I’ve also wanted to live in England, but it just seems impossible without having a job first. And from what I hear, an American finding a job in my field is difficult there (the candidates tend to be hired from within).
The method I used was to be working for an American company in the US that had offices in the UK. The opportunity for a transfer came up and I took it. The UK office still had to advertise the job locally and jump through the work permit hoops to document why I was better for the job than any locals. After 4 years on work permits I could apply for permanent residence, and a year later citizenship.
Another route may be to come on a student visa then find a company willing to hire you and do the work permit stuff for you.
It can be difficult - especially since companies wishing to hire US citizens are pretty much required to demonstrate that there are no available British or EU candidates.
You could marry a British citizen, that might smooth your path 
Or, as the poster above alludes to, find a US company with a British office. There may also be employment agencies that could help you find companies willing to jump through the necessary legal hoops. That, I suppose, would depend on your field.
I migrated to England at the age of 2, so for some people it’s very easy indeed. One of my children migrated to England at the age of about 24, and he didn’t find it all that hard either.
(My mother was a UK-born UK citizen, so my son is there on an ancestry visa)
If you are in the medical professions, or are a veterinarian, or your parent or grandparent is a UK citizen, its easy. Otherwise, very hard. As others alluded to, the company that hires you has to prove they were unable to hire a qualified British candidate, and the visa process costs somewhere in the neighborhood of $4k for the company.
Or, alternatively, if you work in IT, and want to move to Ireland, its not so bad.
Basically, you have to have some skill the UK wants, or an employer who wants you badly enough to jump through the many, expensive, time consuming hoops.
This was brought up only a few weeks ago, IIRC in another forum. If I wasn’t bogged down with work I might search for it too 
What about emigrating without claiming a job, say if you are retired or self-employed?
Emigrating generally isn’t a problem, unless you’re from one of those repressive countries which require exit visas. Immigrating, on the other hand, is usually problematic unless you have or can easily obtain the necessary citizenship, or are working in certain occupations in high demand.
You’d almost certainly have to demonstrate that you have sufficient funds so that you are not likely to become a charge on the state.
Hey, do what I did – make sure you’re born to a British mother!
But if you’re not adept enough with the space-time continuum to manage that, you might look into what’s called the “highly skilled migrant program.” Basically it’s a point system, where you add up your favorable attributes – skills, degrees, even age – and the higher your score, the more likely you are to qualify. You should easily be able to google the Home Office website to find the form.
Political asylum is an option but only if you could have to prove you were fleeing a political regime that surpressed your freedom of speech, detained you without trial or due process or engaged in illegal conflicts.
I think OPs case might be weakened by fleeing to a regime that did most, if not all, of the same things.
Out of the frying pan, into the fire :eek:
There is one solution: become mega-rich. If you happen to be a multi-billionaire you should have no problem 
That’s not absolutely true. It doesn’t matter how rich Mohammed Al-Fayed gets, he’s never getting a passport.
That’s a good point. I never quite understood why he’s being refused one, either. Is it simply because he’s a git (as the Wikipedia article seems to be saying)?
He’s a git, had dealings with (and married the sister of) a rather shady arms-dealer (Adnan Khashoggi) and he tried to pervert the course of British democracy.