by Sixstrings » Sun 31 Jul 2011, 23:11:26
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Shaved Monkey', 'W')e have a "localish" guy who runs a few cattle and sells some wood and mulch an ex Californian who didn't go home after the Vietnam war,he is still known as the American who sells mulch....after nearly 40 years...nice guy though, nearly has a bit of an Australian accent
Well, that's the rub isn't it. Even if it may be a better place to live, a country with a future and good sane government, it's still not home. I've never been to Australia but I can imagine it would be disconcerting after a while. Just the cultural differences.. everything on TV different, different humor, outlooks on things. No shared history, truly an outsider.
It would be odd hearing the accent all the time, never hearing an American accent.
I think I could adjust better in a non English speaking country that has an expat community. In a place like that, just speaking English has value and makes you a bit of a village celebrity. It helps to fit in when people are eager to get to know you just because you're an American. And even if it were a country with f*cked up government and society, being foreign I wouldn't expect it to ever change. I'd be able to accept it. What's hard is watching these changes in the country I grew up in, it's hard to accept because it didn't used to be this way.
Overall, I think Canada would be the best option for easiest transition. It's different in all the ways that matter, but otherwise the same. And it's much closer to home than the other side of the world.. Canada isn't any farther than living in Michigan or Maine or Washington State.
The point of this thread is that I don't think we're going to have Mad Max worldwide collapse within our lifetime. BUT.. it's still going to be an ongoing progression of doom and turmoil, and a lot of it. So maybe a move to some place like Canada would be smart.
Just to cut out so much of the craziness stateside and not have to think about it anymore. Go about ones life and not have to worry about a crazy Tea Party or the latest war we've started or a government utterly controlled by the top 1% and corporations.
I'm just tired of doom. But even if I stop following national news, my own state government is insane. I can't ignore local issues, I live here. We have broken, bad government in the US and the worst part of it is the uncertainty -- businesses say they won't hire because they can't be sure of anything. If I just lived some place where society / government was a bit healthier then I could forget all this stuff and go about my life -- which is how it's supposed to be.