Recently I reviewed the book The Age of American Unreason and noted that today America’s hottest exports to Europe are "infotainment" and junk science. Millions of Americans reject the science of evolution and instead embrace "creationism" – literal interpretation of the Bible that the earth was created in six days approximately six thousand years ago. According to the creationists, humans and dinosaurs cohabited the earth. Just this week it was reported that Texas State Board of Education is again considering a science
curriculum that teaches the “strengths and weaknesses” of evolution,
setting an example that several other states are likely to follow. This
is code for teaching creationism. Texas has the second largest public school system in the US. Thousands of Americans have flocked to the Creation Museum in Kentucky to see replicas of Noah’s Ark and learn about the "science" of the Bible.
Now a group of entrepreneurial creationists want to build a "Genesis Amusement Park" in the vicinity of Heidelberg, so Germans can finally wean themselves of Darwin:
Der
biblische Vergnügungspark soll im Raum Heidelberg entstehen. Dort plant die
in Zürich ansässige Firma Genesis-Land AG bis 2012 auf einem rund 50 Hektar
großen Gelände ihr rund 120 Millionen Euro teures Projekt. Entstehen sollen
unter anderem eine in Originalgröße gebaute Arche Noah, Museen, Achterbahn,
Übernachtungsbetriebe und Vortragssäle. (The Biblical amusement park is to be built near Heidelberg. There the Zurich-based company Genesis Land AG hopes to complete its project that will cost 120 million Euros on a 50 hectares land parcel. The attractions will include a "actual size" Noah’s Ark, museums, roller coaster, hotel accomodations and lecture halls.)
American tourists figure into the business model for the park and its location: "Schließlich
sei der Raum Heidelberg besonders für US-Amerikaner eines der
Hauptreiseziele in Europa." (Certainly the Heidelberg area is a top tourist destination for Americans).
The Swiss developers are having some difficulty raising the necessary capital for the park from European investors. No problem: US private equity groups know that investing in ignorance and junk science provides a superior return. It is America’s newest growth industry and it is going global.
