Do you ever wonder why people from other countries, even those who are supposed to be allies, hate America? Shit like this is one of the reasons.
Getting an American visa in Korea is a massive pain in the ass, and the Korean is positive that visa-processing alone makes Koreans hate America more than they otherwise would.
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Excellent point - when politicians have no incentive to consider the downside of a policy (in this case, overly-strict security measures) they lose all sense that there is a real tradeoff here: trading the enjoyment, goodwill, and possible future innovations contributed by foreigners (as well as the increased happiness/knowledge of Americans upon interacting with said foreigners) for extra security.
ReplyDeleteAt some point, the cost of boosting security will outweigh the benefit (e.g. forcing people to drive and wait hours for a tourists' visa). The long-term effects are obviously negative, but the politicians' short-term incentive is to avoid any kind of "homeland security threat."
Unfortunately, this stupidity stems directly from the ignorance (and some might say arrogance) of the American people, both in terms of the concept (terror threat vs. open society) and specifics (most Americans have no clue what most foreigners have to go through to live, visit, or study in the U.S.).