On departing the U.S. (simulcast at contentgoeshere.com)

[substitute]

Since a lot of my Internet-linked friends and acquaintances are either liberals, libertarians, or leftists I have heard a lot lately about leaving the U.S. because of disgust with or fear of the current government and their policies.

Let's talk sense about this.

1. You can't just "move to Canada" or Sweden or France or the U.K. or anywhere, really. Unless you're independently wealthy and/or retired it just doesn't work that way. You have to go through an immigration process and it's long and painful. It can easily take years for even an experienced professional with a job offer to get through the thicket of bureaucracy that any well-run country erects for immigrants.
   
   
2. You can't run from Imperial America. Canada is an especially laughable choice here; when we sneeze, they get a cold. The long arm of U.S. power extends to every place in the world, certainly to every place you could stand living. Go up there and watch things get worse here if you want. At some point an apologetic Mountie will arrive to explain that you're being deported back because of a joint security agreement.
   
   
3. Foreign countries, surprisingly, are different. The peculiar luxuries, freedoms, and opportunities of our country will not be present there. Things cost a lot more, the weather is different, and the justice system may shock you. If you're not already an experienced traveler who enjoys surprises and strangeness, it's entirely possible you'll hate everywhere but home.
   
   
4. Cowardice is not rewarded, either in respect or in results. Stay and fight for what you believe. Whether you are a libertarian who despises Ashcroft's new police state, a liberal who rejects warmongering and theocracy, or a core leftist despairing at corporate America, there is work to be done here. Defeatism is a self-fulfilling apocalypse.
   

In sum, don't leave unless you have another good reason to do so and a plan for achieving it. The wealth and privilege and freedoms you have as your birthright carry with them the obligation to serve your country in its time of need. Be a citizen first for a change. If you leave here, your new home will demand no less of you.

Comments

[bikupan.livejournal.com]

"The peculiar luxuries, freedoms, and opportunities of our country will not be present there. Things cost a lot more, the weather is different, and the justice system may shock you."

haha, are you serious here?
yeah you might be shocked to find out that not only can you cuss on tv, there is no censorship, no death penalty, free healthcare, free education and four seasons.

not but seriously, of course running away from the problem isn't the answer. get involved, evolve the democrats, prepare for the next election and learn from mistakes.

Don't personalize this!

[substitute.livejournal.com]

I wasn't saying that every country in the world -- including yours -- has a worse system than ours, don't be silly!

But it is true that Americans are often shocked when they discover our justice system isn't worldwide and that they are presumed guilty rather than innocent in France, for example, or don't have to be let out of jail within 48 hours if not charged.

I'm not sure what Americans would hate about Sweden most likely because I haven't been there. I'm making a general point.

[bikupan.livejournal.com]

oh i know, i was just generalizing. i think it's a common american thought to think that their system is so much more 'free' and better than the rest of the world. while actually europeans see it directly the other way around; we shake our heads at yours.

i agree with you completely buddy. look at me, i am leaving the great land of sweden that even bin laden praises, for that doomed land you call home.

[stonemirror.livejournal.com]

"Free" in the sense of "the government sucks fifty or sixty cents of every dollar out of your paycheck before you even see it in order to pay for this," right...?

[bikupan.livejournal.com]

please first learn math, then look up a chart of the highest living standards in the world.

[stonemirror.livejournal.com]

Did you intend to actually say something here? I think you must have omitted it.

Are you claiming that the services (paid for by confiscatory taxes) are in fact "free", or that they don't actually tax people in any of those places?

By the bye, I majored in math. And I'd prefer to be responsible for my own living standard than to buy it back from the government.

[bikupan.livejournal.com]

well please inform me which countries have a 50-60% tax?

since you are so against taxes and paying your own bills, enjoy bush.

[stonemirror.livejournal.com]

I expect I'll enjoy him as little as I'd have enjoyed Kerry. I voted for Badnarik.

Marginal tax rates, overall, go as high as 70% in places like Belgium and Finland.