[hijack]Fascinating. I scored a “99”. But I’d rather finish immigration to the UK than go to Canada, if I was to leave…more curry.[/hijack]
I’m only 16 points short, despite never having had a proper job in my life…maybe having a Masters degree was worth something after all 
The answer to your first question is NO, there is no better country than the USA, IMHO, even considering the “late unpleasantness”. If you would consider an isolated island in a warm climate, check out Malta, G.C. at http://www.visitmalta.com/ It’s in the middle of the Mediterranean and they speak English, but I have no other recent info, having visited there only twice, several years ago.
Good luck.
[Hijack of the Hijack]Was one of your relatives on NPR over the last month or so?[/HotH]
As an American who has migrated to Australia, I’ll point out that while this is a fantastic place to live, it’s not a utopia. Yeah, there’s a great climate and things seem to be more equitable - socialised medicine, subsidised higher education, etc. But, there are downsides, too. There’s a really laid back attitude, but good customer service is not easy to find. Healthcare is free, but unless you have private insurance, the quality can be sketchy. Higher education is subsidised, but most of the people I’ve met wouldn’t send their kids to the public schools in our area (I don’t know if this is different in other areas). Religion isn’t as invasive here as in the U.S., but gay marriage is banned. It seems to be a more egalitarian society than in the U.S., but the culture has what’s called the “tall poppy syndrome” and ambition is often looked down upon. John Howard is in charge here and Australia is involved in Iraq. I think the overall political landscape is more liberal here, but I met plenty of Australians in the past few days who wanted Bush to win.
I think both the U.S. and Australia (and Ireland, England, Norway, Malta) have their good and bad points. Just because you’re not thrilled with the U.S. right now, doesn’t mean you’ll find anything better out there. I’m also extremely disappointed with the election results, but we’re still thinking about moving back to the U.S. because we found life easier there and a higher standard of living more accessible. My husband is Australian, and he’s eager to get back because he feels like it’s easier to get ahead in America. If you move to another country, you also need to be prepared for a lot of anti-Americanism. It sometimes comes in the form of jokes, and sometimes in the form of outright rudeness, but it’s difficult to adjust to either way. And, with the latest election results, it will probably only get worse.
IMHO. (which is where I think this thread will end up 
)
I share your sentiments, Lib, but am too tied to this area for family reasons to consider disembarking. That, and my wife won’t live in British Columbia because of the lack of sun. I have loads of Canadian relatives (and ancestry) and would have no problem getting in, which only frustrates me more.
A recent big disappointment for me was discovering at age 45 that Australia has an age limit for immigrants of, erm, 45. If their website is to believed, you pretty much have to have solved world hunger to get a waiver. I have three generations of Oz in my ancestry, and at least one prominent relative down there, but I see no indication that any of that matters.
Good luck.
Moved from GQ to IMHO.
While you’re getting factual answers, you’re mainly asking for informed opinions.
samclem GQ moderator
I like Norway a lot, but I’m no doubt biased
Norway.no is a portal to all kinds of public services and public information in Norway, and Norway.org is aimed at US. Here’s the American Embassy in Norway.
For some general background, here’s various statistics and our biggest conservative newspaper Aftenposten (which endorsed Kerry). (Our biggest tabloids don’t have web sites in English, unfortunately.)
We pay a lot of taxes, but I’ve never worried about medical expenses, and I was really surprised the first time I came across the concept “college fund”. (Colleges and universities aren’t completely free, you have to pay for books.)
We’re (IMHO) pretty good in the “does not oppress individual rights and freedoms” department. The big exception to this is religion in schools. In general, Norwegians aren’t especially religious, and there’s no kind of stigma associated to being an atheist. But we’ve got a state church, and the religion/belief/atheism curriculum in public schools is strongly slanted towards Christianity. I’m an atheist parent myself, and I don’t feel that it’s a big problem, but it might be a shock for an American used to separation of church and state. The curriculum for public schools is here.
Parts of C3’s description of Australian culture fits here too, we tend to be laid back (could be read as “lazy” ) and sceptical towards excessive ambition. I’ve heard the claim that Norway is the only country where envy is a stronger instinct than sex. It would surprise me if you come across much anti-Americanism here, but then I wouldn’t neccessarily notice it if it exists. Most of us aren’t happy about US foreign policy, but we tend to be madly in love with American culture.
Norwegians understand and speak English pretty well, and TV programs and films in English are subtitled in Norwegian, not dubbed.
I wouldn’t suggest Australia. We have John Howard who seems ambitious to become George Bush lite. We have, to my disgust, just elected a religious right nutjob group to the Senate, and are very heavily tied to the Iraq war and US military bases.
I’d consider New Zealand. Lovely country, friendly, intelligent people with what seems a sensible sort of Government. Hell, I’ve been considering New Zealand myself.
Well, why not live the expat life? I live in Saudi Arabia, and I at least am mostly left alone. I intend to retire to Mexico or some other Spanish-speaking nation where money buys a certain immunity from the daily oppressiveness of government.