Things are looking dark in the United States.
While many are cheering the latest developments, to me it feels like a moment from the (3rd?) episode of Star Wars when our favorite Senator sighs, “This is how a democracy dies.” It turns out her feelings are not isolated. A Yale study found that a lot of people are loosing faith in democratic systems. So, is this a trending thing, or a blip? I don’t really know nor do I think it matters within my lifetime, as I am now too old to see the other side of that argument. Trump and his people are still breaking things, like angry children who got into a frienemy’s toy chest. The damage I’ve seen already will take a long time to fix, and there is no guarantee we flip into fixing mode any time soon. What they are breaking and remaking will have lasting repercussions. One of those will be an inability for Americans to gain citizenship elsewhere, so if it is going to happen, people who are trying to do it need to do so soon.
We are not Golden Visa people.
If I had that kind of wealth this would be a different conversation. I’m an airbnb guy. I cannot even afford to stay at hotels for an extended stay. I live at a financial line where I have enough to travel, but little else. Perhaps leaving the country and reinvesting my limited wealth in a small but growing infrastructure is the best way to survive–to at least ride this out as long as we can. The problem is that fewer and fewer countries want us.
Let’s be honest, if you’re a white male under the age of 50 with moderate wealth, you’re getting on anywhere. The few exceptions to that rule are the places those people do not want to be. I’m none of those things, which makes it harder for me to get where I want to be in lieu of being a US citizen. The only place where I’d be easily accepted is Senegal, and there’s probably a ticking clock on that.
So, what to do? Where to go? These are the questions now.