I expect Obama to lose in 2012. If he loses in anything but a landslide, I have recommended those less than forty years old with any motivation or talent to leave the country. I say this not because I believe Romney will be harmful (he may be) but because any electorate that doesn’t completely understand the tragedy that Obama has been is not safe to live within. Eventually they will do something more stupid than Obama. Furthermore, in an electorate so stupid, Republicans will pander to them in the same manner as Democrats have. The result will be a country unrecognizable to anyone who can remember back twenty or more years.
Thus, if the election is at all close, get out while you still can.
Peter Dunn is someone who did just that. He was more prescient than most. I believe he left years ago and renounced his US citizenship. He blogs at the Isaac Brock Society under the alias “Petros” where those looking for information about ex-patriots can go. This recent article by Mr. Dunn appeared in American Thinker and elaborates on the madness that is enveloping this country.
When I lived in the USA I could never figure out the Republican/Democrat “divide” because the country always seemed to bop along in the same direction no matter which colour of bobblehead was supposedly in charge. My opinion remains unchanged now that I’m just observing again from Canada. I guess if people think a change will do them good — go for it — but I doubt that it will make any difference. Anyway it was nice of Monty Pelerin to share Peter’s fine article.
Every day that passes by, President Obama is looking more and more like President Mugabe.
Then again, Kenya isn’t so far from Zimbabwe.
Both parties seem to be completely incompetent and corrupt from my outsider viewpoint 🙂
An excellent article by Bill Bonner in Christian Science Monitor:
http://www.csmonitor.com/Business/The-Daily-Reckoning/2012/0522/Leave-Facebook-s-Eduardo-Saverin-alone
Another good article on Chucky old boy from Simon Black:
http://www.sovereignman.com/finance/us-citizens-now-one-step-closer-to-becoming-permanent-tax-slaves/
But I disagree with his conclusion that the Ex-Patriot Act will slow down the number of renunciations. I think it will have the opposite effect among ex-pats.
@Joe, I am still chewing my cud over this legislation so I’m unable to see where this will go, but I think anyone thinking about renouncing will have a lot more to consider now, and anyone who was ambivalent about whether to stay or go is probably leaning toward getting out before they get any richer.
@ladyhawk, yeah chew the cud. Though I think that Joe expat is right. Any move to force people not to expatriate will likely have the opposite effect, as you say, to get out before they become richer.
The problem with the current legislation is the presumption of guilt if you expatriate. Renunciants must prove they are not guilt of being rich, or otherwise they will be banned permanently from the United States. This is scary stuff, and makes me like the United States even less, and makes me want to visit the United States even less, so if it has that same effect on other people as me, then there will be more not fewer renunciations.
@ Petros
I can vouch for one person, my husband, and this will definitely strengthen his resolve to relinquish. We both just wish it could be sooner and not later. I wonder with the outright vindictiveness of the Ex-PATRIOT Act if the Canadian government will at least offer a fast track to Americans seeking Canadian citizenship? Perhaps not likely to happen but we’d both like to see it.
@joe – @petros – Joe, you post some good links. Why not create a page for related links, guys?
Peter – tooooo funny on Chucky Schummer. You already know I refer to the President as “Obummer”. Way back when, I KNEW his campaigh drivel was just lies. Sad to say, but it all turned out ot be true. Where that Revolution?
Obummer is the 2nd worst President in the last 30 years after Bush. Where are those WMD’s? Really, I could go on about inflation, devaluation, and cycles, but I doubt anyone would care. Are Obummer and Bush good Presidents that KEPT THEIR WORD? Nope..
@geez: “…KEPT THEIR WORD”
But http://www.keepinghisword.com/ tells us emphatically and repeatedly that Obama has kept his word. It’s on the internet, so it must be true. And in completely unrelated news:
http://rt.com/usa/news/propaganda-us-smith-amendment-903/
“…the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013 would allow for the United States government to create and distribute pro-American propaganda within the country’s own borders…”
A big reason why I left when I did was I was sitting on a nice pile of savings and decided I could either get back overseas and setup in a much more permanent and stable way….. or I could take a one-way trip to DC in a white panel van. I decided that although having a wiki page to call my own, it wouldn’t actually accomplish anything worthwhile and that getting the fuck out would let me watch the disaster unfold and laugh at the idiots who stayed.
@Watcher – If you sit back and watch news programs from several different countries, you will see that the Media in the US already spews propoganda for the government. I think this is almost universal everywhere you go though. The idea of an “independent press” that is 100% free to challenge government is akin to believing in fairies. After all, who grants them their licenses to operate? Who could pass laws to make it impossible to do business?
The clause in the NDDA most likely gives politicians the ability to contract their buddies to create, design, and distribute propagranda pieces at highly inflated prices that the tax payers will end up paying. The system there is extremely corrupt, way more corrupt than the average American thinks or is lead on to believe.
The Obama administration has made favorable treatment the condition of access. Jordan of CNN made the same compromise with Saddam Hussein and admitted after the Gulf War II started. Access is one measure that a government official can deny the press in order to maintain control over what is said.
The blogosphere is largely unregulated, thus far, as can be seen on these pages.
@joexpat
I agree – most of the renunciants are probably not covered expatriates anyway, just normal middle class folks whose lives are overseas to begin with. But the closing of the American jaws is very apparent, so this will motivate people more than ever to swim away before getting crushed.
geez, the problem is that most of the American electorate truly believe in fairies. The real mainstream independent press died during the 80s. These days, it seems to really take a lot for someone living on US soil to find the time and mental energy to back away from the usual perspective presented by the mainstream press and think for themselves. From overseas, it’s very easy for me to look back at the US and see all the propaganda and corruption.
An excellent article by Forbes contributor Jon Matonis:
“Banishing Facebook’s Eduardo Saverin Harms U.S. More”
http://www.forbes.com/sites/jonmatonis/2012/05/23/banishing-facebooks-eduardo-saverin-harms-u-s-more/
Another good piece on the United Liberty blog:
“The Land of the Fee and Home of the Slave”
http://www.unitedliberty.org/articles/10090-the-land-of-the-fee-and-home-of-the-slave
@Joe Expat – I love the name “Land of the FEE and home of the SLAVES”. I too believe exactly like the person that wrote this article. Let America fall; I don’t live there anymore, and I don’t want anything to do with that place anymore. I ONLY started to dislike the US for the 1st time in my life when I discovered their BS laws that don’t exist anywhere else in the world.
The biggest “Killer” to the US was 9-11 in more than one way. I sincerely hate the idea that so many people died, or that there is video of police and security guards telling people to “go back to work” in the second tower. But what’s even worse is that this one tradgic event allowed the government to run amok, doing whatever they want whenever they wanted.
My question is how this Sentator even got elected? Government has grown to this size that they entertain the likes of these people?? He is obviously grand-standing, and I wish someone with more senority would put him in his place.
@Whoa-it’s-Steve – the US was the place where I grew up. I didn’t benefit so much from the educational system because I did a course (BA + MBA) that is in-line with my personality and my interest, so I challenged the professors more than they challenged ME. Yeah, I’m also a veteran — many years in the military — shooting with live ammo and going on lotsa exercises. I have no reason on this planet to dislike the US indiscrimately. They are obviously doing something to tick people off, wouldn’t you guess?
@Don
You are right. They are!! To choose one over the other is a choice between two devils. Both result in increased government interference in the personal lives of it citizens, loss of liberties, expanded wars, and continued debt blow out. BIG Brother will be equally big and bigger under either administration. If one decides to vote, then you have to hold your nose, and expect that nothing will really change.