Weekend Box #131: Make America Emigrate Again, The Sick Man Of Europe & More

Editor's Note

Welcome to The Weekend Box, Audley’s round-up of interesting or obscure political, business, and cultural news from around the world.

At the end of every busy week in Westminster, ministerial private offices ask their departments to submit papers to the ‘weekend box’ for Ministers and Secretaries of State to catch up with over the weekend. Similarly, we would like to send you into the weekend with a few stories to catch up with at your leisure.

So, let’s delve inside The Weekend Box.

Make America Emigrate Again

The dust has yet to settle on Donald Trump’s comprehensive electoral victory this week. Many Americans are rejoicing, others despairing, but for some, the result has prompted urgent consideration about leaving the country.

For some, the motivation will be distaste for the likely divisive politics of a Trump administration. For others it will be a more urgent concern for their liberty and well-being, given the number and range of Trump’s 100+ threats of retribution ?during his campaign. These “enemies from within,” as he has called them, span politics (such as former Republican congresswoman Liz Cheney); government and the military (election board members or former joint chiefs chairman Mark Milley); the law (New York Attorney General Letitia James and others who have prosecuted criminal cases against him); ‘mainstream media’ (journalists and owners at titles like MSNBC or the New York Times); and tech (Mark Zuckerberg).

His proposed means of retribution include the national guard, televised military tribunals and appointing special prosecutors. Having accused the Democrats of “weaponizing” the US justice department against him, it seems he aspires to do the same to others, and may have the political backing to do so with control of Congress (result for the House of Representatives still pending), more so if ‘Project 2025’ materialises.

Where might they go? Canada will be popular for those wanting to stay close to home – its immigration website crashed in 2016 during the last election won by Trump. The UK offers an English-speaking alternative, with life under the Labour government providing a more socially liberal environment, with good career and education opportunities and streamlined immigration pathways for those with the skills, family relations or assets to apply.

Wherever the wealthiest US émigrés choose, consultants assisting with ‘citizenship-by-investment’ applications or second residencies may become as busy as they were during previous upheaval,?such as around the pandemic.

Image Credit: Gage Skidmore. License.?

Nearly Neighbours But A World Apart

2024 is not just an election year – it is arguably the election year. By its conclusion, more than 70 nations, home to nearly half of the world’s population, will have headed to the polls.

Unsurprisingly, elections have played out at vastly contrasting degrees of volatility and democratic integrity. With incumbent governments challenged by inflation globally, elections in many countries have delivered on widespread appetites for change. In others, however, elections have been marred by political violence and accusations of vote rigging. ?

Recently, this stark contrast played out in two countries separated by just 200km in southern Africa.

In Botswana, the president, Mokgweetsi Masisi, peacefully conceded defeat in last week’s elections after winning just four seats, bringing an end to the Botswana Democratic Party’s almost six decades in power. Duma Boko, leader of the Umbrella for Democratic Change, is set to become president, riding a wave of popular discontent amid rising unemployment among the country’s booming youthful population. Boko, who has pledged to raise the minimum wage and increase social grants, admitted being “shocked” and “humbled” by the results.?

In contrast, thousands have taken to the streets to protest recent election results in Mozambique. On 24th October, the Frelimo party, which has ruled the country since independence in 1975, was once again declared victorious with 71% of the vote. However, the election was marred by widespread accusations of vote rigging, ballot stuffing, and the registration of fake voters.

Protestors have been met with live fire from the police, with at least 20 people killed and hundreds more injured in what is Mozambique’s worst crackdown on protests in years. Currently, Opposition leader Venancio Mondlane is encouraging supporters to occupy the capital, with authorities threatening to deploy the military in response.

Indeed, 3.7 billion people will get the opportunity to vote this year – but Mozambique serves as a reminder that many will not get a free and fair choice.

Image Credit: Commonwealth Secretariat. License.?

Sick Man Of Europe

Over recent months the Weekend Box has covered Germany’s economic and political travails with alarming regularity. On Wednesday evening there was yet another jolt to what was once considered Europe’s best-run nation - Germany’s coalition government torpedoed?itself and early elections are on the cards.??

A change of government won’t automatically solve Germany’s most intractable economic problems, such as its ailing labour market.?

New data on workforce sickness released this week highlighted the depth of the issue. Research from Techniker Krankenkasse, Germany's largest health insurance fund, showed that workers missed an average of 19.4 days of work due to illness in 2023, a record high.?

These data show the biggest change, besides a post-coronavirus bump in respiratory illnesses, has come from a steep rise in mental health cases since the turn of the millennium.?

Christopher Prinz, an employment expert at the OECD, noted that Germany ranks “among the higher countries” for sick leave. A study released in January by the German Association of Research-Based Pharmaceutical Companies indicated that if not for Germany’s above-average sick days, the economy would have grown by 0.5 percent last year instead of contracting by 0.3 percent.

We Brits shouldn't be too quick to indulge in schadenfreude. In Britain, ill-health is causing more than its fair share of problems in the labour market. A report by the Resolution Foundation earlier this year shows that long-term sickness-driven economic inactivity in the UK reached its highest level since the 1990s, with 2.8 million adults out of the workforce due to ill-health in late 2023.??

The government has set up a labour market advisory board to deliver external expertise on how to tackle inactivity “particularly where driven by long-term health conditions.” It will have to work quickly and effectively to fix what is a growing issue – one of many hampering Britain’s economic growth prospects.? ? ?

Image Credit: European Parliament. License.?

Takeoff For Greener Space Exploration

The world’s first wooden satellite, LignoSat, launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on a SpaceX rocket, marks a pioneering step toward reducing space junk. Developed by researchers at Kyoto University in Japan in collaboration with Sumitomo Forestry, LignoSat is designed to burn up entirely upon re-entry, addressing environmental concerns associated with conventional metal satellites.

The compact satellite, roughly the size of a tissue box at 10 centimeters on each side, was encased in a protective container prepared by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) for safe transportation. After its initial arrival at the International Space Station (ISS), LignoSat will be released into outer space to undergo a series of tests on its strength and resistance to extreme temperature shifts. Throughout its journey, the satellite will transmit data back to researchers, allowing them to monitor signs of wear and degradation.

Kyoto University’s Takao Doi, an astronaut and professor who has been a leading advocate for wood-based satellite technology, emphasised the significance of this innovation. According to Doi, wooden satellites could become a viable alternative to metal-based structures, which contribute to the growing problem of space debris. When traditional satellites disintegrate upon re-entering Earth’s atmosphere, they often release metal particles, posing potential risks to both the environment and telecommunications systems. By contrast, a wooden satellite like LignoSat would combust fully upon re-entry, leaving no trace.

"Satellites that are not made of metal should become mainstream," Doi remarked earlier this year, highlighting the project’s ambitious vision. With its successful launch, LignoSat not only aims to demonstrate the durability of wood as a space-bound material but also paves the way for environmentally friendly advancements in satellite technology.

Image Credit: Ron Cogswell. License.?

A New Look At Old Masters

Michelangelo, Leonardo, Raphael: what do they have in common, aside from being three Italians considered among the greatest artists in history? There’s the fact that they all worked in Florence at roughly the same time, which forms the basis of the Royal Academy’s exhibition ‘Michelangelo, Leonardo, Raphael: Florence, c. 1504,’ open to the public this Saturday (9th).

The exhibition collates works by the Italian masters from the brief period when they were all in the same place and at the same time: Republican Florence, at the turn of the 16th century. This was one of those occasions when the greatest artistic minds of a particular moment or era were brought together by history; the sort of occasion that makes us in the present say: ‘What I would give to have been there…’

What is even more interesting about this moment in history is that it appeared to spark a rivalry between Michelangelo and Leonardo; Raphael would later develop his own infamous feud with Michelangelo after arriving in Rome, where the older artist was working on the Sistine Chapel. The former feud is believed to have emerged from Leonardo and Michelangelo snubbing each other’s art, after each was commissioned by the government of Florence to work on murals for the council hall of the Palazzo Vecchio, Florence’s town hall.

The exhibition collates the amazing artworks that came from this moment in history, and the quarrelling that characterised it, including an “unfinished circular relief” of the Christ Child in the Virgin Mary’s lap: the only marble sculpture by Michelangelo in Britain. The influence of his work is also clearly on display in?a sketch of his masterpiece, the David statue, by Raphael.

The exhibition runs from Saturday until February 2025 – don’t miss this historic artistic moment.

Image Credit: Ollios. License.?

And that's it for this week. I hope you found something of interest that you might want to delve into further. If so, please get in touch at [email protected]

For now, that’s The Weekend Box officially closed.?

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