2 Opinion Page
2 Opinion Page November 1 2022 | World and Press Want to escape America’s Armageddon? Don’t come to New Zealand NEW ZEALAND It’s beautiful, but it isn’t Disneyland, and it isn’t your elsewhere. Training | mündl. Prüfung By Diana Clarke 1 WHEN I LIVED in the United States and people learned I was from New Zealand, the immediate response was always something about ‘The Lord of the Rings’ films, which were shot here, but I’ve never seen any of them. People also asked, “Why would you leave there to come to the U.S.?” with the same emphasis as one might ask, “Why would you leave Disneyland to come to the dentist?” A2 – B2 Cartoons interpretieren, Bilder beschreiben Cartoon & Co. Trainingsheft ¤ 14,90 [D] ISBN 978-3-7961-1062-7 www.sprachzeitungen.de 0 – 2 ELSEWHERE “-"-‘ anderswo — emphasis Betonung; Nachdruck — to capture “"kœptS´‘ einfangen — coveted “"køvItId‘ begehrt — to extend to s. erstrecken auf — in office im Amt — to contain eindämmen — to pass a law ein Gesetz verabschieden — gun control Reglementierung des Waffenbesitzes 3 – 4 noticeable “"n´UtIs´b´l‘ auffallend — search term Suchbegriff — overturn Kippen — residency application “"rezId´nsi‘ Antrag auf Daueraufenthalt — to repel “rI"pel‘ abstoßen — recriminalization “Æri…ÆkrImIn´laI"zeIS´n‘ Wiedereinstufen als Straftat — abortion “´"bO…S´n‘ Abtreibung — billionaire Milliardär(in) — liberal h.: linksliberal — progressive progressiv denkende Person 5 to perceive “p´"si…v‘ wahrnehmen — co-founder Mitgründer(in) — to raise eyebrows (fig) für Stirnrunzeln sorgen — under-the-radar “"reIdA…‘ unbemerkt — to face resistance “rI"zIst´ns‘ auf Widerstand stoßen — to back unterstützen — right-wing rechtsgerichtet — congressional candidate “k´N"greS´n´l‘ Kongressanwärter(in) — to align with s.o. “´"laIn‘ auf jds. Seite stehen — to advocate for “"œdv´keIt‘ s. einsetzen für comment 2 As captured onscreen, New Zealand exists as a coveted, isolated elsewhere in the American imagination. That extends to the country’s political image as a woman-led liberal bastion. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is known for giving birth while in office, containing the spread of COVID-19, and passing gun control laws. But when “New Zealand” trends in the U.S., it’s rarely because of New Zealand at all. Instead, it’s usually because something has happened in the States that feels apocalyptic, and then Americans panic and google how to move to New Zealand. 3 Some noticeable peaks in “New Zealand” as a search term include November 2016, when Donald Trump won the presidential election, and then last month, with the overturn of Roe v. Wade. When Americans look up New Zealand residency applications, it’s not because they want to live in Christchurch. It’s because they want to move elsewhere. Anywhere. As far away from where they do live as possible. 4 It might not be such a bad thing if everyone repelled by the recriminalization of abortion were to migrate Down Under, if it weren’t for all of the billionaires who are already here. You see, if American liberals idealize New Zealand as a remote island of five million environmentally ethical social progressives that they could fit into, then the American superrich see it as a remote island of environmentally ethical social progressives that they could take over. 5 Billionaires have been buying luxury bunkers here for years in order to invest in what they perceive to be their best possible chance at surviving Armageddon. PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel raised eyebrows in New Zealand in 2017 when news of his under-the-radar residency became public, and in recent months, he has faced resistance from local government planners over his proposal to build a five-star guest lodge in the South Island. Meanwhile, he’s backing right-wing U.S. congressional candidates who align with President Trump and advocate for stricter U.S. border laws, despite his bending of New Zealand residency restrictions to suit himself. 6 Not that Thiel seems eager to claim being Kiwi, so why pay the high price for our passport? On the one hand, the country’s geographic isolation makes for a promising haven in the event of war or disease. On the other, the sea level is rising, New Zealand is sinking, and we’re so quakeprone that the whole place shakes like an aging Chihuahua. We’ve got high road fatalities, barely any military presence, and one of the biggest threats to our national well-being is a possum infestation. 7 Why is it, then, that the rich have their money on us to — to bend (rules) (Vorschriften) umgehen — restriction “rI"strIkS´n‘ Beschränkung 6 – 7 promising verheißungsvoll — haven Zufluchtsort — sea level Meeresspiegel — quake-prone erdbebenanfällig — aging alternd — road fatalities “f´"tœl´tiz‘ Verkehrstote — threat “Tret‘ Bedrohung — possum infestation “ÆInfes"teIS´n‘ Possumplage — to anticipate “œn"tIsIpeIt‘ voraussehen; h.: wahrnehmen — conquest “"kÅNkwest‘ Eroberung 8 to fund finanzieren — unintimidating “ÆønIn "tImIdeItIN‘ nicht einschüchternd — placid “"plœsId‘ friedlich; gelassen — sidekick Kumpel — to cash in on s.th. von etw. profitieren 9 – 11 to tout “taUt‘ anpreisen — racial diversity ethnische Vielfalt — youth suicide rate “"su…IsaId‘ Suizidrate bei Jugendlichen — capital gains Kapitalgewinne — inheritance “In"herIt´ns‘ Erbschaft — to tax besteuern — public scrutiny “"skru…tIni‘ öffentl. Kontrolle — trust Treuhandgesellschaft — locale “l´"kA…l‘ Örtlichkeit; Standort — doomsday Weltuntergang — citizenship “"sItIz´nSIp‘ Staatsbürgerschaft — to boot obendrein survive the apocalypse? They don’t, is the answer. They don’t anticipate New Zealand as it stands, nor its people, surviving the end of the world, but that’s part of the charm. For them, we’re an easy conquest if the rest of the world goes to hell. 8 Known for having more sheep than people and, until recently, having a publicly funded wizard, New Zealand’s publicity team works harder than Kris Jenner to position the country as unintimidating and placid – Australia’s harmless sidekick. We cash in, every year, on being named one of the happiest countries in the world and one of the least corrupt countries in the world. 9 New Zealand also touts its racial diversity and support of Maori, including in government representation. In reality, we’re more than 70% white, and our youth suicide rate is high. As for corruption, New Zealand has no taxes on capital gains or inheritances, and it doesn’t tax existing wealth either. Public scrutiny of World and Press erscheint 2 × monatlich (Juli und Dezember als Doppelausgabe) in der Carl Ed. Schünemann kg · Die Sprachzeitung · Schünemann-Haus 28174 Bremen Telefon: +49(0)421.36903-76 Fax: +49(0)421.36903-48 www.sprachzeitungen.de info@sprachzeitungen.de Verantwortliche Redakteurin Katrin Günther Redaktionsleitung Sprach zeitungen Melanie Helmers Redaktion Siobhan Bruns Sebastian Stumpf Franziska Lange Aletta Rochau Carol Richards Jessica Stuart Gestalterische Konzeption www.bmalx.de Layout & Umbruch Christoph Lück, Jens Buchholtz, Britta Leuchtmann Druck Druckzentrum Nordsee GmbH company property ownership is minimal, and there is little to no public registration of trusts. And, as Thiel made so clear, if you’re wealthy enough, you can buy your way across the border. 10 I wonder whether the superrich would consider New Zealand to be the best locale for their doomsday bunker if it really were, in fact, one of the least corrupt countries in the world, and they had to spend 1,350 days here to obtain a right to citizenship, like other newcomers. 11 Don’t get me wrong. There’s no nuclear power, abortions are legal, guns are highly regulated in New Zealand, and you’re never more than 80 miles from the sea. It’s beautiful, but it isn’t Disneyland, and it isn’t your elsewhere. The country you’re imagining, the one you’ve been sold, it doesn’t exist. We’re as sad, racist, and corrupt as the rest of the world, and, nowadays, there are a bunch more billionaires to boot. © 2022 Los Angeles Times. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Civility War. | Cartoon: Dave Whamond, Canada, PoliticalCartoons.com impressum ISSN 0509-1632 Die in World and Press veröffent lichten Artikel bringen Meinungen der zitierten Zeitungen, aber nicht in jedem Fall die der Redaktion zum Ausdruck. Textkürzungen vorbehalten. | By special arrangement with proprietors of copyrights. Copyright strictly reserved under the Berne Convention © 2022 Kündigungs bedingungen Nach Ablauf des ersten Bezugsjahres ist das Jahresabo monatlich kündbar. Das Schnupperabo geht über in ein Jahresabo, wenn es nicht spätestens einen Monat vor Ablauf gekündigt wird. Es gelten unsere aktuellen AGB. Datenschutz Die personenbezogenen Daten werden auf der Basis der geltenden Datenschutzgesetze, insbesondere der EU-Datenschutzgrundverordnung (DSGVO) sowie des Bundesdatenschutzgesetzes (BDSG), zweckgebunden erhoben und verarbeitet. Wir geben Ihre Daten nur weiter, soweit ein Gesetz dies vorschreibt oder wir Ihre Einwilligung eingeholt haben. 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World and Press | November 1 2022 Famous for happiness, and limits on tourism, Bhutan will triple fees to visit In Focus 3 TOURISM The tiny Buddhist kingdom will require a 0 tax on international visitors when it reopens this fall. By Ceylan Yeginsu and Chencho Dema 1 THE TINYBuddhist kingdom of Bhutan on the eastern edge of the Himalayas, often referred to as “the last Shangri-La” for its abundance of natural beauty, sustainable development, and rich cultural heritage, has long resisted the quick financial returns of mass tourism in favor of conservation. The approach is aligned with a cultural philosophy where the country’s wealth and prosperity is measured, through a national happiness index, as an alternative to the gross domestic product. 2 Since 1974, the year when foreigners were first permitted to visit Bhutan, the country has had a unique “high value, low volume” tourism policy, requiring international visitors to pay at least a daily rate of 0 that covered accommodations, meals, a mandatory tour guide, and included a “sustainable development fee” to the government. The package-like approach was aimed to preserve the natural resources of the country by limiting the number of international visitors and controlling where they went. While some tourists complained of poor hotel plumbing, slow internet access, and bland food, many appreciated the ease of the predetermined tours. 3 Now, as the government of Bhutan prepares to reopen its borders on Sept. 23, it has overhauled the tourism system and will significantly raise the cost to visit. Visitors no longer need Buddha Point in Thimphu, Bhutan, in July. | Photos: Poras Chaudhary/The New York Times to be on a package tour, but they will now have to pay a 0 daily fee directly to the government, and pay separately for their accommodation, meals, tours, and other travel expenses. The new policy, officials say, will rebrand Bhutan as “an exclusive destination,” attracting “discerning tourists” who will have access to a wider range of higher-quality services. 4 “COVID-19 has allowed us to reset, to rethink how the sector can be best structured and operated, so that it not only benefits Bhutan economically, but socially as well, while keeping carbon footprints low,” said Dr. Tandi Dorji, Bhutan’s foreign minister and chair of the Tourism Council of Bhutan. “In the long run, our goal is to create high-value experiences for visitors, and well-paying and professional jobs for our citizens.” 5 But many tour operators express anxiety over the change. They are worried that the new structure will leave them without any business – uncertain whether they will be able to attract a sufficient number of tourists with the higher fee, or if tourists will even require their services at all, now that they will have the option to book directly through hotels, tour guides, and the like. 6 “Just when we thought we were seeing the light at the end of the tunnel after 2.5 years of being out of business, the government’s tourism amendment bill has thrown us back in the darkness, and we have no idea how to go about it,” said Pelden Dorji, the CEO of the Bhutan Travel Club, a company that specializes in adventure travel experiences. Dorji has already received cancellations from groups that had booked, but not paid for, packaged trips they had scheduled later in the year. He said the group members felt that they could not justify paying an additional 0 a day on top of the other expenses that had been agreed upon as part of the previous package deal. 7 Under the previous policy, all bookings and payments had to be made through registered local tour operators, who were required to organize a prearranged Paro Taktsang, a prominent temple complex and Himalayan Buddhist sacred site in Paro, Bhutan. itinerary with fixed dates and overnight stops. “It’s basically a package tour that lets you see an authentic, untouched corner of paradise while protecting itself from being invaded by tourists,” said Megan Petersen, 44, a London-based makeup artist who visited Bhutan in 2017. “It’s genius, and places with overtourism problems should use the same model.” 8 Government officials say the previous policy discouraged additional out-of-pocket spending, as many travel agents would assemble their trip activities, food, and other offerings to not exceed the 0 daily rate – the practice effectively turned the policy’s minimum rate into the maximum. “The policy caused more misunderstandings than understanding, and it has resulted in lowering the services that we are potentially able to offer,” said Prime Minister Lotay Tshering. 9 Under the revised tourism bill, which was passed by the Bhutanese parliament last month, Bhutan will be able to reinvest “in bringing up the quality of tourism products, especially in terms of training our guides, bettering the quality of our hotels, restaurants, and food, while preserving the pristine environment that we have for generations to come,” the prime minister said. 10 One of the government’s Visitors walk around the chortens at the Dochula Pass, which is on the road from Thimphu to Punakha. main priorities, Tshering said, is to invest in waste management infrastructure and protect Bhutan’s biological corridors, nature parks, and main cultural assets. Bhutan’s constitution mandates that 60% of the country’s land must be under forest cover and maintains strict laws to protect and uphold its carbon-negative status. “This all costs money,” Tshering said. 11 While Bhutanese travel representatives had expected some reforms to the country’s tourism policy, the threefold increase to the government’s sustainability tax came as a shock, with many fearing that the new model will turn tourists toward cheaper destinations at a time when the country is desperate for tourism dollars to boost its post-pandemic recovery. 12 Tourism revenue is a key contributor to Bhutan’s economy, making up 6% of the country’s gross domestic product. Some 29,000 tourists visited Bhutan in 2020 before the borders were shuttered in March of that year, and generated a revenue of million. In 2019, 315,599 tourists visited, earning the tourism industry 5 million, according to the Tourism Council of Bhutan. … © 2022 The New York Times Company This article originally appeared in The New York Times. 0 TO TRIPLE“"trIp´l‘ verdreifachen — fee Gebühr — tax Abgabe — fall (AE) Herbst 1 Shangri-La Paradies — abundance of “´"bønd´ns‘ Fülle an — sustainable “s´"steIn´b´l‘ nachhaltig; s.w.u. sustainability “s´ÆsteIn´"bIl´ti‘ Nachhaltigkeit — heritage “"herItIdZ‘ Erbe — financial return finanzieller Ertrag — in favor of zugunsten — conservation Naturschutz — to be aligned with s.th. “´"laInd‘ mit etw. in Einklang stehen — prosperity “prÅs"per´ti‘ Wohlstand — gross domestic product Bruttoinlandsprodukt 2 unique “ju…"ni…k‘ einzigartig — daily rate Tagessatz — mandatory “"mœnd´t´ri‘ obligatorisch; s.w.u. to mandate vorschreiben — package-like e-r Pauschalreise ähnlich; s.w.u. package tour; packaged trip Pauschalreise — natural resources Naturschätze — plumbing “"plømIN‘ Sanitäranlagen — bland fade — predetermined “Æpri…dI"t‰…mInd‘ vorgegeben 3 – 4 to overhaul “--"hO…l‘ überarbeiten — travel expenses Reisekosten — (government) official Regierungsvertreter(in) — to rebrand ein neues Image geben — discerning “dI"s‰…nIN‘ anspruchsvoll — to reset (fig) e-n Neuanfang starten — carbon footprint CO 2 -Fußabdruck — chair Vorsitzende(r) — tourism council Tourismusverband 5 – 6 tour operator; s.w.u. travel agent Reiseveranstalter — anxiety “œN"zaI´ti‘ Besorgnis — and the like und dergleichen — amendment bill Gesetzesänderung — to go about it damit umgehen — CEO = chief executive officer “Æ-Ig"zekj´tIv‘ Geschäftsführer(in) — cancellation Stornierung 7 – 8 prearranged “Æpri…´"reIndZd‘ im Voraus festgelegt — itinerary “aI"tIn´r´ri‘ Reiseroute — to invade überrennen — genius genial — to discourage abhalten von — out-of-pocket spending zusätzliche ungeplante Ausgaben — to assemble zus.stellen — to exceed übersteigen — practice Praxis — effectively “I"fektIvli‘ quasi 9 – 10 to pass a bill ein Gesetz verabschieden — pristine “"prIsti…n‘ unberührt — waste management Abfallwirtschaft — biological corridor biologischer Korridor (Verbindung zwischen Lebensräumen) — cultural asset Kulturgut — constitution “ÆkÅnstI"tju… S´n‘ Verfassung — to be under forest cover bewaldet sein — to uphold aufrechterhalten — carbon-negative CO 2 -negativ 11 – 12 threefold dreifach — post-pandemic recovery wirtschaftl. Erholung nach der Pandemie — revenue “"revenju…‘ Einnahmen — key contributor “k´n"trIbj´t´‘ maßgeblicher Faktor — some etwa — to shutter schließen
