"North Korea has great beaches", you see that whenever they're exploding cannons into the ocean." Trump said,
"Boy, look at that view. Wouldn't that make a great condo?" Trump advised Kim that instead of pursuing his nuclear ambitions, he should
build 'the best hotels in the world' on North Korea's coastline to boost the
country's economy. "Think of it from a real estate perspective," Trump
said.
Sometimes
a war is necessary, in order to do business. Necessary for the people making
war.
Sometimes
the threat of war is enough. It spurs growth.
---Here's
a shoreline of brand new condos. Move-in ready. Restaurants, hotels, shops,
synthetic streets emerging from barren land. Let's build a modern city. Let's
build ten. This could be how North Korea is shaping up.
Instead
of a nuclear catastrophe, bring in the usual players, the giant construction
companies, the electric-power utilities. They know how to put it all together.
As I wrote some months ago, for Trump
the business of America is business, period. Let's make a deal. You may like
it, you may hate it, but there it is. That's how he's always rolled.
The new
North Korea may eventually look like a hundred versions of Dubai side by side.
War and sanctions are the threats; business is the solution.
Trump has
that viewpoint. Jobs will come, projects will climb upwards and sideways. Does
it feel like a new era of capitalism or crazy gloss and shine? Depends on who
you are. Are you nestled in the top tier of profiteers, or are you making beds
and delivering meals in brand new hotels? Are you a janitor three floors below
ground level making your daily rounds, or are you booking a suite thirty floors
up in the air?
Kim
understands the whole game, because he has China as a model. Repressive rule
from above, along with active zones of volcanic capital investment and massive
production of goods.
Foreign
banks and financiers are popping champagne corks. The North Korean government
will find a way to make hay while the sun shines, too, even if they have to
back the manufacture of a synthetic sun. They'll invent a new bank, they'll
invent new money out of air, they'll say it's "for the people." A
small farmer scratching out a meager existence on frozen land will turn into a
waiter in a luxury restaurant in a city that was never there until yesterday.
Voila. French cuisine spiced with kimchi.
Bring on
the golf courses. The tennis courts. The equestrian show places, the NBA game
of the week.
Absolute
duty to the government leadership and its mottos of socialism will find
translation into duty and obedience to the companies and corporations
transforming the landscape. "We have the best workers in the world!"
And those workers will unite under the rubric of money. Same tune, different
lyrics.
Trump
thinks, "Show me a shithole country, and I'll show you a future of
unlimited profit."
A history
of frozen wastelands and brazen population control will, one day, appear as a
mere footnote in a Pyongyang museum. "Yes, it was once that way, but under
our immortal leadership, we have triumphed and become entirely modern. Now we
rule by edict and force in order to build a paradise for every citizen. Triple
bacon burgers! Nachos! Rodeo Drive!"
Sort out
the difference between low and high consumer culture according to what's in
your wallet.
This is
the mouth-watering prospect for investors.
As I say,
Kim knows the new model just by looking at China. He loses nothing in the way
of control. He just plays from a different deck of cards---all aces.
Of
course, in order for a titanic deal to go through, China will have to be
included. No doubt, behind the scenes, they've been at the bargaining table.
The Trump "trade war" with Xi Jinping has a number of moving parts.
It's
Showtime in North Korea.
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