US in total (you make much more out of us than we make out of you) but we still got tariffs. Our armed forces have stood beside America in every conflict without question, yet we are being attacked on multiple fronts with unreasonable and simply untrue accusations and statements. We saw America as probably our best friend and ally. That is all changing because of Trump and MAGA.

So where does that leave us all… For the rest of the world, we already knew we paid a high price for US involvement in our countries. Now we have America essentially saying fuck off everyone. You’re all scum and we want to have it all and do everything ourselves. You foriegners will service us on whatever terms we demand. Well… Not surprisingly the rest of the world is saying various versions of No You fuck off. We have had enough and we will just have to work out how to service our own needs the best we can with minimal reliance on America and American services, tech and products.

If this continues it will not end well, especially for Americans as your world shrinks whilst the rest of us find other ways to do without America.

Looking to move to Australia with my family from the US. Are there any areas that would be similar to conservative red states? Done want to make this move to only end up in another Trump loving area.

How long do you think before Trump-ets really start to feel the pain? How long before Americans really notice increase in prices of everyday things? How long with increased prices before middle class and lower class Americans are really stretched & start to suffer?

And how lonf will they bear it for? Before starting to accept they did it to themselves?

Australia has an $18 billion goods trade deficit with the United States—a figure that gets plenty of attention. But what’s rarely discussed is the far larger services trade deficit, which stands at $50.7 billion. This imbalance is driven largely by the dominance of US tech giants like Google, Meta, and Amazon in our digital economy (and lawyers and IP etc). If we’re serious about trade fairness, it’s time to focus less on physical goods and more on taxing the digital services where the real deficit lies.

They've put out the call to their mainland cousins.

Good evening, all,

Have a criminal conviction for a high range speeding offence, which saw me convicted with a summary offence (driving at dangerous speed). I scored a 'no conviction recorded' but I believe it still applies for things like security clearances/federal stuff.

Somewhat curious if this would cause an issue getting into the US on the ESTA travel visa? Its about the equivalent of 'criminal speed' or 'reckless driving' in the US.

Whats the opinions here, is this something I just have to declare on paperwork when travelling to the US? Or is it a talk to the US embassy type thing?

I've heard horror stories from others about things like DUI getting you knocked back entry from the US.

Thanks

TLDR- Will the fact that I have an upcoming E3 appointment flag me at customs when I go to the US in May? Will I be deported.

There’s been recent reports of Aussie not being let in to the US for “irregular” flight paths or just for no damn good reason. I spent 2 months in the US last year and I need to go back for a wedding in May and I’m terrified of being detained/ deported as apparently customs officers are looking for the slightest reason to reject people (worried about overstaying, frequent travel etc. ). I also have an E3 Visa appt booked later this year which is a placeholder as I already paid for it, and waiting to hear for a job offer.

Will I be flagged upon entry because of this Visa appointment and should I cancel it? Or does that look worse.

Pls help, and anyone with similar experiences id love to hear it. Has anyone successfully gone in and out recently and had any luck getting a job/ E3 visa/ spending time in the US doing this. It feels harder than ever now.

TIA!

With the mad house that is American politics here is our down to earth Prime minister having a chat with Aussie man.

If ya a yank have a beer and listen to our politics for a change and its struggles.

If ya an aussie then there's an election coming up so have a beer and a listen.

To any americans: Language warning cause its two aussie's speaking aussie.

Is there a similar ruling or law that allows for politicians to be bought and sold in Australia similar to the Citizens United case in the USA?

What is the fault in US constitution where it allows for a State of Emergency outcome when there is no congress endorsed war, pandemic,natural disaster & why has congress never changed the constitution to disallow a tyrannical ruler from declaring a State of Emergency subjectively?

Basically I think US house prices decreased a lot during the GFC and Australia's didn't. I think lower house prices means better affordability. I think affordability is more important than them being a good investment.

But the Australian housing minister seems to prefer housing being a secure investment rather than promoting affordability...

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-12-14/housing-minister-says-house-prices-shouldnt-fall/104724144

Last month, Clare O'Neil told youth radio station triple j that young people might want house prices to drop but the government did not.

"We're not trying to bring down house prices," Housing Minister Clare O'Neil declared on ABC's youth radio station triple j.

"That may be the view of young people, [but] it's not the view of our government."

Instead, she insisted the federal government wanted "sustainable price growth".

Also from the link:

Economists have argued house prices should stand still, or perhaps even gradually fall

In the GFC apparently the housing price was part of a bubble. The housing minister wants there to be no bubble and just increase forever ("sustainably").

So she wants property to be a secure investment, unlike shares and owning a business.

BTW in Australia from about the 1970s to 2000 wages and house prices grew at about the same rate. Then after negative gearing and capital gains taxes were introduced, house prices increased a lot, and now house prices have doubled compared to wages. If house prices stopped increasing then there would be a chance for wages to catch up again. (though the median house price to median salary ratio has more than quadrupled)

As far as negative gearing and capital gains taxes goes, it allows rich people like surgeons and anaesthetists who earn about A$400k to reduce the taxes they pay by outbidding first home buyers and they're better off even if they make a loss (negative gearing).

So what is your opinion on housing affordability? Is it ok for prices to drop? Should they just keep on increasing? In Australia the Greens party wants the government to build affordable houses again like they did in the 1970s but property investors (like many politicians) want to get a good return on their investments i.e. become less affordable. The investors are so influential and powerful it seems houses might never become affordable again like they used to. If too many new houses are built the prices might start to drop and the housing minister never wants them to drop.

Hi, I have gotten into some colleges in the US for an engineering masters degree (UMichigan, UChicago, John’s Hopkins, Northwestern). It seems the job market is really tough in the States atm due to international students needing visa sponsorship. Just wondering, is it easier for Aussies to get a job as we have E3 visa eligibility (does it open more doors) or am I stuffed if I want to find a job/get experience there for a couple years after my degree.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton says Australia could have secured a tariff deal had Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his team done “the work”.

The claim comes after Mr Trump imposed sweeping tarriffs on almost every country in the world, with none (except for countries with sanctions on them) securing a complete exemption.

“Had we done the work beforehand, I think there was a deal to be struck,” Mr Dutton said on Sunrise on Friday.

“When you look at the statement out of the White House, they are talking about ways in which there is a deal to be done here and we do have, I think, the opportunity through critical minerals, through the relationship that we have in the Defence sphere, to pull together something that’s in our mutual bestinterests.”

Sunrise host Natalie Barr pointed out Australia “got the best deal in the world” with only 10 per cent tariffs being imposed, with Mr Dutton responding saying America needs Australian beef.