@VictoriaFerauge "On being American" http://t.co/2cadr0QECl interesting read if u feel u are forced to #expatriate by @Barackobama admin
— U.S. Citizen Abroad (@USCitizenAbroad) August 3, 2013
Very nice post from @MopsickTaxLaw http://t.co/p45vzhb7Cb "What it means to be an American" – Never forget US is more than the government.
— U.S. Citizen Abroad (@USCitizenAbroad) August 3, 2013
The posts referenced in the above tweets are interesting and are “food for thought” for those American Abroad considering renouncing U.S. citizenship.
On Being An American.” I trashed a draft blog of my own “on being an American” which I was struggling with before the Fourth of July. I was searching for words to express the feeling Victoria captured so eloquently below which I am sure has resonated with Americans abroad.
And Victoria’s post – On being an American – includes:
I had an epiphany the other day. I may have spent most of my adult life outside the U.S. but I was born and raised here in Seattle. No one can take away the first 20 years or so of my life. I am an American and will always be one even if I decide to forgo the pretty blue passport. Cutting ties by relinquishing/renouncing will mean cutting my ties to a political community but here’s the kicker: America is so much more than that.There is a nation beyond the government and perhaps it’s time to start putting the people above the state. Yes, if I renounce I would no longer be an American citizen, but I would still be an American by culture, blood, language, and inclination. I am part of the collective memory of this country and no one on this planet (not the US Congress or the President or the homelanders) can take that away from me.
And they can’t take it away from anyone else either. To the Canadian/American reader who left a comment about how distressed she was about giving up her U.S. citizenship, I’d just like to say that as far as I’m concerned she’s an American as long as she wants to be one with or without her U.S. passport. So she won’t be able to vote anymore in US elections. Big deal. It’s not like American citizens themselves do that with any regularity.
Thinking about it this way makes me much more serene about the whole business. What do you think of this motto for those of us thinking about renouncing? “Forget the state and just be a child of the nation.”
America is clearly more than the government. That said, the question of “What is America?” is different from the question of “What is an American?”
The question is:
What does it mean to be an American? It must have some meaning if one is “an American as long as she wants to be”. This implies that “being American” is somehow different from the political community or the country as a larger entity. What exactly is “the nation beyond the government” and what does it mean to be an “American”?
Is it really true that “renouncing citizenship” means only cutting ties to the political community? Isn’t the problem that Americans abroad have no ties to the political community to begin with? There are no ties to cut.
I believe that Victoria is saying that the act of renouncing U.S. citizenship should not “diminish your personal identity”. True enough. If you want to think of yourself as an American that’s fine. Nobody can take that away from you. This is important. Why? Because the Obama “Witch Hunt” against U.S. citizens abroad has forced people to reevaluate many of their fundamental assumptions. Few Americans abroad still view the United States as “that great citadel of freedom and justice”. Few Americans abroad see themselves as “tax cheats” because they have offshore accounts. As a former professor of mine once said:
“Citizenship is part of who you are.”
If you cease to be a citizen, do you cease to be less of who you are?
Some believe that if they cease to be U.S. citizens they will become less of what they believed they were. Many Americans abroad are experiencing a crisis of identity. Who are they? What is the United States of America?
But, again, what is an American? Does it have a meaning? Is it anything you want it to be?
Thinking about his reminds me of an earlier post by FoxyLadyHawk titled:
Why I will not renounceHe/she writes:
What is exceptional about America is not that the people are better, or that the government is wiser, or even that it is the richest and most powerful nation in the world – for now. Empires rise, and inevitably they fall. What is exceptional is the form of government, based on the documents we all know about: the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, powerfully reiterated by the Gettysburg Address. What is exceptional is the system of checks and balances, and the means of amending the Constitution, which were designed to keep the government in check and maximize the freedom of the people to live their lives as they please.
America is exceptional because it is the only country that was built on an idea, and that idea implies a promise. The idea is that all men and all women are created free and equal and that a proper government is one made up of freely elected peers, in which any citizen – * any * citizen – may run for public office. The promise is that because of that idea, anyone has the right to do whatever he or she chooses to do in order to improve her lot in life and live as she wishes, beholden to no monarch or officer or class structure for her future or her fortune. She is not promised happiness – only the lifelong freedom, the natural-born right to pursue it in her own way.
It’s interesting to go back and read the comments to the above post. It’s almost two years old. Have people’s views changed?
The “Why I will not renounce” analysis assumes that America is a true democracy. A democracy where citizens participate it the political process. A democracy where where candidates represent the interests of the voters and not the political parties. Surely true democracy requires more than the right to vote. Incredibly there are certain situations where U.S. citizens abroad do NOT have the right to vote.
What does this suggest about being an American? Is it that as an American you are a member of an elite and privileged group who is free and able to choose what one wants in one’s life? This is not true for Americans abroad. Furthermore, this does not separate the idea of being “American” from “America”.
Is it really possible to renounce U.S. citizenship and still be an “American”?
In his 2013 State of the Union Address President Obama commenting (if he knew what was in his speech) on the meaning of citizenship said:
We are citizens. It’s a word that doesn’t just describe our nationality or legal status. It describes the way we’re made. It describes what we believe. It captures the enduring idea that this country only works when we accept certain obligations to one another and to future generations; that our rights are wrapped up in the rights of others; and that well into our third century as a nation, it remains the task of us all, as citizens of these United States, to be the authors of the next great chapter in our American story.
In fairness, I would say that he does try to separate the idea of “citizenship” from government or the political community at large. Is he suggesting that all American citizens are somehow American? He doesn’t say that if you are NOT a citizen that you are not American. But, would renouncing U.S. citizenship make you less of an American?
Patriotism and being an American
Must one be patriotic to be a real American? Could renouncing U.S. citizenship be an act of patriotism?
So, what is an American?
I don’t know. The answer to this question is way above my “pay grade”. But, it does seem to me that that there must be some meaning (beyond paying taxes) to be being “American”. If you think of yourself as American, it might be worth considering what that means.
82 thoughts on “What is an American? Forget the state and just be a child of the nation – but what does this mean?”
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@Patrick Henry
@MonaLisa
Interesting comments. What renouncing seems to mean to people is I think something like this:
On the one hand, I know who I am. I have a sense of personal identity which includes a belief and commitment to the ideals that I was originally taught that America stood for.
Turns out that either:
A. I was conned and America never stood for these things – it was never that great citadel of freedom and justice – in which case I have been the victim of a “bait and switch” and I am canceling my membership; and/or
B. The American Government has betrayed and abandoned America. In this case I feel like Ronald Reagan who started life as a Democrat and became a Republican. His comment:
“I never left the Democrats, the Democrats left me.”
http://renounceuscitizenship.wordpress.com/renounce-us-citizenship/
I think its a bit of both.
In either case, it seems to me that if you really do believe in the ideals that America once stood for, that renouncing your citizenship is not only an act of self-defense but an act of the highest form of patriotism. I congratulate you both and believe that the Levins, Obamas, Shulmans, could learn something from you – specifically something about principles and morality.
This post was asking about what it means to be an American. I would like to offer each you:
“The USCitizenAbroad award for good American citizenship” (for what it’s worth).
Congratulations on a strong reaffirmation of your identity.
@MonaLisa
There is NO QUESTION that the tax compliance industry is far more dangerous than the IRS. This message needs to be spread far and wide. They are the “henchmen” of the IRS, but in many cases it goes far beyond that.
At the risk of oversimplification, there are two kinds of tax professionals:
A. These who are merely the henchmen of the IRS. They are working for the IRS and not for you. Could it be any worse than this? Yes, here is how it can be worse.
B. Those who are NOT only the henchmen of the IRS but who SEEK THE APPROVAL OF THE IRS! Note that you will find a higher percentage of these types in the U.S.
As a general principle (there are some exceptions but you need to know who they are) avoid U.S. based compliance “professionals”.
@Badger
Remember that Mr. Mopsick has spent his whole professional career at the IRS. It’s amazing to me that he is has been as vocal as he has about the injustices of citizenship-based taxation. So, cut him some (actually a lot of) slack.
I suggest that one should interpret his approval of the tone of Victoria and Blaze (and implied disapproval of the tone of others) as a lesson on the state of Democracy in America.
It’s real simple. When it comes to Democracy in America:
The business of the public is not the public’s business.
The public is to be seen and not heard too much.
The public is NOT to be trusted and must be monitored by the administration.
The best place for Americans (as per WhoaitsSteve) is in America. Those who leave are to be regarded with suspicion and punished accordingly.
Those who exercise either their constitutional right to freedom of expression and their God Given right to self-determination are presumptive enemies of the state.
What would Alexis de Tocqueville think of the current state of Democracy in America?
@Bubblebustin
You frame the issue in terms of either “punishment”or “persecution”. Either way, here’s what is at the root of it all.
You have escaped from America and they hate you because of it.
Why do they hate you?
To reverse a typical “Homelanderism” (when they try to explain why the world hates America):
They hate you because of your freedom!
@Tiger
This is the second or third time your comments have included the sentiment that it is difficult to find “empathy”.
@MonaLisa mentioned “empathy” in her comment as well.
It is asking a lot for someone to show “empathy”. Empathy requires: understanding, patience, the ability to listen, a degree of caring that allows you to feel the pain of another and more. To truly “empathize” with someone is to truly show “love” for them. The best you can hope for is understanding. But, in this case, even that is too much to ask for.
In this particular situation:
There is NO “empathy” for U.S. persons in general. Why? Because they are U.S. persons. The policies of the U.S. government in general have created such hostility toward the U.S. that U.S. citizens are the recipients of an attitude that is somewhere between “indifference” and “hatred”. Add the characterization of this as a “tax issue” and nobody cares. If nobody cares you will not be getting any understanding – let alone empathy.
Suck it up. No empathy for U.S. citizens. It’s important to understand this when discussing this issue with the Canadian government. Although nobody cares about U.S. citizens, they do care about their country. Citizenship-based taxation and FATCA (the enforcement mechanism) are a direct threat to the sovereignty, autonomy and fiscal stability to Canada.
The best thing for Canada would be to force all U.S. citizens (who are not Canadians) out of the country. I bet the Government of Canada is now regretting S. 6 of the Canadian Charter of Rights that says that any Canadian citizen has the right to remain in Canada (unless of course extradited by the U.S.).
Advice: Those who are NOT Canadian citizens should become citizens ASAP.
@USCitizenabroad, what annoys the most is how some friends and relatives think I’m whining and either secretly envy my assets or feel that I was somehow negligent in my financial planning. From my perspective, it seemed like entrapment.
But to them, it’s a tax thing so not so worthy of sympathy. They fail to consider all the greater implications in terms of threatened constitutional rights to freedom and privacy; it just doesn’t register. They sympathize but still believe I brought it onto myself; they also can’t grasp at how over-reaching the US govt are becoming. They just think I’ve become a bit nutty and overly principled.
@USC, and Yes, I had naively thought in the beginning that the accountants and planners we’re on my side. But they have a job to do. All I can think is of how relieved I will be when all this is finally behind me, hopefully by next summer. The whole thing will have taken three and a half very stressful years. I’ve had to cancel any hopes of early retirement due to all the losses but at least my health has held up remarkably well.
@Badger, re: your comments about Mopsick–thank you.
@badger
That’s great commentary. The start of my road trip from Seattle with our Brockstar Victoria began with a discussion initiated by me about Mr Mopsick’s comments regarding her and Blaze’s article in The Hill. My own lack of trust in his level of compassion comes from his obstinate attempt to discredit Petros by trying to discredit me here:
http://isaacbrocksociety.ca/2012/03/17/a-story-from-ovdi-hell-or-how-to-exact-tribute-from-a-country-without-firing-a-shot/
Badger – I am under no illusions that they will do anything substantial to clarify whether it is punishment, deliberate persecution, or both. Just the latest in your stream of clear-eyed comment. Impossible to thank you for every bang-on instance.
USCitizenAbroad – Recurrent thought: Renouncing US citizenship was the most American action possible in the circumstances. It took severe exercise of restraint to not provide that piece of pith to the consulate as a one-sentence “reason.”
USCitizenAbroad – Suck it up. No empathy for U.S. citizens. It’s important to understand this when discussing this issue with the Canadian government. One million plus need to tattoo this reality into their brain cells. Government & media & corporations & nonprofits. Expecially the servile fibberties hahaha. Sauve qui peut.
@usxcanada
You know what worries me? How the USG may actually one day make it worse to have renounced than not to have.
@Bubblebustin, I also worry that the USG may ultimately pass retroactive legislation that will make it worse to have renounced than not to have. I could see them trying to reclaim me as a US person to tax purposes or to make it harder to visit the states; I could also see them trying to heavily tax or even seize my eventual inheritance from my parents. But I made what seemed the best decision at the time. That’s all I can do really.
@USTCanada, I am often perplexed as to why the UK of all places seems so willing to throw its dual citizens under the bus via all these FATCA agreements…after all, it will injure the UK’s economy if fines and withholdings are sucked out of their economy into the US’s coffers; plus, of course the huge cost to UK financial institutions to pay to get into fatca compliance. The UK seems far too willing to capitulate, perhaps out of genuine intimidation.
After reading the linked blog on the Franco-American Flophouse, along all the commentary here, I have carefully deliberated my own situation, and delved into my own soul to find a sense of identity.
Yes, I have had good times in the US while growing up, but I believe that it was only due to the efforts of my parents in protecting me from the truth.
Nowadays, when I go back there, even where I grew up, it now feels so distant, and foreign. If I close my eyes and turn back the hands of time, only then does it feel like home. But it’s all in my memory, and once I open my eyes again and return to the reality of today, the sense of home vanishes.
That has caused me to reach an existential fact, that the idea of feeling American no longer exists in my conscience in any form. That is not to say that it never existed. Just that it once did. Once I saw the lies leading soldiers into Iraq, heard the divisive rhetoric of us vs. them, heard the dismissive phrases of ‘love it or leave it’ and ‘support your troops’, and the people, blindly buying into all the propaganda bullshit without applying any sort of critical thought in the matter, I knew then that the cake was a lie. Naturally, when Obama came around and promised a better cake, these same fools clamoured up for a slice of that with the same personality cult that was evident under Dubya, but that cake proved to be a lie as well.
I don’t know. Maybe back in the day, the concept of America was one of promise. But even so, the United Empire Loyalists of their day chose to head for Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Ontario, rather than buy into this ‘promise’. People can argue over whether or not this promise was all a lie from the beginning, and that may make for interesting debate. I’m just saying that for me, it feels like a lie now.
The promise of freedom and liberty doesn’t mean invading countries without just cause. Persecuting whistleblowers for disclosing to the people the dubious activities of their own government. Demanding that its people surrender their liberties for greater security. Persecuting US citizens abroad with Byzantine tax policies, etc…. etc….
So, what is home to me? I’ve learned that ‘home’ is not some silly flag that I can wave in the air. It is not some promise that can be easily broken. It is not a place where you’re always in a state of fear, neither. Home is a place of love, contentment, and a sense of where I belong, and where I belong is with my wife.
That is the only thing in life that truly matters.
@MJH, I can relate. I love my husband and feel safe and content with him. He is my safe harbour from life’s storms. 🙂
As for America, I consider myself collateral damage rather than an intended target. It’s a jungle out there and have suffered deeply but am feeling a lot more optimistic that I will get through this, albeit scarred. I have made some very special friends and connections during my journey and have learned much about my core values and sense of identity. I am so proud of all the stoic perseverance and shared empathy here.
America is obviously more of an ideal than a reality. But it is wonderful that we still share that dream. There has never been true equality there though; think slavery, past segregation, plus a money-based pyramid. It is increasingly becoming a broken society over there but nonetheless still experience decency from them.
I don’t actually mind individual Americans. I believe that most would become sympathetic if they understood the full story. It’s just that our situations abroad are so far removed from their immediate experience and concerns.
What we imagine or believe about many things, countries, and people including ourselves is usually rather different from their reality. When I was young, I was taught to imagine that the U.S. was a great country, and I imagined I was a proud American. Since the 1960s my image of the U.S. has deteriorated steadily, and I have re-imagined myself as a Canadian. What I used to imagine about the U.S. was just an impossible dream. For many people left there, including one of my own sons, it seems to be becoming a nightmare.
@USXCanada
So are you supporting Linda Mcquaig for MP in Toronto Centre. She seems to be your type of candidate.
I fully realize and appreciate my roots of a very multi-cultural start to my life in Kingston, NY. I then experienced the next half of my US years in the Bremerton – Tacoma – Seattle area of WA. I have many, many good memories that are part of me.
As well as gratefulness for those early memories, I will always be grateful for what brought me to Canada and will always be grateful for what Canada has given me and that it is the country in which I raised my children, earned my living, contributed to my society – and paid my taxes for such (including the wonderful healthcare my family has received and the education for my son with special needs, which I know I would not have had in the US. I absolutely know that I would have been a welfare US mom rather than a working, contributing Canadian citizen).
My children do not have the “Made in the USA/Property Of” tattoo and their growing up memories are all Canadian, with very few visits to relatives in the US. My daughter did take advantage of better work opportunity for IT in Seattle than she (at the time) had in Vancouver, BC and laid claim to her US citizenship, in hindsight a mistake realized after a bad car accident and the costs that brought her over and above her very good US company health insurance.
As many others born in Canada and other countries abroad, my son was not registered with the US and never had ANY benefit from the US. His memories are all Canadian. Whose audacity says he cannot renounce his supposed extraneous US citizenship by virtue of his “mental incapacity” and further prevents a Parent, Guardian or Trustee from doing so, even with a court order? Why must he be a second-class Canadian citizen by virtue of his accidental-Americanism? Who but a slave-master tells him or me that his US citizenship is too precious a commodity to ever give up? That decision should not be made by someone who knows nothing of my son.
I’m sorry — the bitter taste in my soul will not leave. There is no way I can justify what happens to my son and others like him, most of whom do not have the funds to in any way fight this or indeed the cost of IRS tax returns and FBAR reporting, for no benefit to anyone except those paid to help us comply with what, to me, makes no sense.
Perhaps America means to me no longer believing in the ideals monalisa speaks of, now fantasy to me as I ‘dream with my eyes wide open.’ Good memories are with me but they are because of the people I grew up with, not any entitlement of living in a country that views itself better than others fostered in us by the daily repetition of the Pledge Allegiance to the Flag, sending young people to endless wars to fight the bogeyman of terrorism, the deterioration of the value of good education and innovation and the widening gap between the very rich and the very poor. It is sad to me that other countries follow in the footsteps of America in so readily adopting the likes of FATCA and discriminating against “US Persons” in those countries, creating more US collateral damage.
The determination of the people of this site in standing up for what they believe in, for paying attention to what is happening in the US and abroad, for speaking on behalf of others with little voice makes me proud. Thanks everyone — people I`ll never know in person, but people very dear to me.
@Calgary411
Just a thought. And seriously and with all due respect.
You should reach out to Oprah Winfrey’s story producers on the grave injustice of your family’s situation. She has been willing to confront controversy and champion the underdog. And you are exactly the kind of articulate and highly sympathetic person that would do well in that kind of story-telling venue.
Maybe she’ll do an entire segment on the expat offshore witch-hunt
@Wondering,
I think that is a good idea!
Hear, hear!! 😀
@USCitizenAbroad, re http://isaacbrocksociety.ca/2013/08/06/what-is-an-american-forget-the-state-and-just-be-a-child-of-the-nation/comment-page-2/#comment-470074
– I like your list of the important lessons we are being taught re the current state of Democracy in America. I’ve also learned since the fall of 2011, that despite receiving no benefits or services, we have the obligation to surrender to US superimposed extraterritorial taxation no matter where on the globe we live, our bank accounts strip-searched, personal data of non-US family and employers surrendered and potentially compromised, all without due process, and yet have simultaneously no universal right to vote or any effective representation or recourse.
– Mopsick’s dis/approval of some types of critical speech vs. others reminds me that social movements invariably encompass a range of voices and approaches; for example, the US civil rights movement continuum included both Martin Luther King and Malcolm X http://www.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/05/19/Malcolmx.king/index.html . The US tried to control the civil rights movement by defining ‘legitimate’ speech and strategies, and attempted to de-legitimate one by referring to the other. Each one of us can differ where we place ourselves on the spectrum as an ‘American’ or ‘child of the nation’.
@bubblebustin, I just re-read Mopsick’s comments to you here; http://isaacbrocksociety.ca/2012/03/17/a-story-from-ovdi-hell-or-how-to-exact-tribute-from-a-country-without-firing-a-shot/comment-page-1/#comment-12006 . For example, the issue of how many accounts are involved is irrelevant. They are all legal, and there is no law against having them. He dismisses the involvement of the TAS as unnecessary, and implies that it is baseless. Rushes to judge, and summarily delivers the verdict. No pesky due process – just a presumption of guilt before innocence. I didn’t find evidence of objectivity there.
@Tim
There is no way in Hell I would ever support Linda Mcquaig, but usxcanada was right on the money when he said, ‘Sauve qui peut’.
Our situation on the ground pretty much dictates ‘every man for himself’. In an ideal world, we could count on Canada to stand up to the US on this issue. However. we’re stuck in the real world, and when you have the world’s only superpower behaving like a bull in a china shop, and they want something out of a middle power nation on their terms, well, what is the little country going to do to resist? Especially when we are of either ‘dual loyalty’ or of ‘foreign loyalty’ to them?
The main problem that a US/Canada dual citizen has to face, is that while Canada has a claim to them, so does the United States! This, is a fundamental fact of life that a dual citizen needs to face, for as long as they remain a dual citizen. Also, the US has every sovereign right to enforce its laws on its own citizens as Canada does. And, when these laws conflict, it is the dual citizen that has the problem. For example, I can have a Cuban cigar here in Canada, and I can light one up and smoke it legally. In Canada. However, I am STILL violating US laws regarding the Cuban Embargo, and, if they were to be able to prove that I did break that law? I will likely be arrested at the US border upon entry.
Therefore, if I’m going to smoke Cuban cigars in violation of US law, even if I was also Canadian, and having my Cuban cigar legally, in Canada, then WHY in the hell am I holding on to my US passport?!? If the course of following one law causes me to violate another law, that is a conflict, and I will have a serious problem. Do I continue the status quo, and hope I don’t get caught? Or, do I make a choice, and renounce one of my citizenships, so that I can have a clear conscience?
We all have valid points in protesting, and fighting these unjust laws that the US poses on us. But in the end, if they’re not willing to listen, and they continue with their persecution of us, simply because we chose to live abroad, our only choice is to renounce.
If we don’t like facing discrimination in the world as US persons, then one thing we can certainly do about it is to stop being US persons! Given the crazy, batshit actions that our own government is doing in the world these days, can I really blame the rest of the world for looking at us as a serious liability to them? Perhaps we should look at it this way: If we truly love the places where we’re at, and these countries have graciously stuck their necks out by giving us a chance in the first place, then don’t we owe it to them to repudiate that damned country, along with all of those nasty things that they do to cause us this level of grief no matter where we’re at?
@Badger
Thank you for taking the time to revisit that post, I always appreciate your assessment of things. This exchange is why I started referring to Mopsick as “good cop/bad cop”, the psychological tactic used by police officers to railroad people into confessions. I don’t know exactly how he came to the conclusion that my husband and I earn money in the US, but I suspect he didn’t read carefully enough, thought he found an inconsistency and worked that angle. Anyway, it’s water under the bridge, but I’ll never forget this attack on my very first day at Brock.
@Badger
Funny, I actually remember the Mopsick comment to Bubblebustin that you cite. Yup, it meets all the requirements (and then some of ) ugly Americanness. In fairness, that comment was made fairly early in his career at the Isaac Brock Society. I remember the comment because of the degree of rage I felt when I read it. That was neither the first time nor the last time I have been enraged by his comments (as some exchanges on this blog evidence).
That particular comment to Bubblebustin either:
– assumes the validity, reasonableness and fairness of the application of U.S. tax rules to citizens abroad;
or
– assumes that just because it is the law that somehow it has moral authority. Remember that the U.S. is a society where law has become a substitute for morality.
See this tweet:
https://twitter.com/USCitizenAbroad/status/365101856860540928
“@RickWarren Governments just say what’s legal. God says what’s right In U.S. law is now a substitute for morality http://isaacbrocksociety.ca/2013/03/22/when-law-becomes-a-substitute-for-morality/”
I think that Mopsick gradually grew to understand the immorality of citizenship-based taxation (which was a great IBS achievement) and the FATCA enforcement mechanism. That’s his intellectual response.
But, on an emotional level – “although you can take the man out of the IRS, you can’t take the IRS out of the man”. That’s who he is. That’s his career. That’s his identity. That’s his DNA.
In spite of all this, I really do believe that, his career notwithstanding, he has gradually opened his mind, if not his heart, to the plight of Americans Abroad and Green Card Holders.
I interpret his posts to be a mental/emotional struggle between his IRS roots and the reality of his having to adjust to the private practise of law. What an eye opener this must be for him. Think of it, a world of U.S. citizens abroad and Green Card Holders who are not criminals. (A world that the IRS clearly does not believe exists.)
When he stamped Victoria and Blaze’s article with the “Mopsick seal of good housekeeping”, I interpreted it to be a clear disapproval of the Isaac Brock Society. And yes, for the record (if it matters) I felt very negatively about it.
But hey,
there are times in life when one must take the high road, this may be one of them …
@mjh49783 …keep it up!!!! FAB statement at August 7, 2013 at 6:54 pm
you said. ” If we truly love the places where we’re at, and these countries have graciously stuck their necks out by giving us a chance in the first place,…”
I say …. paraphrasing you……YES we owe it to them to repudiate [a country that wants to tax income earned and assets gained in “the places where we’re at” ]
ROCK ON everyone helping everyone else to “GETOUTOFUSG”