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

Indeed

[gcrumb.livejournal.com]

But the most compelling reason not to leave the US is that if you do, you'll leave it to the rest of them.

It's not the first time in your history that reason and justice have been the minority view. It's disgusting and disheartening, yes. But if you disagree with the situation, it's your civic duty to oppose it.

The ballot box is only one means to achieve this. If it fails you, there are any number of other means to ensure that your voice is not lost. In fact, it's more important now than ever that you find those means.

Those of us who aren't citizens of the US have our work cut out for us too. The country that I'm currently living in just signed a reciprocal agreement not to allow their respective citizens to be indicted by the International Criminal Court. This was one of the conditions of its receiving aid money from the Bush regime. Convincing people of the folly of this action is exceedingly difficult, because the ones who stand to suffer most from its reversal are those in power.

As many have said before, something worth dying for is worth living for. Americans claim to be proud of the sacrifices their forebears made in order to achieve freedom and equality. Maybe now is the time to consider what your descendants will say about you.

Re: Indeed

[(Anonymous)]

I'd willingly die for my country in a civil war...sadly, i don't thin anyone gives a fuck anymore. The fundys have taken control and all we can do is wait. Personally, I hope that Canada annexes the northeast. There are dark times ahead, may history have mercy on us all.

Re: Indeed

[gcrumb.livejournal.com]

You might have misconstrued what I was saying. It's easy to die for a cause. It doesn't take but a moment or two, and then your worries are over. It's much harder to live for one. That implies ceaseless worry, complications, conflict between the real and the ideal, and probably a lot of suffering.

One of the items of US popular rhetoric I like least is the ease with which people will summon up the things worth dying for. There *are* things worth dying for, but they are very few.

Leave the things worth dying for to the Republicans, and concentrate on life. It's harder than the alternative, but heck, you're smarter than they are; you can do it. 8^)

Re: Indeed

[azathar.livejournal.com]

I have no problem singing Oh Canada, and I live in Massachusetts. I'd be happy if New England went north, and the border moved a bit from where it is now.

Of course, its only a dream, I don't think it would really happen. Be nice though, it'd be a hell of a lot easier to go and visit my cousins if we did go Canadian.