We live in a sociopathic society. Of course one could argue that governments and other human institutions have displayed signs of sociopathy throughout history. You get no argument from me. Nevertheless, I would argue that we must always be diligent in pointing out and decrying sociopathic behaviour.
One characteristic of a sociopath is the inability to empathize. “The most incredible trait of a sociopath, is their complete lack of conscience, lack of empathy, remorse, guilt or shame.”
So-called American citizens abroad have complained to their political leaders, who sometimes pretend to empathize, but most often will turn around and sponsor or vote for laws that make the situation worse for expats. This is evidence of sociopathic government, unwilling to bend despite causing real harm to people.
The State Department faces rising numbers of people renouncing their US citizenship, many of whom have complained in the media that they are forced to give up their US citizenship to protect themselves and their family from the US government’s encroachment into their financial privacy. So what does the State Department do in response to their suffering? It increased the fee to renounce from zero to $450 and then to $2350–and not only so, they are now forcing people who have already lost their US citizenship via relinquishment to pay $2350 to purchase a Certificate of Loss of Nationality–which will permit them, sine qua non, to travel to the USA on their home country’s passport and to prove to their domestic banks that they are not tainted with the stench of US nationality. So the US government chooses to make the lives of expats even more difficult despite their complaints. This is proof that these political leaders are sociopaths.
This sociopathic fee of $2350 is particularly distressing if one has produced children with “property of the USA” stamped on their rear ends. This genetic disease that we call USA citizenship will cost $2350 per person to eradicate, and the more little Americans that one has had the more likely that this will become a serious financial burden–imagine a US expat couple with three children (not that uncommon). In order to buy their manumission, they would have to pay $11,750 US at the current rate, but there is no reason to think that “reporting for duty” John Kerry (the sociopath who runs the United States State Department) will keep the fee at only $2350. So by the time their children are old enough to renounce, the price of freedom will be even higher–but still worth it; that is if you can afford it.
Overseas Governments should be challenged on this fee. They’ve harmed their own citizens by entering into the IGAs, therefore, they should offset that harm with a tax credit equal to the US Renunciation Fee.
Effectively they’ve put a US tax on each head, money that gets bled out of each country and straight into the US Treasury.
At the end of the day, nobody asked to be born in the US, have US citizenship forced upon them, and be subject ever rising Renunciation Fee.
It’s not our fault.
@Don, the sociopaths running other countries are also incapable of empathizing. Sociopaths do not give a damn. The sociopaths are running the world.
@Petros,
It was very clear from what Obama said that he wanted to take the income of a small set of people and give it to others. He said this was fair. In fact Obama was clear that even if being fair generated less revenue for the government than not being fair he wanted to be fair (see his comments on the capital gains tax).
Most of the US (though not me) residents and expats drooled over this guy. They embraced the taking which was in fact his only real message.
Well I got the taking. I got new tax brackets for me. I got new equivalents of the AMT (Net Investment Income Tax), reduced FSA, reduced employee medical benefits, pahse out of deductions and personal examptions and the one think I never expected the OVDP and form filling penalties. He wanted me to pay, most of society wanted me to pay so I had to pay. Now the only plus side of this for me is that loads of people who never expected to pay but voted for the guy had to pay as well (increasing medical costs and taxes and the offshore stuff).
After that the Canadians on this board are running toward liberals with a similar message to Obama (tax those with income above $150k or something like that). They want more taking because the taking by Obama has worked out so well.
Really the voters are the ones with the problem. A few of us never once thought that Obama was the messiah. We never thought he was going to make our lives great etc.
Elections are about swapping one party’s sociopaths for another party’s sociopaths. Perhaps one could start a new party called, “The Non-Sociopathic Coalition” to unite the non-sociopathic people of the world.
Sure the NDP would be sociopaths too, but at least they understood this particular issue. Too bad Canada’s sociopathic society voted in the Liberals instead, not much of a change after having reelected Con artists so many times.
But “price of a Certificate of Loss of Nationality” is THEIR sociopathic society not ours. We renounced, remember? The sociopathic society that you live in is a different one, and the sociopathic society that I live in (reelecting the war-mongering LDP with a majority) is a different one.
It would be nice if the Liberals can be taught to copy the US’s Expatriation Act and let people renounce foreign nationalities for C$100.
@Norman Diamond, “It would be nice if the Liberals can be taught to copy the US’s Expatriation Act and let people renounce foreign nationalities for C$100.”
They should be able to do that for all public and private purposes within the territory of said country. The USA effectively does it at their naturalisation ceramonies.
@George. “They should be able to do that for all public and private purposes within the territory of said country. The USA effectively does it at their naturalisation ceramonies.”
I believe you are referring to the US citizenship oath in which one must renounce all other allegiances as part of the process of becoming a new US citizen. This part of the oath is the means by which the US government asserts exclusive sovereignty over its new citizens within its borders.
Up until the early 1970’s the Canadian citizenship oath contained similar wording. Perhaps Canada needs to reinstate that part of the oath and assert its sovereignty as well.
Although the US government doesn’t actively check for documentation of the renunciation of prior nationalities and therefore technically “allows” dual citizenship, the message is clear for new citizens: when you are in the US the US government considers you to be US citizen and only a US citizen. This is an affirmation of the master nationality rule as the US government is claiming sole jurisdiction over its citizens within its borders. (Its pathetic the US conveniently ignores this when one of its citizens lives in another country and is a citizen of that other country.)
Canada needs to step up and apply the master nationality rule for those of its citizens who also possess another citizenship.. What more basic purpose can any government serve other than protecting its citizens from the claims of a foreign government? While Canada cannot do anything about the process and cost of renouncing US citizenship (that’s strictly between US citizens and the US government), it can treat so-called duals solely as Canadians while they are on Canadian soil..
@MAZ57, Canada withdraw from the 1930 Convention on Nationality, I think it would be a great step and an important one to lobby Canada to sign it again!!
This is why Thomas Jefferson said that every generation should experience a revolution. He understood the sociopathic nature of people who seek and get into positions of power.