# How do Americans view expatriates? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 20, 2006, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-americans-view-expatriates/349116 "2006-03-20T12:32:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2006, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-americans-view-expatriates/349116/21 "2006-03-20T22:57:12Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > There may be a few provincial yahoos here, but most Americans understand that there are many wonderful places to live around the world, and nobody objects if an American chooses to move to one of them for economic or personal reasons. > > There is a certain breed of expatriate that DOES rankle, however. If you’re an American left-winger who moves overseas, and then spends the next decade regaling bored listeners with tales of how evil, backward and contemptible the USA is, well… guess what? The folks back home think you’re an asshole, and don’t miss you a bit. This sums it up for me as well. An example of the latter is the ex-American who wrote a screed recently for some Canadian publication about how warm-hearted and wunnerful Canadians are compared to vile, nasty Americans. Not only does that sort of behavior earn you the disgust of the folks back home, but I suspect that a lot of people in the expat’s new country recognize it as silly hyperbole and a means of ass-kissing the new neighbors. ---
**Author:** ![CynicalGabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@CynicalGabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CynicalGabe)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2006, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-americans-view-expatriates/349116/22 "2006-03-21T00:07:23Z")
I doubt most americans even know what an expat is. ---
**Author:** ![Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laughing_Lagomorph)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2006, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-americans-view-expatriates/349116/23 "2006-03-21T01:04:19Z")
> [@CynicalGabe](#): > > I doubt most americans even know what an expat is. It’s someone like Drew Bledsoe. Right? ---
**Author:** ![Rodgers01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@Rodgers01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodgers01)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2006, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-americans-view-expatriates/349116/24 "2006-03-21T01:50:41Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > This sums it up for me as well. > > An example of the latter is the ex-American who wrote a screed recently for some Canadian publication about how warm-hearted and wunnerful Canadians are compared to vile, nasty Americans. Not only does that sort of behavior earn you the disgust of the folks back home, but I suspect that a lot of people in the expat’s new country recognize it as silly hyperbole and a means of ass-kissing the new neighbors. Ditto and ditto. I’ve lived abroad a couple times in a couple different circumstances (though never permanently enough to truly qualify as an “expat,” I think), and I’ve never once heard a negative comment about it from anyone. As far as I can remember, almost everyone I’ve discussed it with has expressed interest and enthusiasm in it. I _suspect_ that if I decided (or was able) to permanently move abroad I might get some more confusion (ie, “What have they got that we haven’t got?”) and maybe some annoyance, but I don’t think any hostility. And I don’t think that would be too different for anyone who decided to leave a rich, first world country with a history of _receiving_ immigrants. ---
**Author:** ![rbroome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/838e76/32.png) [@rbroome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rbroome)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2006, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-americans-view-expatriates/349116/25 "2006-03-21T01:55:01Z")
> [@Sophistry and Illusion](#): > > I have the impression that the average American views Americans living abroad as somehow bad and lacking in patriotism. Here’s what got me thinking about this: several years ago, I was around some American college students who were discussing the American kid in Singapore who (I think) vandalized some cars and was sentenced to being caned/whipped/something similar. The discussion was whether the US should intervene; the consensus was “no,” and one reason given was that the kid and his parents were expats anyhow and so to hell with them. This comment was greeted by nods of the head, with no apparent dissent. Is this characteristic of how Americans view American expats? I have never heard anything negative about expats. I almost never hear about them at all, but on those occasions there are no negative comments. Almost always when the subject comes up it is about something negative that happened to the Americans in a foreign land. The kid in Singapore, recently some elderly female expats living in Mexico were targets of sexual assaults and then they had to suffer (they didn’t suffer quietly!) going to the Mexican police, some others who, to American surprise, discover that the American system of justice doesn’t apply overseas. That is the only time the subject comes up. But they are not viewed negatively. ---
**Author:** ![bizzwire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/958977/32.png) [@bizzwire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bizzwire)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2006, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-americans-view-expatriates/349116/26 "2006-03-21T01:59:32Z")
> [@CC](#): > > **Shag** , I think I probably misread your post and I’ll cop to a bit of knee-jerking there. huh…I found it to be a rather cheap swipe myself, and I don’t think I mis-read it. (shrugs). Guess my definition of “liberal” differs from **Shag** ’s. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2006, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-americans-view-expatriates/349116/27 "2006-03-21T02:11:42Z")
> [@bizzwire](#): > > huh…I found it to be a rather cheap swipe myself, and I don’t think I mis-read it. (shrugs). Guess my definition of “liberal” differs from **Shag** ’s. The title of the thread is “How Do Americans View Expatriates?” Now I know that all Americans are not of one mind so the closest we can do in answering this question is to talk about generalities. I feel confident in saying that the main groups to experience backlash for being expatriates are those on the left side of the spectrum and use that as a reason for leaving. Most everyone else (except child pornographers that defect to Thailand) gets a free pass. I didn’t state that as my beliefs. They just are and others in the thread have said the same thing. ---
**Author:** ![xash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c6cbf5/32.png) [@xash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xash)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2006, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-americans-view-expatriates/349116/28 "2006-03-21T07:31:45Z")
Moved to IMHO. - **xash** General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2006, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-americans-view-expatriates/349116/29 "2006-03-21T12:45:08Z")
OK, so there’s the attitude that people who become an expat because they disagree with America’s policies are contemptible, yet if they remain in the US, they get the “America, love it or leave it” saw. Which is it? ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2006, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-americans-view-expatriates/349116/30 "2006-03-21T14:51:37Z")
I don’t go back very often anymore, but most of the Americans I’ve encountered who weren’t already overseas or didn’t already know me thought it sounded interesting. Of course, no matter how much better I feel I fit here, I don’t make a big deal of it or try to put down the US to justify my choices. I did get a fair amount of crap from one person, though. In his mind, America = perfect freedom, other countries = less freedom, someone who voluntarily gives up freedom for personal gain = coward. QED. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2006, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-americans-view-expatriates/349116/31 "2006-03-21T17:43:33Z")
> [@Sublight](#): > > …I did get a fair amount of crap from one person, though. In his mind, America = perfect freedom, other countries = less freedom, someone who voluntarily gives up freedom for personal gain = coward. QED. Just one thing to do, then. Deport the dude! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2006, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-americans-view-expatriates/349116/32 "2006-03-22T04:50:36Z")
> [@An Arky](#): > > OK, so there’s the attitude that people who become an expat because they disagree with America’s policies are contemptible, yet if they remain in the US, they get the “America, love it or leave it” saw. Which is it? Why must we choose? Why can’t we tell them to get lost AND continue despising them after they’re gone? ---
**Author:** ![Ruffian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/71e660/32.png) [@Ruffian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruffian)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2006, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-americans-view-expatriates/349116/33 "2006-03-22T05:37:19Z")
With more and more respect. ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2006, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-americans-view-expatriates/349116/34 "2006-03-22T06:05:58Z")
I wonder though, should military stationed overseas count as expats? The term is usually used for people who are overseas on their own. In the military, you’re still working for the US government, under and alongside other Americans, for payment in US dollars, living under US rules and subject to US laws (and AFAIK, not subject to local law for on-base activities), all within (at least at the bases around here) a microcosm of American society. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2006, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-americans-view-expatriates/349116/35 "2006-03-22T06:25:50Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > I feel confident in saying that the main groups to experience backlash for being expatriates are those on the left side of the spectrum and use that as a reason for leaving. Most everyone else (except child pornographers that defect to Thailand) gets a free pass. Are there really huge groups of liberals who leave America because of the politics? :rolleyes: People talk about it, but what percent of expats leave because of this? I’ve been an expat for 18 years and have yet to meet anyone whose main reason for leaving Amercia was because of disagreeing with politics, either right or left. Most of us have transplanted for work or the love of the culture or an individual or some combination of these. Of course, I live in Japan, so one won’t expect a huge rush of “communists” among the 50,000 plus American expats here, but I just can’t see that happening often. Moving to a foreign country is not trivial effort for most people, so you just don’t really see folks pack up because they don’t like the current administration. Sure, there were a few very vocal people who talked about it after the 2004 election, but did anyone really move? For **Sublight** , no military are not usually considered expats. ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2006, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-americans-view-expatriates/349116/36 "2006-03-22T07:50:59Z")
I’ll wager the vast majority of expats who leave because of some idiotic policy of this country tend to go Canada or Western Europe, not Tokyo. Let’s not forget the tuition angle: the cost of public post-secondary education in Canada is significantly cheaper than the states, with high academic standards. My brother is enjoying university in Toronto so much he may well stay there after graduation, which is looming. ---
**Author:** ![Zabali\_Clawbane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ecd19e/32.png) [@Zabali\_Clawbane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zabali_Clawbane)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2006, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-americans-view-expatriates/349116/37 "2006-03-22T08:05:08Z")
Weren’t there two people caned, one an adult, and one a teenager? 😕 It seems to me that within about a two year period there were two seperate cases of American citizens being caned, in the same country IIRC. ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2006, 10:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-americans-view-expatriates/349116/38 "2006-03-22T10:01:21Z")
There is no “average American.” I tend to envy those who have a chance to live abroad and to think of them as well-rounded. That’s too much of a generality too. I spent a wonderful summer in Denmark and was very impressed with the lifestyle and kindness of the Danes. When I returned to America, most people were open to my experiences and impressions. One colleague, a teacher, cornered me in the faculty lounge and said that he didn’t care how wonderful Denmark was, America was the best country in the world! Go figure. ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2006, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-americans-view-expatriates/349116/39 "2006-03-22T17:16:01Z")
I have some relatives who are ex-pats, and many friends who have moved back and forth. Never have I heard anyone express disdain for them. Envy, sure. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2006, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-americans-view-expatriates/349116/40 "2006-03-22T20:27:43Z")
> [@Sublight](#): > > I wonder though, should military stationed overseas count as expats? The term is usually used for people who are overseas on their own. In the military, you’re still working for the US government, under and alongside other Americans, for payment in US dollars, living under US rules and subject to US laws (and AFAIK, not subject to local law for on-base activities), all within (at least at the bases around here) a microcosm of American society. No I did not consider myself an expat and neither did the government. My home of record was still in New Jersey and I had to pay NJ state income taxes during the two plus years I was in Germany. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-americans-view-expatriates/349116.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-americans-view-expatriates/349116.md?page=3)