George Bush’S Great America [EN]: Chapter 160

George W. Bush’s Great America – Episode 159 (160/377)

In the southeastern United States, a dangerous plant thrives.

This plant, a dicotyledonous vine belonging to the bean family in the rose order, is perennial and can be found in all areas except the frigid zones of northern North America. It can even survive on salty coastal cliffs. Wherever it grows, it relentlessly absorbs nutrients from the soil and densely wraps around nearby trees, blocking sunlight and ultimately killing them.

Moreover, it is incredibly tough and resilient, making it difficult to cut with hand axes or machetes. Even with a few roots remaining, it can regrow, requiring significant expense to hire professionals for its removal.

It is known to enhance stamina and relieve hangovers, but its taste is similar to strong star anise, making it unpalatable. In the United States, where foraging for wild vegetables is uncommon, spontaneous removal by civilians is rare.

The plant is called ‘Japanese Kudzu.’

Why a Japanese plant? Because the U.S. government actively imported Japanese Kudzu from Japan, almost encouraging imports.

The year was 1876, the centennial of American independence, and an international exposition was held to commemorate it. Officially named the Centennial Exposition, it was the first international exposition held outside of Europe.

A total of 10,164,489 people attended. At the time, the U.S. population was 50 million, meaning about ‘one-fifth’ of Americans visited the exposition at least once. This international exposition had a significant impact, changing some aspects of American life.

For example, it was thanks to this exposition that Americans, who had known little about them, first encountered bananas. Heinz Ketchup, the most famous ketchup brand, Remington typewriters, Alexander Graham Bell’s telephone, and root beer were all introduced to the world for the first time.

And Japanese Kudzu was also first introduced to the United States through this event. In a time when information about the Orient was scarce, people assumed all Asians looked like Chinese. In that era, Japan garnered considerable attention, and Kudzu, a completely unfamiliar plant, attracted significant interest.

People began planting them in their front yards for ornamental purposes. As research progressed, Kudzu, with its tangled roots rising from deep within the soil, was classified as a ‘erosion control species’ capable of holding soil together and preventing erosion.

Initially, it was categorized as a beneficial plant. The most pressing environmental issue at the time was soil erosion. Today, we cite water pollution or the melting of Arctic ice due to global warming, but back then, soil erosion was considered the most serious problem.

Kudzu, which grows effortlessly even in the most barren land and can grow several inches a day, appeared to be a miraculous species that could reliably solve the country’s soil erosion problems. In 1930, the U.S. government decided to cultivate this erosion control species on approximately 1.8 million acres of land at the national level, with a budget of $8 per acre based on 1930 standards.

In the endless battle between nature and humanity, humans had finally won, albeit only once.

However, during the implementation of this plan, a critical fact was belatedly revealed: Kudzu was a highly dangerous plant that absorbed nutrients from the soil, quickly turning it into barren land and killing other plants. Once it began to thrive, it was difficult to remove.

In the war against nature, which seemed to have been won, the United States was completely defeated. By the time they decided to implement large-scale removal operations, it was already too late, and Kudzu was slowly eroding the southeastern United States.

This is an example of what happens when a plant with tenacious vitality, excellent growth, and explosive reproduction meets the vast soil of the American continent.

“Frankly, the plan to do something about this within 10 years seems somewhat reckless,” the Chief of Staff said.

Kudzu digs deep roots, making herbicides ineffective, and even the infamous Agent Orange [a defoliant used during the Vietnam War] is useless. Therefore, the only way to remove it is to mobilize specialized Kudzu removal equipment and have people manually search and remove it. Thus, the president’s plan to eradicate the Kudzu problem in the United States within 10 years seemed somewhat reckless to the chief of staff.

“Do you know what happens in China when a high-ranking official comes for an inspection in winter?”

Why suddenly switch from Kudzu to China? It seemed a bit out of the blue, but the chief of staff knew there was a reason for bringing it up, so he decided to respond with a common-sense answer.

“They clear the snow, of course.”

“Yes, they clear the snow. The question is, ‘How do they clear it?’ They slip a little something into their pockets and make the ground look like nothing ever happened [implying bribery or cutting corners].”

“For example?”

“For example, that’s right. When you think of snow removal, it’s easy to think of simply shoveling and sweeping. However, snow removal when a high-ranking official is involved is not so easy. Clearing the snow is the same, but afterwards, the Chinese hold torches in their hands. The intense heat from the torches completely melts the remaining snow, turning it into dry land in the middle of summer. The key here is not the torches, but the ‘human wave tactics’ that can turn the ground into summer with torches.”

“You mean pushing through the flood front with cheap labor?”

If it’s something that people have to do anyway, then human wave tactics are perfect. Existing Kudzu removal experts could simply be promoted to management positions to oversee these workers. Although they declared eradication, they wouldn’t be able to eradicate every local area, so their job category would be somewhat reduced, but it wouldn’t disappear entirely.

“Exactly. That’s it.”

“But the Chinese might not like that very much?”

Chinese anti-American sentiment has already gone too far. Of course, some ethnic minorities thought differently, adhering to the saying, “The enemy of my enemy is my friend,” but ethnic minorities were only ‘minorities.’ They were included in China, but they could not represent China.

“Cheap labor isn’t only in China, you know.”

That was certainly true. China felt like the representative country for low-wage labor, but it wasn’t a unique identity that only China possessed. If you turned your eyes away from China, you could find low-wage labor anywhere.

“Southeast Asia?”

“Vietnam, to be exact.”

Vietnam was the next lowest-wage country after China. Labor disputes were so frequent that wages would gradually rise soon, but not yet. Currently, Vietnam was just an excellent producer of low-wage workers.

“We also have refugees from the Middle East.”

This flood front plan could also provide jobs for refugees, which was a positive function. Some were getting American citizenship, sensing that they would be staying for a long time, but not everyone could abandon their homeland just because of war or the loss of their homes.

Therefore, they needed jobs to make a living right away.

“I don’t really care about the idea of solving it with foreign workers, but will this really work properly?”

That’s right. If the world worked with theory alone, the word armchair discussion would not exist. The question was whether this flood front would work properly.

“Just thinking about it, it seems difficult because people from various countries are gathered, so communication will not be properly established.”

“We’ll have to accept people who can speak English to some extent. Or, we can arrange workers who can speak the local language and English in each team.”

The former would raise wages, and the latter would lower wages, but there was a concern that a deformed and authoritarian structure that was disadvantageous to foreign workers would be established. But, frankly, is that how foreign workers are run, taking care of everything? If we were going to worry about welfare, we wouldn’t have used foreign workers in the first place.

Of course, it would be a problem if we infringed on the ‘human rights’ of foreign workers, but the advantage and strength of foreign workers was that they could overlook minor and trivial problems.

Anyway, Bush’s flood front plan is roughly like this.

Massively hire cheap labor from overseas and refugees who have entered the country to create low-wage jobs for 10 years. The important thing here is to go beyond the existing mediocre level and show a million-strong force at the level of the human wave tactics shown by the Chinese army in the Korean War! The question was whether these human wave tactics would work positively or negatively.

First of all, since manpower has been gathered, one thing is certain: the problem will be solved, but the problems that this manpower will cause were really a problem. For example, the problem of a large number of foreigners illegally staying in slums even after their visas expire. Or, foreign workers may go on strike as a group due to low wages and working hours.

Of course, in the latter case, if they put up resistance or still don’t listen, they can simply be kicked out to their home country, but in the former case, it could become a major social problem. Why did illegal immigrants become a big issue in the United States in 2019? They are also called undocumented immigrants, but the fact is that they do not have extreme difficulties living in the United States.

Of course, everyone has different circumstances, so I can’t say for sure, but at least their lives are not harsh due to visa issues or openly discriminated against.

All that is needed in the United States are two things: a driver’s license and a Social Security Number (SSN). With these two things, you can enjoy almost everything equally with Americans, except for overseas travel. The SSN is different from Korea’s resident registration card, and you can apply for it if you can prove that you have an employment visa, and it can be issued within 10 days at the latest.

The SSN is essential for real estate, employment, insurance, and various life services, but banks and cards can be used without an SSN, and accounts can be opened freely. There are some differences depending on the state, but if you succeed in obtaining an SSN, your status is guaranteed for up to 10 years. Furthermore, there is a law that prohibits asking about immigration status even if there is a criminal charge, so it is difficult to catch them unless they are employees of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency.

Since society works like this, the land of America is a pretty good place to live even for illegal immigrants.

“And even if I don’t do this, the number of foreign workers will steadily increase as the years go by.”

Historically, it has been a tradition for all countries to attract cheap labor from overseas during economic booms.

“That’s true, but there’s no need to take the lead in creating problems, is there? Instead, let’s exclude Vietnamese workers and limit it to refugees and domestic workers.”

“That would make the human wave tactics meaningless.”

“We’ll have to make up for the lack with ‘technology.’ What else can we do?”

“Technology?”