Ramifications of US interest in Greenland

GRAPHIC DESIGNER
LEXIE THAYER

EDITOR
GAGE MITCHELL

The U.S. recently negotiated nearly total access to the island of Greenland outside of civilian areas for military and investment purposes. U.S. demands against its ally directly impact daily life for millions of people as students and netizens.

One of the most immediate impacts of the Greenland crisis is related to A.I. Many students use A.I., many students hate A.I., and Greenland is essential for expanding A.I. infrastructure. Urged by US tech companies, the Trump administration intends to use the island for A.I. investment.

Greenland’s cold climate and abundant hydroelectricity make it prime real estate for A.I. supercenters. Several U.S. A.I. projects are hoping to build massive data centers on the island. Greenland is home to 25 of 31 rare minerals that are essential in A.I. infrastructure, according to the European Commission.

Students can expect a more expansive presence of A.I. online in the near future due to U.S. access to these resources and realestate. Whether you like A.I. or not, the Greenland deal will make it a more invasive part of American life, particularly for students. As more supercenters are constructed it becomes harder to entirely avoid A.I. in academics. Staff have varying ideas on whether expanding A.I. is good for academics.

“Enlightenment [is in the] “dare to know’” is the argument of Dr. Ben Taylor, Professor of Political Science.

“[For] education [to remain beneficial], teachers need to create incentives that force students away from technology so that they cannot avoid thinking for themselves,” said Taylor.

Another consequence of the Greenland crisis is an oncoming increase in prices. Members of the European Union, along with Canada, are looking to China, India and South America to replace existing trade deals with the U.S. What this means is that American consumers can expect prices for goods to increase as allies withdraw from trade agreements with the U.S.

“[The U.S. has developed a system of] aggressive, nationalistic domestic politics, in which people from other places around the world do not matter. Trumpism exclusively cares about those who live in the United States—and indeed, only a wealthy subset thereof. According to their reasoning, whatever America ‘needs,’ America gets, other people and places be damned,” said Taylor.

Greenland was a demonstration that U.S. allies’ sovereignty, the right to self-determination, is no longer respected by America. This realization encourages countries to form new relationships around the U.S.

Students are often some of the first people to be impacted by rising prices. As food and resource costs increase, so does tuition and fees. Comparatively inflated U.S. currency reduces the effectiveness of the U.S.D. when converted to other currencies, meaning you can buy less for the same amount of money.