When I look at systems of people the first thing I look at is failure: how does the system/individual fail, what sort of feedback loop is there, and how are changes made?

So Steve's statement about the culture not accepting failure was a red flag. His statement that the government was the prime investor was another red flag. (Governments are notorious for not admitting failure. To do so would challenge the their authority and ability) And once he said that bankruptcy laws there were draconian? The red alert started going off. It's simply non-doable.

It's a shame. I love the scenery, and the people are terrific. But a million small failures make a great success, and if you can't fail easily, quickly, and learn from it? You're never going to develop much of anything.