America, Don’t Succumb to Escapism
America, Don’t Succumb to Escapism
Our politics are a shambles, our people divided and distraught. But we must fight the urge to turn away from our nation’s troubles.
The most appropriate comparison is not the USSR.
The most appropriate comparison is Germany in 1932, when the Nazi Party finally gained control of the German parlaiment, culminating in Hitler’s appointment as Reichchancellor on 30 January the following year.
The fact that the article ignores the obvious and most pertinent historical parallel kind of ruins any rhetorical points it’s trying to make for me.
Well what can you do? We can't unite because of the extreme polarization. Plus one polarized half thinks if we just cut all taxes somehow shit would get paid for. How do you come to concessions with that? Think Tanks decided to fuck with people's heads to keep the wealthy rich and after nearly 100 years of brainwashing we are no longer fucken coherent. We're fucked, because we can't even agree who is accountable for this shit or what we need to do to fix it. This was always the end goal of the Heritage Foundation.
Yeah, no, I'm literally making escape plans. Just this week the street between our house and our kid's daycare got shut down in the middle of the day for an unannounced parade, and my wife had a fucking panic attack thinking it might be some sort of Proud Boys or Oathkeepers-type march and they were gonna run amok and we'd be cut off from him. I don't plan to stick around long enough to see that happen for real when Project 2025 kicks off, thank you.
Where are you planning to go? I'm inclined to want to leave, but I have no idea where to go.
The "easiest" would be Israel since my wife qualifies under the Law of Return, but we're both staunchly anti-Zionist, so... ugh. Right now I'm looking closest at Ireland, since my profession is on the Critical Skills Employment Permit list and I work in a niche that is well-matched to the Irish pharma/life sciences sector. In a pinch I'd lobby for a transfer to my company's Canadian branch office, but that's not optimal for a few reasons.
ETA: for permanent emigration, the thing you want to do is find a country where you can speak or at least quickly learn the language, and where you can get employment in a sector that's on their list of critical needs. In most cases you can't get a visa that lets you stay and work long-term without first getting a job offer. In terms of flexibility, someplace in the EU has a lot of appeal, since you can work basically anywhere in the Schengen area after you gain permanent residency. Australia and New Zealand are attractive mainly for being well-isolated from all the regional wars that seem like they're waiting to kick off just as soon as American muscle isn't backing up NATO or Taiwan, but it's a lot harder to get those visas.
...but seriously, I've been learning French for almost four years now (a) in order to widen my options beyond the Anglosphere in general, and (b) because a whole bunch of tropical islands are part of France (including Tahiti) and I'd like to get a liveaboard sailboat and visit some of them.
I figure having a specific destination planned becomes less important if you're taking your home with you. It's really being able to get out before the shit hits the fan that's the issue, and not having to worry about finding a job willing to sponsor a work visa in order to settle in a particular place seems like it would make that easier.
Worst-case scenario, if the boat's cheap enough your living expenses can be low enough to support yourself bouncing around from port to port working odd jobs.
Exactly. Just actually do it. Remember the people who escaped Germany left before the election. Those who left after had a much harder time.
It is much easier to move without stuff whether that means selling or storing your collection of mostly junk. I took a leisurely route and brought about 40 suitcases total to the other side of the world in a few trips. The rest of the crap I bought over the years is rotting in a cheap storage unit. Your ancestors somewhere down the line immigrated with just the bags they could carry in one trip or nothing.
Depending on your financial situation and if you have at least one family member with a secondary passport there are options. Just don't poison them by "moving" as a tourist, trying to work, and then getting deported. Immigration is difficult, even for Americans. But it is possible.
My wife is a 3rd generation Irish immigrant, meaning she can apply for dual citizenship and I can get Irish citizenship as a "needed specialist."
It's not the easiest escape plan, especially since it would mean abandoning her aging father, but at least we can get out of here if/when the Brown Shirts come for us.
I feel a little weird agreeing with the headline while scrolling endlessly on reddit and lemmy
What a tone deaf article.
It is not wrong and makes some vague nods at Project 2025 or what Mark Esper said, but mostly, yes. This article is about 75% “both sides.”
It’s like the building is on fire and someone’s standing up at length and explaining how hiding in a corner isn’t a good idea, how the high height of the building and the increasing fire and the people who are actively blocking the exits are all valid significant concerns…
Like bro LET’S FIGHT THE FIRE OR GET OUT OF THE BUILDING.
Any article that includes phrases like “Frustration at the political sclerosis in Washington” or “a broken two-party system, growing partisan divisions” is a bunch of shit
The problem is THEY WANT TO KILL THEIR POLITICAL OPPONENTS AND THE SUPREME COURT SAID IT IS OKAY FOR THEM TO DO THAT
That’s not fucking POLITICAL SCLEROSIS
You pretty much encapsulated how I feel about it. This article is trash in the conscious belief that I might have to exercise violence to protect my family from people that think we're an abomination to their fake friend in the sky.
We are the hollow men We are the stuffed men Leaning together Headpiece filled with straw. Alas! Our dried voices, when We whisper together Are quiet and meaningless As wind in dry grass Or rats' feet over broken glass In our dry cellar ... Not with a bang, but...
Fuck that I’m gluing my VR headset to my face and ignoring the next 4.5 years. We are so fucked.