Hey There!
I want to do something kind of weird today. Right now, it's Thursday, I'll be uploading
this on Tuesday, but it's Thursday and right now in Great Britain they're voting on Brexit.
And one of the dumber talking points that they’re rolling with is that uh Turkey Is
about to join the EU. And 76 Million Turkish people are all going to move here, and they’re
gonna they’re gonna swamp Britain, blah, blah, blah. Because Turkey is apparently such
a horrible place that uh the entire population is gonna leave. That’s sorta that’s sorta
the theory. Because Turkey Turkey is a third world country. There’s nothing here but
camels and and and Jihadists basically right? I mean That’s the story right? Um So right
now, uh they’re voting on Brexit uh and I’m actually in Turkey.
This is sort of, I wouldn't call it the middle of Turkey, but it's certainly the middle of
nowhere in Turkey. I'm driving up from some of the archaeological sites to make a ferry
boat. So we're in the interior. I just want to, just want to show you what a third world
country is looking like in Turkey. This is ... this is an elevated highway in the middle
of nowhere. This is frankly kind of extraordinary. Now don't get me wrong there are very serious
issues in Turkey right now. I won't discuss them because I enjoy living in Turkey. Which
should indicate what some of the issues with Turkey are right now. But there are also ecological
issues that development isn't as carefully executed as it would be in say Great Britain.
Because the EU has environmental regulations and things that are important like that. But
I've spent the past couple days road tripping around here. And I've been to small towns
in truly the middle of nowhere, you sort of get off the highway, and found stores that
are the equivalent of a big box retailer like Costco in the United States. Just warehouses
filled with goods. Filled with anything we'd recognize in the developed world. Turkey is
not an emerging country, or rather it is an emerging country, but it is not a third world
country. It's a second world country that's well on its way to becoming a first world
one. I don't want to ever advocate for the Turkish government but when people are mystified
about why this particular government has been successful you just have to look around Turkey.
And look around and see the incredible lifting in living standards that's just happening
literally as you watch. I just thought that was kind of a useful thing to point out.
So Uh... Third World Country?
Third World
For Sure.
Rob will you get me an iced latte?
I've never had a third world iced latte before. I'm fucking excited.