₦airaland Forum

SPDAZZY:
It's 12500 for me

See another for London to New York

How much does one need to spend to get 12500 worth of Avios ?

Money rules the world: money is what will change our course with strategic positioning

Almost nothing material is needed for a happy life, for he who has understood existence - Marcus Aurelius.

What a time to be alive. I have acquaintances who have been unable to secure visas to the US and Canada even with their PhD’s and work employment. They live in the same Nigeria as Portable (Habeeb Okikiola Badmus). While Portable has been able to visit the UK, UAE, Turkey, the US and Canada, my erudite acquaintances with degrees, employment, and scholastic achievements have been denied such access.

I come in peace.

I have begun my musings this morning to set the stage for what may be considered polemic or mad rantings. When Marcus Aurelius pontificated his philosophy, he was in an age where knowledge was golden. Being knowledgeable was enough to deliver you from a lifetime of servitude. Society was structured as a feudal system. Labour was not a commodity that could be easily sold except in specific instances. You mostly lived as a serf rewarding your landlord with a significant portion of your harvests. We are unfortunately back to such today. You literally have no service for which you pay one off lifetime fees. I remember when software was bought and paid for one-time with updates provided as complementary for life. Today, you pay for everything for life – SAAS. You rent outlook services from Microsoft, you rent Netflix and Amazon and Apple, you rent your mobile service and broadband service, you rent your right to buy/rent a space in a community (council tax), you rent your ability to watch the news (TV licence), you rent your right to live in a country and be rewarded for your labour (taxes and NI), you rent electricity, you rent water, you rent the right to drive a car (taxes and insurance), you are practically spending a significant part of your income renting monthly – the so-called techno feudalism.

We are even incentivised to work harder (on the farmlands) to ensure we can continue to reward our feudal lords (Amazon, Netflix, Microsoft, Apple, internet and broadband service providers, the government, insurance firms, energy firms, water companies, etc.) through credit scores. I now firmly believe that this world is a simulation, and we are all in a matrix. I mean we have moved from feudalism to capitalism and back to (techno)feudalism. How did we not see it coming? Suddenly, a TV is an empty box without internet. Even the government that is supposed to be an arbiter is scheming new ways of extracting more rent from us.

The emerging economic system is funny but very troubling. In today’s world, knowledge is now a commodity that is traded in the market. Knowledge is no longer the thread that holds the fabric of society together. It is something that can be bartered! I can exchange my corn harvest for your knowledge. If you doubt this ask Wole Soyinka. It is this reason Portable can be recognised and given the privilege to travel overseas while my knowledgeable acquaintances are denied such opportunities. Portable has been able to setup an ecosystem that allows him extract rent from his “craziness” and “music”. When you stream his music online, he gets paid something. When you attend his shows, he gets paid something. When ads are placed on his music online and watched by you and me, he gets paid something. It is this relevance of his that companies see and pay him to advertise their products to convince you and I to patronise them. My acquaintances with all the degrees still depend on a landlord to give them land to ply their trade while Portable is buying “lands” and hiring knowledgeable folks to develop them while extracting rent via his ecosystem.

This is why I have so much respect for folks who ply their trades on OF. They understand the evolution of the world’s economy and human needs and have setup an ecosystem to extract rent from you (not me). I do not support the depravity of OF but I must commend intelligence at work. No embassy will see Portable as a potential absconder because they see his ecosystem and the rent he extracts. They know he has money and has strategically positioned himself to be a landlord. They respect this and give him his visa. His next US visa renewal I guess will be via drop box. My educated acquaintances will continue to languish back in Nigeria because they lack this understanding. With his money, Portable can be anything. He can run for LGA chairman tomorrow and win it. You think I am lying – ask Seyi Tinubu.

Back in the diaspora, I laugh. There was a time everyone was a data analyst. Later everyone became a business analyst. Later it was cybersecurity. Today it is project management and AI. I have seen some people’s names online, and I am like wtf. BSc, MSc, MA, PGcert, PMP, Scrum, BA, CISS, CISP, MMM, YYY… We can’t continue like this. Certifications are important but first things first, we need an ecosystem. If our investments in such qualifications are to enhance our ecosystem and build resilience, then that is worthwhile. But to polish up ourselves to be better slaves in other people’s ecosystems is unsustainable in the long-term. When such roles are no longer available, what do we revert to?

We can be like Portable. Let me extract some advice for us from his song Apostle.

Members donated bulletproof car for the pastor
And the same pastor got attack by who
By unknown gunmen
Security wey dey guide pastor o
Dem no get bulletproof car
Members wey dey follow pastor o
Dem no get bulletproof car
Only pastor and family
Dem dey use bulletproof car

Bulletproof car saved the pastor
Not the miracles

The lesson is to have our own bulletproof car. While we are working in the ecosystem of others and donating our all to them, we should remember that one day, unknown gunmen will come and if we don’t have bulletproof car, na die be that o.

We must start being strategic. Society will never value us if we have no value. I laughed hard when I saw that report from the migration advisory committee (MAC) that claimed that immigrants contributed 20x more than natives and Nigerians were on a rampage. Nothing is as fraudulent as statistics. Let me elucidate. According to MAC, “… skilled migrants on work visas contribute approximately £16,300 in net fiscal impact (tax receipts), which is 20 times higher than the £800 contributed by UK-born adults.” The implication of this statement is quite dire. First, it establishes the fact that UK’s immigration policy is set to strangulate and impoverish immigrants. No be who pay more tax get money pass, ask Donald Trump and Warren Buffet. There is a reason for IR35 formulation and revision. Second, it evidences the fact that UK natives are vast and adept in the art of tax avoidance (and even evasion) which is a privilege that immigrants cannot have for at least 5 years. The fact that Nigerians were excited about the findings of MAC was also troubling because it made me realise that we were more interested in comparing di*k sizes than even building wealth.

We cannot achieve Marcus Aurelius’ vision if we do not have wealth as a collective. Wealth doesn't matter anymore when we have it in abundance. The pockets of rich Nigerian immigrants do not skew the statistics. We need to realise that starting now is even late, but we just must start. We are a very knowledgeable people. Why should we barter that all our lives for corn. If Portable can be smart in setting up an ecosystem to extract rent for himself, why can’t we do the same? You work in the NHS, what stops you from identifying problems there and working with a team of like-minded people to develop something to address that problem and commercialise it if it works? You work in finance, what stops you from identifying a pain point, assembling a team of like-minded people and attempting to solve that issue with commercialisation as the end goal. It is not rocket science, we just have to do it. The world has changed but we can ensure some level of resilience if we start today. The goal is to build an ecosystem that helps us generate wealth that enables us to push our values and ideals to the level of national discourse. The goal is preservation of our kind, ensuring that they have options and choices tomorrow, thus guaranteeing their place at the table of decision-making.

Nowhere to hide: current job losses not even due directly to AI yet, more to come

My COO and I have just returned from CES 2025 and my oh my, what a time. I also took the time to visit the firm I consult for in San Francisco and my oh my. It seems in just 10 months since I last visited a lot has happened.

I come in peace folks.

I grew up to know careers as established domains with obduracy inbuilt. I mean even luddites didn’t have to confront change like we are facing today. You went to school, studied a course, got employed and was guaranteed stability for 35 years. All you needed to do was some CPD and voila you stayed relevant – whatever that meant. Our parents went that route.

Now, imagine my shock witnessing change like never before. Even jobs that were thought secure are no more. I laugh when people talk of handyman jobs – plumbers, electricians, gardening, etc. as being secure. Some years ago, folks said the same for taxis. Today, in Vegas and San Francisco, driverless taxis are now normal. I couldn’t muster the courage to try out Waymo or Zoox, I am still Nigerian. I didn’t even try out the Tesla Loop (Boring Company) – well Westgate didn’t have its own station operational then.

In an Uber heading to the Venetian Expo for a parallel session and the Uber guy was telling me how he worries about his job security as an Uber driver considering the certainty of driverless taxis becoming mainstay soon. He insisted he wasn’t interested in going back to school or subjecting himself to new learning and that began a conversation on existential threats. He was a great chef but was laid off due to Covid and at 56 he is considered old. We talked about robots now working as barmen and doormen in places on the strip. I told him of my experience in China with robots delivering my ordered food to my hotel room. We ended that discussion with me leaving with a business idea for post 50’s. I now need to secure funding to trial that idea asap.

While at a CES session on AI investing trend, Tony, the folk from Blackrock gave a description that awed me. Global spending is around $100 trillion of which labour is $60-70 trillion. Businesses must move funds to invest in AI infrastructure first and that will come from labour. Today, Meta is planning to replace all its mid-level engineers with AI by the end of 2025! Even in one of our subsidiaries back in Nigeria, we have just laid off almost a third of staff. We now have tools to make us more efficient and we need to build resilience, so staff must be laid off! Same in the UK! I was recently wondering if I wasn’t a hypocrite but then that is the business world, we must stay liquid to stand a chance at keeping that ecosystem alive.

There is no place to hide. It is not about working hard or trying to impress your boss – you and your boss are done. Why my rant this am?

We are lagging as a people in this new race. As part of our expansion plans, we have just secured standardisation certificates for our hardware across the US (FCC), EU (CE) and the UK (UKCA) with the UAE (ECAS) still outstanding. Two things have continued to stay true – only foreigners (mostly Chinese) continue to be the available serious consultants, and the cost is staggering (especially that ECAS). We are finalising our ISO certifications (stage 2 audit) as well as authorisation (regulator going ahead) and moving along with our flexibility trading licencing. What a time!

I am shouting that the more we delay pushing ourselves into entrepreneurship the harder and more expensive it will get, while crowding us out. Today it is very difficult for us as immigrants to approach fellow Nigerians with authorised firms and ask them to make us APs to enable us offer authorised services. There is paucity of Nigerian owned businesses that can be leveraged to run escrow services or offer credit brokering services. Their limited number creates scarcity within our ranks exacerbating our inability to offer competitive services.

Because I am forced to do all these things, something must give – health! Went for my full body health assessment sometime last year and the doctor casually remarked that I had elevated BP readings. Returned home with a BP meter and was routinely checking my BP to get down to a sensible range so I could make my trip to Asia the next day. Yes, our stack and foundation look solid, but it is coming again at a price. I paid one for my PhD and not sure I want to go similar route.

I skimmed the discussions earlier on Indians and laughed. Our views notwithstanding, Asians in general are businesspeople. We all ran away from Nigeria claiming hardship. Today, Indians, Chinese, Lebanese, etc. run the country. They are not competing for jobs like we are doing here in the UK, they are creating industries and running businesses and employing Nigerians in Nigeria! Go to the UAE today and see them (Indians) thriving and owning big businesses. The firm that handled our set up and accounting and residency in the UAE was all Indians. I visited them and was impressed. What business can we mention today that mostly Nigerians will be known for (don’t say fraud because we aren’t even ranked).

Today you talk of Tata, Infosys, HCL, etc. all multibillion-dollar companies based out of India. Indians anywhere drive GDP growth, drive admissions in top graduate schools in the UK and US and so are naturally employed into consulting firms, banks, investment banks, etc. It makes sense for KPMG to approach Tata for a gig with a team made up of Indians. You won’t approach UAE with a team that excludes their people. Put a Nigerian there (in management), and s/he will act as a gatekeeper. Indians can hate themselves but will recommend and employ themselves anytime, any day over another race.

All around, there is growing consolidation of businesses, and a new feudal system is emerging. You want to sell via Apple store, they take 30%. You want to sell on Amazon, they take a percentage. Uber takes up to 60% of the cost of a trip. I am more worried that our billing for accessing GPT-4 and newer models might grow significantly in the coming years. I can do nothing about it as the entry fee to that club is $100 million. I know that I would have been forced back to employment were it not for the grant we secured. The cost of setting up shop today is crazy. I can understand when folks deride my write up, unfortunately that’s life. I don’t have solutions to your problems, I am only documenting my journey as a traveller through life.

Back to reality, I must set sail incorporating some of the lessons learned. I am reviewing our business model now to see how to improve the value. I am reviewing what we offer to see how we can increase value for the end users. We are incorporating the use of shoppable videos on our marketplace. Our finance model might vary a little. We want to stay competitive.

AI is a horizontal technology with effect on all verticals – health, finance, law, education, energy, etc. As a people, we need to start deliberately forcing ourselves to set up businesses and try out things. We will fail at many but the few that will succeed will propel us far. Most of us are in religious groups and social circles with a network of associates having a range of disciplinary expertise. Why can’t we form businesses and try new things there. Just try. You already have domain knowledge – project management, logistics, finance, education, healthcare, etc. Bring that knowledge and explore how AI can improve just an aspect. Any transformation will be around the verticals.

Sometime ago, I advised that any Nigerian Youth that was unable to within the next 24 months leave Nigeria to a top 20 city in the world was almost certain of being useless to humanity and it generated some backlash. My recent travels and recent events have forced me to rephrase it – any Nigerian youth that is unable to find themselves in the top 20 cities across the US, China, South Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong, UAE in the next 24 months might struggle to offer significant benefits to humanity. My rephrasing means even the UK (London) is irrelevant. With Trump set to resume tomorrow, boom is expected in Crypto (incoming SEC chair, hello Saylor), payments (X to now start resembling WeChat), manufacturing (hello chips), AI, VC, etc. all of which are alien to the UK. I mean the UK does not even have an equivalent to anything. This is even more pronounced when you consider the uselessness of the London Stocke Exchange (LSE) and why companies are delisting and running to the US to IPO. Even Revolut made it clear – NYSE.

When I visited the Sphere in Las Vegas, I was not just blown away but intimidated. Humans created this. Now imagine growing up in that environment and seeing these things every day. Imagine growing up and living in such an ecosystem. You simply have everything you need to thrive. You get challenged every day to think creatively and be innovative. I was having lunch at the CES and when someone at the table heard about what we did, he was like you need to talk to this guy, he heads XYZ at Home Depot. Here in the UK, the accelerator we were paired with was more interested in how our idea was not going to work – fella, the UK is not even 5% of our target market.

With technology and innovation changing dramatically, you need to be in an ecosystem that is agile in setting up the necessary infrastructure for you to thrive. The US, UAE, South Korea, China, etc are places that allow this. Coresight Research released a shocking statistic that I’m still reeling from. Livestream E-Commerce market in China is predicted to hit $915 billion in 2025 (up from $779 billion in 2024) compared to $57 billion in the US (up from $44 billion in 2024). According to Coresight Research, 93% of Gen Z’s and 87% of high-end spenders are interested in interactive videos. I want to be in an ecosystem that allows me timely access to information like these that I can use in improving our business offering. The US and Asia (including the UAE) remain such places.

We need to be prepared for the future. We can only do this by implementing strategies today that allow us to control the fate of our tomorrow. If we have no businesses today, we cannot be at the table of negotiation tomorrow. We would be the menu for discussions in such gatherings. The Indians continue to negotiate for better travel opportunities for themselves because they oversee their fate.

I am pleading, let’s start something with our folks in our little corner. Enough of all these talks of degrees and titles and certificates – it is becoming obsolete and meaningless. It is the businesses we create that can give meaning to them. I hold a PhD and worked for 5 years as a researcher including 3 years in a top policy think tank here in the UK – all na wash! It is the business I am doing today that has given meaning to that PhD. I am bringing to life all those papers and creating a business model to return value to end users and it is beautiful. If I want to be a professor tomorrow, I can set up an Open University and name myself one – pastors without PhDs own multiple universities and give these titles out, even Regina Daniels can influence such in the university her husband owns (Lord see my life for outside).

As I conclude I cannot but reminisce about the recent layoffs in our sub. When we prepared the budget for them last year, we isolated their core staff focused on their own products and cut their allocation by 50%. When the MD stood adamant, I told him he could resign. Go and earn more money to do what you like. How he achieved the cuts in staffing to meet the reduced budget cut was not my business – that was his job. That experience is no different from what will start happening in 2025. 2024 was just dress rehearsals. We can manage this for tomorrow if we start something today.

Paxziano:
No they don't. Even for EO grade it's only if you work in inner London that they would sponsor. If you are national or outer London, no sponsorship.

P.s: This is for fresh graduates only

Thanks for the response. Are you saying this applies to fresh graduates only (ie people on PSW)?

Trendytessy:
Thanks for the response. Are you saying this applies to fresh graduates only (ie people on PSW)?

Yes I am...

For dependants, the salary threshold will not bad enough for sponsorship. Even the £38700, when it comes to DWP, it is about £42k cos they calculate the pay for 42hrs a week instead of 37hrs a week

Paxziano:
Yes I am...

For dependants, the salary threshold will not bad enough for sponsorship. Even the £38700, when it comes to DWP, it is about £42k cos they calculate the pay for 42hrs a week instead of 37hrs a week

Ok, thanks.

Viruses:
I have asked VFS Global (via email) for courier details including name, tracking number and expected delivery timeframe but they didn't provide any of these. Their response was they will get back to me "once they hear from the dedicated team handling" the matter. And VFS Global will not allow you into their office without having a biometrics appointment.

Give it a trial, they might allowed the person due to the gravity of the case.

Chukwuka16:
Money rules the world: money is what will change our course with strategic positioning

Almost nothing material is needed for a happy life, for he who has understood existence - Marcus Aurelius.

What a time to be alive. I have acquaintances who have been unable to secure visas to the US and Canada even with their PhD’s and work employment. They live in the same Nigeria as Portable (Habeeb Okikiola Badmus). While Portable has been able to visit the UK, UAE, Turkey, the US and Canada, my erudite acquaintances with degrees, employment, and scholastic achievements have been denied such access.

I come in peace.

I have begun my musings this morning to set the stage for what may be considered polemic or mad rantings. When Marcus Aurelius pontificated his philosophy, he was in an age where knowledge was golden. Being knowledgeable was enough to deliver you from a lifetime of servitude. Society was structured as a feudal system. Labour was not a commodity that could be easily sold except in specific instances. You mostly lived as a serf rewarding your landlord with a significant portion of your harvests. We are unfortunately back to such today. You literally have no service for which you pay one off lifetime fees. I remember when software was bought and paid for one-time with updates provided as complementary for life. Today, you pay for everything for life – SAAS. You rent outlook services from Microsoft, you rent Netflix and Amazon and Apple, you rent your mobile service and broadband service, you rent your right to buy/rent a space in a community (council tax), you rent your ability to watch the news (TV licence), you rent your right to live in a country and be rewarded for your labour (taxes and NI), you rent electricity, you rent water, you rent the right to drive a car (taxes and insurance), you are practically spending a significant part of your income renting monthly – the so-called techno feudalism.

We are even incentivised to work harder (on the farmlands) to ensure we can continue to reward our feudal lords (Amazon, Netflix, Microsoft, Apple, internet and broadband service providers, the government, insurance firms, energy firms, water companies, etc.) through credit scores. I now firmly believe that this world is a simulation, and we are all in a matrix. I mean we have moved from feudalism to capitalism and back to (techno)feudalism. How did we not see it coming? Suddenly, a TV is an empty box without internet. Even the government that is supposed to be an arbiter is scheming new ways of extracting more rent from us.

The emerging economic system is funny but very troubling. In today’s world, knowledge is now a commodity that is traded in the market. Knowledge is no longer the thread that holds the fabric of society together. It is something that can be bartered! I can exchange my corn harvest for your knowledge. If you doubt this ask Wole Soyinka. It is this reason Portable can be recognised and given the privilege to travel overseas while my knowledgeable acquaintances are denied such opportunities. Portable has been able to setup an ecosystem that allows him extract rent from his “craziness” and “music”. When you stream his music online, he gets paid something. When you attend his shows, he gets paid something. When ads are placed on his music online and watched by you and me, he gets paid something. It is this relevance of his that companies see and pay him to advertise their products to convince you and I to patronise them. My acquaintances with all the degrees still depend on a landlord to give them land to ply their trade while Portable is buying “lands” and hiring knowledgeable folks to develop them while extracting rent via his ecosystem.

This is why I have so much respect for folks who ply their trades on OF. They understand the evolution of the world’s economy and human needs and have setup an ecosystem to extract rent from you (not me). I do not support the depravity of OF but I must commend intelligence at work. No embassy will see Portable as a potential absconder because they see his ecosystem and the rent he extracts. They know he has money and has strategically positioned himself to be a landlord. They respect this and give him his visa. His next US visa renewal I guess will be via drop box. My educated acquaintances will continue to languish back in Nigeria because they lack this understanding. With his money, Portable can be anything. He can run for LGA chairman tomorrow and win it. You think I am lying – ask Seyi Tinubu.

Back in the diaspora, I laugh. There was a time everyone was a data analyst. Later everyone became a business analyst. Later it was cybersecurity. Today it is project management and AI. I have seen some people’s names online, and I am like wtf. BSc, MSc, MA, PGcert, PMP, Scrum, BA, CISS, CISP, MMM, YYY… We can’t continue like this. Certifications are important but first things first, we need an ecosystem. If our investments in such qualifications are to enhance our ecosystem and build resilience, then that is worthwhile. But to polish up ourselves to be better slaves in other people’s ecosystems is unsustainable in the long-term. When such roles are no longer available, what do we revert to?

We can be like Portable. Let me extract some advice for us from his song Apostle.

Members donated bulletproof car for the pastor
And the same pastor got attack by who
By unknown gunmen
Security wey dey guide pastor o
Dem no get bulletproof car
Members wey dey follow pastor o
Dem no get bulletproof car
Only pastor and family
Dem dey use bulletproof car

Bulletproof car saved the pastor
Not the miracles

The lesson is to have our own bulletproof car. While we are working in the ecosystem of others and donating our all to them, we should remember that one day, unknown gunmen will come and if we don’t have bulletproof car, na die be that o.

We must start being strategic. Society will never value us if we have no value. I laughed hard when I saw that report from the migration advisory committee (MAC) that claimed that immigrants contributed 20x more than natives and Nigerians were on a rampage. Nothing is as fraudulent as statistics. Let me elucidate. According to MAC, “… skilled migrants on work visas contribute approximately £16,300 in net fiscal impact (tax receipts), which is 20 times higher than the £800 contributed by UK-born adults.” The implication of this statement is quite dire. First, it establishes the fact that UK’s immigration policy is set to strangulate and impoverish immigrants. No be who pay more tax get money pass, ask Donald Trump and Warren Buffet. There is a reason for IR35 formulation and revision. Second, it evidences the fact that UK natives are vast and adept in the art of tax avoidance (and even evasion) which is a privilege that immigrants cannot have for at least 5 years. The fact that Nigerians were excited about the findings of MAC was also troubling because it made me realise that we were more interested in comparing di*k sizes than even building wealth.

We cannot achieve Marcus Aurelius’ vision if we do not have wealth as a collective. Wealth doesn't matter anymore when we have it in abundance. The pockets of rich Nigerian immigrants do not skew the statistics. We need to realise that starting now is even late, but we just must start. We are a very knowledgeable people. Why should we barter that all our lives for corn. If Portable can be smart in setting up an ecosystem to extract rent for himself, why can’t we do the same? You work in the NHS, what stops you from identifying problems there and working with a team of like-minded people to develop something to address that problem and commercialise it if it works? You work in finance, what stops you from identifying a pain point, assembling a team of like-minded people and attempting to solve that issue with commercialisation as the end goal. It is not rocket science, we just have to do it. The world has changed but we can ensure some level of resilience if we start today. The goal is to build an ecosystem that helps us generate wealth that enables us to push our values and ideals to the level of national discourse. The goal is preservation of our kind, ensuring that they have options and choices tomorrow, thus guaranteeing their place at the table of decision-making.

Interesting. Are you thesame guy that recommend capitalism without capital book? If yes. How about setting up a WhatsApp group ?

Please explain these items I would need to take for passport renewal for a child. Appointment date is fixed.

Is the vetted application form same as standard application form with applicants photo?

What about others like;
a prepared special delivery envelope,
• £20 postal order payable to the Nigeria High commission.

Thank you.

Gift7428:
Please explain these items I would need to take for passport renewal for a child. Appointment date is fixed.

Is the vetted application form same as standard application form with applicants photo?

What about others like;
a prepared special delivery envelope,
• £20 postal order payable to the Nigeria High commission.

Thank you.

What part do you need more explanation on?

The delivery envelope and postal order can both be sorted at your local post office. Only thing to note is that the receivers address on the envelope would be yours.

Gift7428:
Please explain these items I would need to take for passport renewal for a child. Appointment date is fixed.

Is the vetted application form same as standard application form with applicants photo?

What about others like;
a prepared special delivery envelope,
• £20 postal order payable to the Nigeria High commission.

Thank you.

Print everything from the site, the receipt, the application form with photo, the acknowledgment slip, and everything the site can give and take along. Cheers

So now it begins. I'm really looking forward to seeing how Musk gets on with DOGE and the slashing of government expenditure and deployment of tech and AI and all that stuff. The US in this Trump administration, now uber-capitalist, is the most fertile ground for that to happen so we can see how it's done. The DOE will be axed, and apparently thousands of feckless civil servants will be automated away to go find something else to do and save the government money. Keenly interested in how the US manages this if all the promises made are executed as promised because it'll serve as a template of sorts for the rest of us, as we'll be able to see our future.

Interestingly, it was Musk as well, in one of his sober moments, who said something along the lines that the full deployment of AI will doom the human race. I tend to agree with him. When we hear everyone going on about AI and its potential for game changing, the decimation of white collar roles and all that, very few seem to consider the human cost. When everything automatable has been automated, and millions or tens of millions or hundreds of millions or whatever quantum of human beings are thrown out of work, and a percentage of them have managed to retrain in the remaining fields of endeavour that will survive (healthcare, any leftover tradesman roles (humanity will probably soon be living in prefabricated 3D-printed homes at some point) and those attempting to guide and direct AI applications), one wonders what'll happen to the rest of humanity.

For every human being who has the knowledge, opportunity, good fortune, desire and drive to make something exceptional of their situation, there are a million others who will not. Not everyone can retrain, not everyone can pivot to tech, and not everyone can suddenly discover an entrepreneurship gene hitherto buried in their genomes. It's quite likely that huge numbers will be out of work at some point. 1930s levels of unemployment are not unfeasible in the next half of the century. The rich countries will probably fund skilling and training schemes while trying to pay out even more unsustainable levels of benefits and dealing with societal consequences (increased crime and societal breakdown), fertility will fall even lower than it is now in rich countries while Africa and Asia continue to merrily reproduce, leading to more unwanted migration and instability and at some point the governments that can afford to do so, battling with declining tax revenues, will have to put together programs, possibly even up to the level of Great Depression-era type works programs, to give people something to do, ultimately resulting in absolutely no cost savings at all from automation or even increased expenditure. So the world ends up going around in circles for worse outcomes.

The tech bros and the financiers and their fellow travellers will end up ruling the earth ultimately, but I think it will most likely be scorched earth.

Time to grab my popcorn and watch.

Cyberknight:
So now it begins. I'm really looking forward to seeing how Musk gets on with DOGE and the slashing of government expenditure and deployment of tech and AI and all that stuff. The US in this Trump administration, now uber-capitalist, is the most fertile ground for that to happen so we can see how it's done. The DOE will be axed, and apparently thousands of feckless civil servants will be automated away to go find something else to do and save the government money. Keenly interested in how the US manages this if all the promises made are executed as promised because it'll serve as a template of sorts for the rest of us, as we'll be able to see our future.

Interestingly, it was Musk as well, in one of his sober moments, who said something along the lines that the full deployment of AI will doom the human race. I tend to agree with him. When we hear everyone going on about AI and its potential for game changing, the decimation of white collar roles and all that, very few seem to consider the human cost. When everything automatable has been automated, and millions or tens of millions or hundreds of millions or whatever quantum of human beings are thrown out of work, and a percentage of them have managed to retrain in the remaining fields of endeavour that will survive (healthcare, any leftover tradesman roles (humanity will probably soon be living in prefabricated 3D-printed homes at some point) and those attempting to guide and direct AI applications), one wonders what'll happen to the rest of humanity.

For every human being who has the knowledge, opportunity, good fortune, desire and drive to make something exceptional of their situation, there are a million others who will not. Not everyone can retrain, not everyone can pivot to tech, and not everyone can suddenly discover an entrepreneurship gene hitherto buried in their genomes. It's quite likely that huge numbers will be out of work at some point. 1930s levels of unemployment are not unfeasible in the next half of the century. The rich countries will probably fund skilling and training schemes while trying to pay out even more unsustainable levels of benefits and dealing with societal consequences (increased crime and societal breakdown), fertility will fall even lower than it is now in rich countries while Africa and Asia continue to merrily reproduce, leading to more unwanted migration and instability and at some point the governments that can afford to do so, battling with declining tax revenues, will have to put together programs, possibly even up to the level of Great Depression-era type works programs, to give people something to do, ultimately resulting in absolutely no cost savings at all from automation or even increased expenditure. So the world ends up going around in circles for worse outcomes.

The tech bros and the financiers and their fellow travellers will end up ruling the earth ultimately, but I think it will most likely be scorched earth.

Time to grab my popcorn and watch.

Couldn't agree more.

This is going to be an interesting time but people in the UK will not worry much...the universal credit is there to sort things out

Dumbo's executive orders
1. Ending birthright citizenship
2. Leave WHO
3. Leave Paris Agreement
4. Say there are only 2 genders
5. Immediately end all DEI programs
6. End working from home.
7. Pardon insurrectionists

Literally everything he said he would do.

However, us lawyers are hooting with laughter because the EO are riddled with typos and faulty lawyering . Also obviously written with AI.

Seriously he thinks he can stop birthright citizenship with an executive order. Smh

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jan/20/tump-executive-orders-list?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

(Can anybody access this link or is it behind a pay wall? Let me know if you can't access it)

missjekyll:
Dumbo's executive orders
1. Ending birthright citizenship: Long overdue. The abuse was ridiculous. What an absurdity, of course 'poor' and 'lowly' people from poor and lowly nations will selfishly use their children without batting an eyelid, afterall no be British citizen we dey read of wey dey use visit visa go born pikin for US of A. At least be legal before using your child as a wooden bridge...so so low, using babies as pawns and for selfish interest. Humans are something
2. Leave WHO: He is president of the USA. So America first. Leave and re-enter on workable, sensible and favorable terms
3. Leave Paris Agreement: Same as above
4. Say there are only 2 genders: An indeed there are
5. Immediately end all DEI programs: Still somewhat flowing from the above. Woke foke need to wake up from Lalaland. Lol
6. End working from home.: No comment
7. Pardon insurrectionists: They've been punished for 4 years. Hunter wasn't punished at all and still got pardoned. Shi happens jare. Las Las na wound dem wound person, dem no kee person. The people wey die na even rioters wey police shoot, rioters we get high BP kpai, and 4 police wey decide to kee demselves afterwards

Literally everything he said he would do.

However, us lawyers are hooting with laughter because the EO are riddled with typos and faulty lawyering . Also obviously written with AI.

Seriously he thinks he can stop birthright citizenship with an executive order. Smh

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jan/20/tump-executive-orders-list?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

(Can anybody access this link or is it behind a pay wall? Let me know if you can't access it)

that Trump speech didn't tickle your fancy? Let me see morose Kamala speaking that convincingly and eloquently for one hour at 78....Girl can't even do it now in her 60's. Haha

lavida001:
How much does one need to spend to get 12500 worth of Avios ?

At most 12500, depends. Some purchases give 1 avios for £1 spent, others 2 or *3 avios

2nd amendment - “constitution is inviolable and must be interpreted literally at all times”.

14th amendment - “actually you know what? We are just going to reinterpret the constitution here”.

What should be clear to everyone is that all the talk about constitutionalism, economy etc. are all thin veneers over the actual things bothering MAGA and their counterparts in other countries.

One can take any view as to those concerns but the key thing for immigrants to be aware of is how things might play out going forward (flare-ups of mass hysteria about the economy can be very different from mass hysteria about ethnicity).

In short, plan your lives accordingly to secure yourself and your interests just as transactionally as the country is doing with you.

Treadway:
that Trump speech didn't tickle your fancy? Let me see morose Kamala speaking that convincingly and eloquently for one hour at 78....Girl can't even do it now in her 60's. Haha

How do you mean people abused the citizeship by birth? All I see in your response to missjekyII is a personal beef you have for those who thought it wise to get citizenship for their babies in the U.S. It is not their fault they can afford it.

Yes, Trump wants to end citizenship by birth through an executive order. Anything is possible in today's world. However, can this be done through an executive order? This is something that is in the constitution and will need an amendment.

Amending a constitution cannot be done in one week. Let's see how the week unfolds.

Poanan:
How do you mean people abused the citizeship by birth? All I see in your response to missjekyII is a personal beef you have for those who thought it wise to get citizenship for their babies in the U.S. It is not their fault they can afford it.

Yes, Trump wants to end citizenship by birth through an executive order. Anything is possible in today's world. However, can this be done through an executive order? This is something that is in the constitution and will need an amendment.

Amending a constitution cannot be done in one week. Let's see how the week unfolds.

Give me one reason why Nigerian politicians and elite refuse to give birth to their children in Nigeria.

Maybe with this order they will quit being greedy and begin to fix the dilapidated healthcare system in Nigeria or they will find another safe haven that offers citizenship by birth.

missjekyll:
Dumbo's executive orders
1. Ending birthright citizenship
2. Leave WHO
3. Leave Paris Agreement
4. Say there are only 2 genders
5. Immediately end all DEI programs
6. End working from home.
7. Pardon insurrectionists

Literally everything he said he would do.

However, us lawyers are hooting with laughter because the EO are riddled with typos and faulty lawyering . Also obviously written with AI.

Seriously he thinks he can stop birthright citizenship with an executive order. Smh

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jan/20/tump-executive-orders-list?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

(Can anybody access this link or is it behind a pay wall? Let me know if you can't access it)

Better face your uk issues.

Goodenoch:
2nd amendment - “constitution is inviolable and must be interpreted literally at all times”.

14th amendment - “actually you know what? We are just going to reinterpret the constitution here”.

What should be clear to everyone is that all the talk about constitutionalism, economy etc. are all thin veneers over the actual things bothering MAGA and their counterparts in other countries.

One can take any view as to those concerns but the key thing for immigrants to be aware of is how things might play out going forward (flare-ups of mass hysteria about the economy can be very different from mass hysteria about ethnicity).

In short, plan your lives accordingly to secure yourself and your interests just as transactionally as the country is doing with you.

well said, in short, there is no need to lose sleep because there is nothing unpredictable about the season upon us. It's as clear as daylight. I hope folks will yield and take your advice seriously. Making noise now is just plain ignorance, not all consequences are avoidable.

Poanan:
How do you mean people abused the citizeship by birth? All I see in your response to missjekyII is a personal beef you have for those who thought it wise to get citizenship for their babies in the U.S. It is not their fault they can afford it.

Yes, Trump wants to end citizenship by birth through an executive order. Anything is possible in today's world. However, can this be done through an executive order? This is something that is in the constitution and will need an amendment.

Amending a constitution cannot be done in one week. Let's see how the week unfolds.

lol. That's my view on it sha, just my own view. If something is not sustainable or is being abused, I have no qualms with changing it. Let's see how it unfolds. I gather though that this isn't really so much an amendment of the constitution, as it is a direct and open challenge to what has been vs what should be the interpretation of that statute/article/portion of it. You know these things can be funny. Yes he won the house and Senate and SCOTUS but obviously doesn't have them all in absolute terms, so yes I do know it could go either way, so I'm still observing. I merely said I understand and agree with his logic for trying to change that.

The will of the majority will prevail. But baba don do wetin him talk say he go do

pS: I also was just majorly pulling missjekyll's legs. She no like my guy rara, me sef no like her babe rara..lol

I wasn’t sure of the delivery envelope. Thank you.

jedisco:
What part do you need more explanation on?

The delivery envelope and postal order can both be sorted at your local post office. Only thing to note is that the receivers address on the envelope would be yours.

God bless.

Goke7:
Print everything from the site, the receipt, the application form with photo, the acknowledgment slip, and everything the site can give and take along. Cheers

.

missjekyll:
Dumbo's executive orders
1. Ending birthright citizenship
2. Leave WHO
3. Leave Paris Agreement
4. Say there are only 2 genders
5. Immediately end all DEI programs
6. End working from home.
7. Pardon insurrectionists

Literally everything he said he would do.

However, us lawyers are hooting with laughter because the EO are riddled with typos and faulty lawyering . Also obviously written with AI.

Seriously he thinks he can stop birthright citizenship with an executive order. Smh

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jan/20/tump-executive-orders-list?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

(Can anybody access this link or is it behind a pay wall? Let me know if you can't access it)

1. He can't and he knows it.

2. Yes he can and have done that before, when he left office Biden re-entered

3. Again the same as WHO, He previously withdrew in 2017, before Biden re-entered.

4. Another one of those bs from him, he can't enforce that.

5. He can only do that within govt establishment, private organisations will make their own decision to end that program if they so wish.

6, Again just like No5 he has limited power to enforce that.

7. No surprise there.

This is just the repeat of his first time in office, mostly noise with little or no substance.

justwise:
1. He can't and he knows it.

2. Yes he can and have done that before, when he left office Biden re-entered

3. Again the same as WHO, He previously withdrew in 2017, before Biden re-entered.

4. Another one of those bs from him, he can't enforce that.

5. He can only do that within govt establishment, private organisations will make their own decision to end that program if they so wish.

6, Again just like No5 he has limited power to enforce that.

7. No surprise there.

This is just the repeat of his first time in office, mostly noise with little or no substance.

Many big organizations already abolishing DEI

https://buildremote.co/companies/ending-dei/

lavida001:
Better face your uk issues.

On the contrary ,sir, I will face whatever and wherever I so choose. Don't you ever try to tell me what issues I should champion. Thank you

Goke7:
Many big organizations already abolishing DEI

https://buildremote.co/companies/ending-dei/

Some are just knee-jerk reaction to Trumpism

missjekyll:
On the contrary ,sir, I will face whatever and wherever I so choose. Don't you ever try to tell me what issues I should champion. Thank you

This our fight na till eternity 🤣

missjekyll:
Dumbo's executive orders
1. Ending birthright citizenship
2. Leave WHO
3. Leave Paris Agreement
4. Say there are only 2 genders
5. Immediately end all DEI programs
6. End working from home.
7. Pardon insurrectionists

Literally everything he said he would do.

However, us lawyers are hooting with laughter because the EO are riddled with typos and faulty lawyering . Also obviously written with AI.

Seriously he thinks he can stop birthright citizenship with an executive order. Smh

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jan/20/tump-executive-orders-list?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

(Can anybody access this link or is it behind a pay wall? Let me know if you can't access it)

There are 2 gender male and female. Prove me wrong

Goke7:
Many big organizations already abolishing DEI

https://buildremote.co/companies/ending-dei/

Yes DEI must DIE. There is not diversity in China yet, they are doing so well. Maybe country’s should start developing their nations rather than wanting to be included and identified in another country.