The main point of Schengen is not so much about boosting tourism, though it is about that and does a great job at it… It is to ensure that if any member state starts to fall to fascism, there will be minimal barriers for citizens of member states to relocate. The ability to quickly move …
Monthly Archives: April 2025
The Haavara Agreement and Holocaust Denial
So I was doing some reading while watching a fun video about Doctor Who which quickly became a not fun reading of seeing an actor accusing a politician of being an anti-Semite. Here we go… So the claim is that Hitler supported Zionism, which a lot of people claim is wrong for political reasons. This …
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The ideal level of political concentration
There is talk about creating a federal Europe, where the EU would have more power than they do now. I’m not convinced this is a good idea. The Treaty of Lisbon was the final major amendment to the Charter of the European Union. It was passed in 2007 and while it sounds like a big …
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Interstate transfers and the rise of Donald Trump
The United States started as a fairly loose country with a lot of power in the hands of states, but over the evolution of the country, power has become more and more concentrated in the hands of the federal government. In a healthy democracy, ideas can be experimented with and the consequences will be felt. …
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How to get visa-free travel
The way for a country to move from a weak passport to a strong passport is actually quite simple. Crack down on corruption Improve your country’s human rights record Have a strong economy Visa reciprocity Low visa overstay rate That’s really it. There are no other steps. With these five changes your country will almost …
How France could save the world
I know… depressing. Ironic ultranationalistic memes aside… Let’s continue and be serious for the rest of this post. Sorry for being a Millennial there. Ukrainian officials are in Paris today discussing the Russian invasion of Ukraine. I think the following is the most reasonable path to peace. France and the rest of the European Union …
Regarding the US joining the Commonwealth
King Charles has extended a potential offer of Commonwealth of Nations membership to the United States. I oppose it for many reasons. Limited benefits What exactly is the Commonwealth of Nations? It’s a loose forum of former British colonies and the United Kingdom. There are no travel benefits to being a member of the Commonwealth …
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Hungary and the Schengen Area
https://www.npr.org/2025/04/15/nx-s1-5365421/hungary-lgbtq-rights-ban-orban Hungary passes constitutional amendment to ban LGBTQ+ public events. The ECJ is going to have a thing or two to say about this. It is a real test of how much authority they have. But most importantly, it risks causing a brain drain, which the Schengen Area will enable, and Hungary doesn’t tax its …
Obvious AMTRAK expansion
While I know this is unlikely to happen as long as Donald Trump is in office, here are some fairly obvious AMTRAK expansions which should happen based solely off airport traffic data. I might do a more thorough analysis later, but just pulling data off of Wikipedia which is from the FAA (because I’m lazy) …
Checks and Balances
Some people still think the Department of Justice is independent of the president. This is a fundamental misunderstanding of how the American system of government works. The Department of Justice works for the President as part of the cabinet. It is not an independent agency. It is no more independent than the Department of State …