How To Solve America's Problems
I was born and raised in America. I am now a retired old geezer. In the period in between, which we normally refer to as life, I lived in Frankfurt, Germany for a few years and later in my life in the southern most province of the Netherlands for 15 years. I have travelled to many other countries.
I speak almost fluent Spanish, and at one time I thought it might be wise to retire in Mexico. I have been to Mexico hundreds of times, and I have visited much of the country. I certainly cannot recommend moving to Mexico any more. The slow motion train wreck which we are watching in Mexico is mostly of their own making. Many years of greed, corruption, and rampant dishonesty have led to this journey down the failed state route. I don’t even recommend visiting Mexico as a tourist any more. If you are a poor American and you are forced to go to Mexico to buy your blood pressure medication or in order to get dental care, do so only with the greatest trepidation.
Many of us thought that America could be salvaged if Barack Obama were elected. I now see that this was wildly unrealistic. The wars have not ended or the wasteful spending on the military reduced. Instead of implementing single payer universal health care in America, the legislators in Washington are now working on a plan much like the failed Clinton plan which would demand that anyone who doesn’t buy health insurance (or can’t afford to) pay a large fine to the government. This is a distorted and perverted way of dealing with the situation. After all the years of Republican emasculation of the essential regulations in the financial system, Wall Street is not being re-regulated in any meaningful way. The Justice Department is being prevented from investigating allegations that illegal torture was performed during the Bush administration. Even the antitrust regulators in the Obama administration are now being prevented from going after monopolies, not by the Republicans, but by their own folks within the Obama administration!
Several people have honestly and sincerely asked me recently, “So what do you recommend?” I am sure that they thought I might be able to offer some ideas for getting America back on track.
Sorry. No can do. The America I grew up in, that I served during the Vietnam war by being a soldier, and that I had great hopes for has simply wasted away due to too many years of gluttonous greed and political corruption. I clearly view “campaign contributions” as bribes. I no longer see any hope for America to come back. Just like with the failed state of Mexico, I see the United States of America as doomed.
My recommendation is that you give up on America and do what is necessary for your own self preservation. Move to a more civilized country. There are a lot of good ones out there, such as France and Germany, which I simply cannot propose because of the vast language differences. Having lived almost 20 years of my adult life in Europe, I am a good person to tell you how difficult it is not being able to read your income tax form, the property tax statement from the municipality, your bank statement, or the local newspaper. No, I cannot in good conscience advise that any American permanently move to a country where English is not the primary language.
This limits the countries which I would consider to: Great Britain, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada.
Great Britain has some of the same problems as America, but it is an amazing set of islands. I have been to the UK many times, and I really like it there. But the social class based hierarchy is still very alive in Britain. I have never visited Australia or New Zealand, so I don’t have much to say about them other than that they seem like they might be worth considering.
My top choice is Canada. The weather is indeed colder there, but other than that small downside, the Canadians are REALLY POLITE and nice people. They are virtual Americans by culture. Except that they figured out the truth about universal health care years ago. They have a small little military establishment, and the country doesn’t waste a large part of the national income on war and killing.
Canada has its own problems, including little things like the French speakers who want to hold a civil war and tear the country apart. Even so, I view emigrating to Canada as a superior alternative to continuing to live in America. Just kiss it goodbye and look towards the future.
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