Political Musings

Escape from America

Oct 28, 2006

I recently ran across a reference to a forthcoming new book, “Getting Out: Your Guide to Leaving America,” by Mark Ehrman. Here’s the blurb for it from Amazon:

Had enough?

Whether you find the government oppressive, the economy spiraling out of control, or if you simply want adventure, you're not alone. In increasing numbers, the idea is talked about openly: Expatriate.

Over three hundred thousand Americans emigrate each year, and more than a million go to foreign lands for lengthy stays.

…Getting Out shows you where you can most easily gain residence, citizenship, or work permits; where can you live for a fraction of the cost of where you're living now; and what countries would be most compatible with your lifestyle, gender, age, or political beliefs.

So if you've had enough of what they're selling here and want to take your life elsewhere - well, isn't that the American way? At any rate, it's not illegal. Not yet, anyway.

I have not and probably won’t read this book, so can’t vouch for its usefulness, accuracy, etc. But it’s highly interesting that it is being published (and marketed in this way), and I will be curious to see how well it sells.

Not surprisingly, many people write to me because they’ve found my website while searching for information about how to move to Italy. A largeish proportion of these, and others who share their goal, phrase it in exactly those terms: “I want to get out of America.”

You may think: “Who cares? They may be wanting to get out, but there are tens of millions of immigrants wanting to get IN.”

Yes, but… Those trying to get in are mostly economic migrants, for whom America is still the land of opportunity – or at least a lot more opportunity than where they came from. Even minimum wage and no health care at Wal-Mart looks better than starvation.

But the people looking to get OUT of America are most often liberal intellectuals, educated people who have much to give their country, but find themselves increasingly troubled by what America seems to be losing: freedom, dignity, tolerance, righteousness (as opposed to self-righteousness – got plenty o’ that).

I am already expatriated, but in the last few years, I’ve had several moments in which I thought of renouncing my American citizenship. Abu Ghraib was the first: an America that tortures is not the America I thought I knew. (And now: go ahead - it’s legal!) The second moment was Hurricane Katrina. An America that can leave thousands of its own people to die in squalor and think it’s doing a good job – that’s not the America I loved.

And now habeas corpus is effectively suspended. On any visit to America, my (non-citizen) husband could be thrown into prison on the government’s whim, for any or no reason, and held without trial, even tortured, indefinitely. It could even happen to me, a regular US citizen.

I could turn a blind eye – my family don’t have Muslim names or brown skins, surely we’re safe? But I have friends with both brown skins and Muslim names. What happens to them, happens to me. And what’s happening now should not happen to anybody. In civilized countries, even terrorists get trials. Hell, even in Iraq, Saddam bloody Hussein is having a trial with a lawyer for his defense. How can America – ostensibly bringing the fruits of democracy to Iraq – do less?

Something is seriously broken in America. No wonder that many “native Americans” are thinking about getting out.

your thoughts?

Someone Remind Me - Why Am I Paying US Taxes?

July 26, 2006

The US is one of the few countries in the world that requires its citizens to pay income tax no matter where they are actually living. I'm beginning to wonder why I bother. I am dubious that the Social Security system will be worth much by the time I retire, and I won't be in the US to "benefit" from Medicare.

Until recently, I saw my citizenship (and the taxes I pay for it) as a kind of insurance: if things were to go really rotten in some foreign country where I happened to be, the US Marines would come and rescue me.

I have now learned that, while they might come and rescue me, they'll make me pay for the privilege, as they are doing with American citizens in Lebanon. (I've been unable to find out how much they're charging.)

Hmm. Maybe I should just give up US citizenship. Then I might be less likely to ever NEED rescuing.

FDR monument, Washington, DC

Foresight

"As democracy is perfected, the office of president represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron." H.L. Mencken, July 26, 1920

Pirate Politics

Sept 16, 2004

The Usenet, that free-for-all haven of digital pirates, is an interesting place to observe grassroots political opinion. Generally, any new movie is uploaded (made available, illegally that is) for only a week or two around its release date, but "Fahrenheit 9/11" has been uploaded over and over again for months. Michael Moore has said that he wants the widest possible audience to see it, so presumably he doesn't mind - though his distributors may feel differently.

Lesser-known films in a similar vein are also repeatedly uploaded, with titles like "A Colossal Mistake - Iraq, the Whole Truth Uncovered." And some conspiracy thing about how Bush was actually responsible for 9/11 (I have not seen either of these, and can't comment on how silly they may or may not be).

For the opposition, we have: "In Memorian [sic] 9/11 - an event that John Kerry, Michael Moore and the Dumocrats FORGET!"

People from both sides of the political spectrum have been posting clips from the conventions, and other items of more or less weird political rantery.

The audiobooks groups feature books from Maureen Dowd (of the New York Times - this is probably good), Jim Hightower, and Molly Ivins (these last two are Texas liberals - yes, there actually are Texas liberals, in large numbers even; they mostly seek refuge in and around Austin).

The Greeks

Aug 30, 2004

A few months ago we watched The Greeks, a PBS (American public television) series which I bought on DVD because Ross was studying ancient Greek history. From this account, it appears that the Athenians invented not only democracy, but also politics as we know it today.

The way PBS tells the tale, Themistocles, an Athenian who fought in the first war in which the Athenians trounced the numerically-superior Persians, expected that Persia would one day return to take revenge. All his fellow citizens were content to believe that, once beaten, the Persians would never be heard from again. When the Athenians stumbled upon a silver mine near their city, Themistocles wanted to use the unexpected windfall to build warships. But he knew that his fellow citizens didn't take the Persian threat seriously, so he invented a different threat: he convinced them that they were in danger from a small neighboring state, and should build the world's largest fleet of warships to use against those people.

The Athenians fell for it. They voted to built ships, and the fleet was completed just in time for the Persians' return (and defeat at Salamis). So we have an early example of a politician tricking the voters into something that he believes is good for them. In this case, he was right. But, far more often, even politicians who start out with the finest intentions fall prey to the "anything to get re-elected" syndrome. And many (e.g. Italian prime minister Berlusconi) get into politics for motives having little to do with the civic good.

You might want to have a look at: The Buying of the President 2004: Who's Really Bankrolling Bush and His Democratic Challengers--and What They Expect in Return by Charles Lewis

Where's the Music?

July 17, 2004

I'm old enough to remember the late 60s/early 70s and the protests against the Vietnam war. I grew up singing protest songs, both rock and folk. So here we are, protesting again - but where's the music? Michael Moore reportedly was upset because he couldn't use The Who's Won't Get Fooled Again in "Fahrenheit 9/11," so instead he used a tune by Neil Young, another aging rocker. Don't any young musicians have anything to say?

Here's a reminder from the Vietnam era; I listened to this while writing last week's War is Virtual Hell piece.

"I want to thank you, sergeant, for the help you've been to me.
You've taught me how to kill and how to hate the enemy.
And I know that I'll be ready when they march me off to war,
And I know that it won't matter that I've never killed before."

Tom Paxton, The Willing Conscript