Speak Forcefully

Leaving America

I am losing count of the number people I know with sober straight faces that are building plans to leave the country. It is not just talk anymore among a few disillusioned progressives saying things like “if Bush gets elected I am leaving for Canada.” No. Something serious is taking place now. They mean it. They intend to follow through on it. They see the prelude to a civil war in this country and want to exit before the real fireworks begin. It is relative against relative, parent against daughter and fought within the realm of ideas – yet fraught with real-world consequences.

The reality of this election hit home to a lot people at every end of the political spectrum, and I suspect more than just a few of them have decided it is wise to depart from that place in which they are not wanted. When the car in the parking lot is egged and the tires are slashed by those who just finished voting their “moral values” - all because of having the lone Kerry bumper sticker in a sea of Bush ones … is a message to heed.

November 2nd wasn’t exactly The Night of Long Knives, but a considerable number of people fear such an event is merely a matter of time after the next terror attack. As the economy melts down, and the Dollar plummets – someone is going to have to take the blame and guess what? It is NOT going to be the ones that caused the problems. Those guys just got a big endorsement two days ago. Instead – it’s going to be the guy with the slashed tires and egg on his truck that will take the fall – and he really needs to leave while he still can.

The people I know who are either already out the door or are headed out soon - are schoolteachers, programmers, authors, corporate managers, people with good jobs and nice houses – serious level headed people – with skills and modest incomes. I know of one that is applying for an Irish passport, another that readying himself for New Zealand, and another with a Brazilian wife that could go almost anywhere. All in all I probably personally know two-dozen people that are working quietly, diligently – to leave.

The one upside is that at this point in time this country will not miss those heading for the door. They are viewed as the homosexuals, the non-believers, sell-outs, lazy, no-good, neo-French cultural-value polluters that are more than welcome to leave. I wonder how places like Canada, Ireland and New Zealand are going to feel about such scum immigrating to their country? I guess time will only tell.

posted by majqa @ 2:59 PM