But I Did Go Christmas-Tree Shopping…
Oh, the weather outside’s not frightful. But this line to buy a Christmas tree is delightful. Because I’ve found an American to talk to, and he told me it was time to go, time to go, time to go…
Yep… a hideous rendition of an Xmas classic. But it works for the purposes of today’s dispatch.
See, at the request/demand of my wife, Yulia, I found myself at a plant store, or what the Portuguese call a horticultural center, near our apartment. We’d arrived to buy a Christmas tree because Yulia was feeling the Christmas vibe early in the season.
While waiting in line, a little girl—maybe 6, maybe 7 years old—started jabbering with her mom and dad. In American-accented English. So, I turned to the family to ask where they’re from.
The Los Angeles area, the mom told me. They relocated to Lisbon about three years ago.
It was the “why” of their relocation that got us chatting.
“Guns and schools,” mom said.
Despite the lead-in to this dispatch, today’s message has exactly zero Christmas spirit.
Like so many Americans these days, this particular family reached a point in their typical American life where the threats of guns in school, and the decaying quality of American education, convinced them that a better life awaited overseas. Some place safer, some place more civilized, some place where their daughter can go to school and not have to practice active-shooter drills.
A place like Portugal… or, really, most of Europe.
Mom and daughter wandered off to shop the flowers and plants in this fairly expansive horticultural center, leaving me and dad in line, each holding a Christmas tree, chatting about all kinds of American matters.
The election came up. So did the decline in societal standards that today defines modern America.
I said: “My big fear is that America as we know it—50 states—isn’t going to remain a unified country. Too much hate. And did you see a New York State senator wants to partner with Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Vermont to join Canada?”
“I can see the US breaking up,” the dad replied. “I just never thought it would happen in my lifetime.”
And on it went…
I saw a headline in my daily news feed, suggesting that record numbers of Americans “are looking overseas for another residence or citizenship.”
Easy to assume that such a headline would appear just after Trump’s victory. Love him, hate him, or pay no attention to him, the reality is that DJT is the most-polarizing White House resident of the last century. Data from VisaGuide.World showed that on the morning after Trump’s win, Google searches for “how to leave the US” jumped by more than 1,500%.
But that headline I mention actually ran back in March, in Fortune, and the article noted that Americans are “hedging their bets against political turmoil and social unrest” by looking to decamp for a safer, less-stressful life abroad.
Which says that this isn’t really a Trump thing. This is a “degrading state of affairs in America over the last decade or so” thing.
All sides of the political spectrum are at fault, as are the institutions that are supposed to work for all Americans but clearly do not.
Supreme Court decisions, for instance, have destroyed the middle class at the behest of the wealthy and corporate class who want to rob Peter and Paul to line their own pockets with billions more dollars they don’t need for any productive purpose other than the desire to die with the most toys.
Politicians of all stripes are corrupt to the core and gladly do the bidding of uber-wealthy donors in exchange for some back-scratching that fattens their bank account.
And don’t get me started on the politicians who miraculously make the most amazing stock market trades thanks to insider info they learn about in their roles on various Congressional committees. None of us are naive enough to believe that Congress is packed with scores of Warren Buffett proteges.
The sadly eroding American middle class is looking to burn down the joint because they’ve been so severely screwed by the American political/power structure that has developed since at least the Reagan era.
I can’t really blame them.
When you’re working multiple jobs to feed your family… When you’re floating most of your purchases on credit cards because there’s not enough paycheck to cover your monthly finances… When your income is not keeping pace with inflation because of the way politicians and corporations have stacked the laws in their favor… When you have nothing left to lose, really, you fight the good fight against the system that led you, unwillingly, to this situation.
Those with the financial means and the opportunity to do so are saying “to hell with the fight, I’ll just move somewhere that I don’t have to fight.”
And, so, the desire to leave the US grows ever stronger for many.
No one wants to hear this, but the situation in America will grow darker before it finally improves.
Question is: Do you really want to live through the battles to come?
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