If the Religious Right ever came to serious stronghold power and being openly gay placed you in legal or physical danger (I’m not talking the sporadic hate crimes you’ll always have or even the illegality of gay marriage but more institutional opression/persecution) I would leave if I could find a place/position where I wouldn’t have to live in abject poverty.
My sister is currently shopping property in Costa Rica and is swearing she’ll move if Hillary Clinton becomes president. Once she learns that Costa Rica has a lot of non-English speakers she may change her mind since she speaks English only.
I did more than think about it. I was so appalled by the 2004 election, that I started looking for another country to move to, but ended up not finding one. Canada is too cold. The UK is too cold also, and I don’t know what I think about the class system. I was too old to emigrate to Australia. I wasn’t too old for New Zealand, however. My wife and I went there for 3 weeks and I even got a job offer from the premier software company in NZ. The salary, though, was only 40% of what I’m currently making, and the cost of living in NZ seemed higher than that where I live now in Silicon Valley. So my principled stand was undermined by economics. Sigh.
I’m sure I can think of a dozen places in the world I’d rather live; I’d go tomorrow if it weren’t for the ties of family, friends, work, and a few other factors.
I’ll leave Canada when the US invades us for water Or, if by some horrible wrinkle in fate the religious right makes enough inroads into Canada to turn us into social conservatives. But I’d join the groups working against them first and only leave if we lost.
I’ve got a grandparent route to an EC passport if I want one so I’d go there.
I’d also consider moving someplace if I fell for a resident of elsewhere, but I’d try for dual citizenship and living some months in both places.
I’d be willing to go work someplace else for several years, but I’ve got a nice property in one of Canada’s most desirable retirement locations so, unless the Big One comes, this would be a great place to spend my latter years.
For some reason, this really makes me laugh. Are you going to tell her or are you going to let her figure this one out on her own?
My plan is to retire outside of the US in a country with a lower cost of living where I can hire somebody to clean and cook for me. My wife loves the idea since neither of us enjoys cooking and cleaning.
It’s possible I’m planning on doing so when I (eventually) get my degree. The UK is the most likely; Canada’s in the running and possibly Australia (I’m planning on going to Australia either this summer or next, so I’ll see how that goes). Why? In my opinion, America has a distressingly-inverted ratio of wealth to culture: we’re a nation full of willfully-ignorant, bible-thumping, knuckle-dragging jerks.
This is not to say other places don’t have their problems - the taxes in Britain are crazy compared to here, and their banks are never open. And I love the idea of America: I love the Constitution, I love the way our courts hypothetically work, I love those concepts of liberty and justice that we throw around so often. But I think the idea and the actual application are two drastically, drastically different things.
I don’t think it would take a lot for me to do it, at least for a while. I’d like a little adventure. I’d also do it if I wanted to retire, but found the cost of living here too steep. Overall, though, I like America, and I imagine that homesickness would inevitably lead me back.
I have dual citizenship, and am planning to move to Canada later this year. Not out of any dislike of the U.S. (I love both countries) but simply because I want to. Some of my co-workers think I’m having a mid-life crisis but am too cheap to buy a sports car.
Plus, if I get some working years in in Canada, I can double-dip when I retire.
Left the US five years ago after 9.11. No regrets… lived in 6 countries since and now own property abroad. If Obama gets elected, perhaps I’ll go back, but not with the status quo. America is not the land of the free any longer.
I’m really enjoying life as a temporary expatriate. Not only is it a bit of an adventure, but I really like the way Edinburgh is set up, how easy it is to walk places, how friendly everyone is, etc. I could see myself staying in the US after graduation and I could see myself moving to a foreign country. Even though I don’t like a lot of the politics going on in the US, I don’t think that’s what would convince me to leave. It would just depend on what jobs were available, where any significant other wanted to go, etc.
The hard part would be being so far away from my parents and extended family, who all live in the US. It would also be strange raising kids who weren’t American, but that’s a long way away for me.
Seriously, I’ve often wondered about that as well, although my pondering tended to be about accents specifically: "is there any place where the General American accent is viewed as sexy, suave, and cool, the way we view the (or at least most) British accent(s)?
I sort of already am. I was born and brought up in Scotland but have moved to England - I’d say it’s going to be a permanent move.
Originally I moved temporarily to study. I didn’t particularly like the general attitudes of the people in the areas I’d previously lived. And believe me, I’d lived in quite a few different places! People who I percieve as far too narrow-minded and with a huge chip on their shoulder regarding politics. Plus there was the lack of career opps and fewer educational opps for the specific courses I wished to study. So I picked a course and university in London to take a break from it.
I didn’t expect to like London because of the crowding but actually it’s amazing. Such a huge blend of cultures that I feel right at home even though I’m from elsewhere. The job opportunities are better, the cultural opportunities are better and it’s possible to just be without having to get involved in debates about politics, religion, and why the English are the reason behind every bad thing to have happened in Scotland. :rolleyes:
I’ve contemplated returning for the better housing and the space but frankly my quality of life is much better in England. I’m not sure I’ll ever return.
If we totally surrendeer to the Islamists and impose sharia…maybe. Or any kind of heavy statist government. Like if Mike Bloomberg gets elected POTUS and takes over all the restaurants and makes sure we eat our vegetables or else no dessert. Or maybe I might stay to fight it, but I don’t think I’d be very good at that.
Or, if I ever visit Australia, and like it as much as I think I might.
But, when you look at the ratio of people who move to the US vs. people who move out, it’s obvious that we have the advantages that most people want. So, I’ll probably stay.
Psychos coming into power. (I’m talking Pol Pot/Hitler level, with too many supporters to fight.) The exception being if I were one of the psychos coming into power. Then I’d probably stick around. >:D
Or, if I simply wanted to become a complete recluse somewhere. Like by moving into a bunker in the middle of Greenland, or something. I wouldn’t consider it “turning my back on my country” as much as “turning my back on humanity.”
I am frankly disgusted with the power the religious right already has here, and I think our current President is a whackjob (and a not-very-bright one at that.) I have very often seriously considered moving to Canada - but there’s a big part of me that feels like I’d be running away, rather than taking a stand. Some days the idea of running away has a lot going for it, but I think unless I felt that my family or I were honestly in physical danger - in a hypothetical situation as Sampiro describes, where it wasn’t safe (as opposed to merely unadvisable) for people to be “different” - I’ll just stay put and continue to be a nuisance.
I’d love to move overseas for a few years; I think it would be a great adventure. And I’d move to Canada (specifically, B.C.) in a heartbeat if (a) my entire family didn’t now live in the American South and (b) I could get a legal job there in my field, which I can’t. And if while overseas I fell in love with someone, I suppose I’d stay. Otherwise, I assume I’d come home eventually.
I can’t think of any political/social issue that would make me leave in disgust, though. I love America; I’d just like to try someplace else for a while.
Fortunately (or maybe unfortunately) Costa Ricans tend to bend over backwards to cater to Americans because so much of their economy tends to revolve around American tourism. It is a nice, neat, friendly little country but you can’t throw a rock without hitting another American or at least an English speaker. Her plan may work and she may not even have to learn much Spanish at all.
Or, if by some horrible wrinkle in fate the religious right makes enough