The Washington Post has this article, The less Americans know about Ukraine’s location, the more they want U.S. to intervene, with the results of survey showing that the further respondents pinpointed Ukraine on a map from its actual location the more certain they were that the USA should intervene militarily in the crisis there.
Does it really matter whether Americans can put Ukraine on a map? Previous research would suggest yes: Information, or the absence thereof, can influence Americans’ attitudes about the kind of policies they want their government to carry out and the ability of elites to shape that agenda.
Ignorance plays a huge role in US citizenship-based, global extraterritorial taxation of alleged expats and its arming mechanism, FATCA. Like the ignorance regarding the geographical location of Ukraine, the typical Homelander believes that so-called US citizens abroad are only trying to cheat on paying their fair share. If they were true patriots, they would live in the USA and would not under any circumstance renounce their citizenship, except to show their true colours as unpatriotic villainous tax evaders for whom money is more important than the country to which they owe their very essence, not to mention their education and fortune.
I define patriotism otherwise. For me patriotism is not the blind obedience to a foreign regime thousands of miles away, that expects me to pay taxes even though I’ve lived in other countries since 1986. For me patriotism is contributing to and protecting my family and the community where I live now. What I am today is not thanks to the USA but thanks to the hard work of my family to whom I owe my earthly allegiance. One way I show that allegiance is to refuse to pay taxes to that foreign regime, and thus weaken my local family and community. So for me, not relinquishing US citizenship would have been unpatriotic. So here is the thing: the USA became to me a foreign country that was threatening harm to me and to my Canadian family. I had to do what I could to protect my family.
The US is spending so much time warring around the world that it has basically lost Latin America. A whole slew of governments opposing US-style neo-liberalism have been elected. A dying empire.
Well said! It’s frustrating also to see Americans stereotyped, though, as certainly my family and friends from the North East, DC California and Florida are “normal” in the sense of accepting my living abroad for what it is. No fabricated plots or accusations from them, and I’m certain millions of others! America is a big place, with varying cultures and ideas.
If you saw a man in chains and one not, who should you think is more dangerous?
Homelanders want money. Period. And if they knew that FATCA will be harming their own wallets- only then might they act to repeal. This is the only thing they would listen to- so all our complaining is for naught. They don’t care if we are being hurt or not.
But honestly- a country which has a secret Supreme Court vote in limitless “donations” for political candidates can’t really be expected to make any sane decisions anymore- can they?
Mark Twain once said “Loyalty to your country always. Loyalty to the government when it deserves it.”
The United States government does not deserve anyone’s loyalty. The country we can still have strong affection for.
Unfortunately for this article: This exactly typifies the American homelander attitude: ignorance and hubris. The simple fact that the percentage of people who couldn’t find Ukraine on a map and the percentage of those who advocated military intervention (those who couldn’t find it were the first to advocate military intervention) makes me wonder if we’re dealing with a populace that is more stupid than most.