The Word on the Eventual Expat Street is….

"Scandinavia is the happiest place on the planet, lots of free healthcare for everyone, and more handouts than you can shake a stick at.".... "It has some of the highest tax rates on the planet."

"Most of Southeast Asia is beautiful, somewhat unregulated, exotic and dirt cheap.".... "It has monsoons, lousy internet and it's hot as hell!"

"Central America is pretty convenient for Americans. It is nearby, has white sandy beaches and a tropical climate."...."It’s dangerous for gringos, home to corrupt governments and thanks to a deluge of deep-pocketed American retirees, it is no longer a cheap place to live."

"Many Caribbean Islands are great tax havens." ...."Good luck getting a job or a permanent visa."

"Europe is filled with beauty, history and culture. " .... "Bureaucracy is King and everything is regulated to death – even death."

"Australia is pretty much just like the US." .... "It has higher prices than the US and you have to learn to drive on the wrong side of the road."

"Canada is just Canada."

"And Africa ...well, it’s Africa."

As The Eventual Expat, I always keep my ears open when I hear someone discussing their experiences overseas. I realize that the word on the street can be informative yet misleading, but if given the opportunity, I will pester folks to death with questions about their adventures abroad. Is it a great place to live? Is it really as inexpensive as they say? Is it true they have incredibly low taxes? Does everyone really speak English?

But the answer is always the same: “It depends”.

One of the main obstacles when deciding on a country to expatriate to is that everyone has a different take on what is good and what is bad. I’m always amazed that someone can be so fond of the same place that another person hates with a passion.

A writer once told me he spent a few months in London and enjoyed being left alone. He enjoyed the solitude in the midst of the big city hustle and bustle. He fell in love with the town and couldn’t wait to go back. But a girl who had been to London for a year of college abroad told me she cried herself to sleep many nights out of loneliness. She hated London and said she would never return. She felt isolated and forgotten amidst the vastness of the city.

Some friends of mine vacation in the Dominican Republic for a month each year. They always come home with lots of pictures and interesting stories and souvenirs. They can vacation wherever they wish, but every year they can’t wait to get back down to the DR. But a neighbor of mine was sent to the DR for work. All expenses paid. He spent three months there and couldn’t wait to get back home. He said he was miserable the whole time.
It is becoming easy for me to see that there are as many reasons to expatriate as there are expatriates. Each person has their own vision of life abroad and their own particular expectations of a foreign country.

 I must learn to ask better questions. I’ll be more objective and less subjective. Maybe I can start getting answers other than “It depends”.

Sidestepping America's Decline

Politically, it has been a whirlwind decade for the USA. The past two presidents have passed Executive Orders so rapidly that the press hardly reports them anymore.  The Affordable Care Act has been ‘deemed’ to be passed by Congress even though the necessary votes were never obtained. Revelations have been made that the NSA, by way of the Patriot Act, is conducting electronic surveillance on the citizens of the US as well as many other countries. The IRS has been caught red-handed targeting Tea Party groups because of their political views and some State Attorneys General have refused to enforce laws which they “feel” are unconstitutional.  

In my America, once the Land of the Free, I see outraged patriots just shaking their heads in disbelief as our system of checks and balances is repeatedly ignored. Changes in laws and regulations are occurring at an alarming and unpredictable rate. Political moves which in the past would have been met with impeachment and censure are being accepted by the public and dismissed as typical politics. The daily news is most always grim and unfortunately, not much on the American political horizon indicates improvement in the near future.
Despite the outrage and discussions and endless debates in the media, no real political opposition is being offered on a substantial scale. Of course there are some small groups who accurately identify the problems and offer some sound solutions, but the political party that is large enough to make a real difference – the Republican Party – has repeatedly fallen on its sword.

Instead of acting to repeal the Affordable Care Act, Republicans merely seek to improve it. Instead of preventing government from spying on its citizens, Republicans insist that spying is necessary to prevent terror attacks. And while the Republicans do agree that the IRS overstepped its bounds by targeting Tea Party groups, they still defend the IRS’s ability to tax at will.

Both parties, Democrat and Republican, seem to be advancing the same statist agenda even if for different reasons. The Democrat response to the President’s flurry of Executive Orders is: “Well, the Republicans did it too.” The Republican’s response is no response at all – they just stay silent. In all of these examples of the government trampling the rights of Americans, no real solutions are being offered. Instead, comparisons are made to highlight that both parties do it. No substantial action is being taken by either party to stop the abuse going forward. It’s politics as usual.

In my opinion, both of America’s dominant political parties are sidestepping our system of checks and balances. Thus, I believe America is in decline. The America I grew up with is beginning to look more and more like a European social-welfare state with freedom disappearing not all at once, but gradually and unpredictably - one new regulation at a time.

My Grandpa would have called it “Going to hell in a handbasket”.

Now, as bad as the daily news seems, this has all happened before. Well, not exactly, but very similarly.
In the 1930s, (1935-37) FDR’s aggressive ‘New Deal’ caused many businessmen to feel that a dictatorship was on the horizon for the USA. Government seemed to be out of control and growing daily. The cartelization of businesses, unprecedented anti-trust laws, gold confiscation and laws favoring special interests were justified by President Roosevelt as being necessary in a time of crisis¹. Sound familiar? The New Deal created uncertainty similar to our recent administrations. Yet afterward, the country re-stabilized. It was much more regulated and much less free, and it took decades of adjustments, and a war, but it re-stabilized.

Hey, who knows? Maybe this will all play out and America will become more stable again soon. Maybe a political movement championing freedom is about to surge forth in the US. Maybe all of the liberty-loving Americans are waiting for their perfect chance to make their move and retake the country. Maybe, but I don’t see it.

So, should I try to sidestep America’s decline and come back when it has re-stabilized? After all, having American citizenship while residing abroad may have a lot of advantages.

The Eventual Expat will be looking into it...

The Eventual Expat Begins

The Eventual Expat Blog is a documentation of my research and efforts to gain personal, political and economic freedom by leaving the United States of America. As my home country declines into a socialist welfare state, I search for the specific destinations where my unique interests and desires can be obtained. My search is not for the perfect country, but for the country which affords me the most freedom for my particular interests and goals.