If it had been a cottage in Scotland I’d have definitely bought tickets.
But when you wrote “Sligo”, there is a Sligo road about a Mile from my home. And I loved Edinburgh when I visited Scotland 2 1/2 years ago.
But could I move away? Canada would be closer, but I too would be torn.
I can feel more clearly though why people try to come here to get away from their repressive beloved homelands—before it’s too late.
My husband is a second generation Jew from Poland where his grandmother escaped to then brought herself and 5 children to the US to escape Nazi Germany.
Others of his extended family were not so fortunate.
I don’t think “the orange felon” himself is the new shitler, but the puppet masters pulling the strings of P-2025 would be more likely. Especially more so as T’s cheezy mind slips off its cracker and they hide all of his speeches and videos from being archived.
Loved your story.
It gives a lot of us pause on whether we would really leave, especially those with close ties to adult children and grands, or elderly parents.
"What America is, however, is a country that holds enormous potential for good, a potential that is bigger and stronger than anywhere else." This is what holds me here, my own small efforts of disobedience to be good. To be better than our administration but many days I wonder, why?
Great read. We're half-timers. Were before trump starting trying to change the United States into a banana republic. Now we have even more reasons to spend time out of the U.S. Possibly full-time, with returns for visits, eventually? But, as you point out, everyone's situation is different. No easy answers.
And we can never lose the power of dreaming, and wishing, and imagining ourselves in a different place, of putting our minds through a dialogue of what it would really be like to live away from America. I love this piece!
I feel you. In the end it comes down to the fact that I love San Francisco and my little town nearby. Much of our family is here. Most important by far, I have a son in college in the US and wouldn’t leave him behind. And also, I think of the practical things: how would one get a visa? How would we make a living? Will there be a sudden law banning Americans who live abroad from returning, or seizing assets? And…would want Americans now?
David, as always, your essays get to the heart of the matter. But leaving the U.S.? Not an option.
The advantage of being an older adult - I'll be 75 in July - is that I remember what it was like in the 1960's and the 1970's: JFK, MLK, RFK, the Vietnam War, Richard Nixon, J. Edgar Hoover, the CIA, the protests across the country, the murders of Kent State and Jackson State University students because they disagreed with the government. It went on and on.
I knew so very little back then, but I knew, along with millions of others, that what was happening to our country would compromise our democracy and the very tenets of the Constitution. We the People never gave up, and we won.
Today the government is much weaker than 50+ years ago. The Democrats are confused and still trying to find their way. The Republicans are scared to death and conciliatory to the machinations of the Trump administration. The Supreme Court? DEAR GOD IN HEAVEN!
But, We the People?
We the People are strong.
We will stick together.
We will never give up, and we will get through this.
If it had been a cottage in Scotland I’d have definitely bought tickets.
But when you wrote “Sligo”, there is a Sligo road about a Mile from my home. And I loved Edinburgh when I visited Scotland 2 1/2 years ago.
But could I move away? Canada would be closer, but I too would be torn.
I can feel more clearly though why people try to come here to get away from their repressive beloved homelands—before it’s too late.
My husband is a second generation Jew from Poland where his grandmother escaped to then brought herself and 5 children to the US to escape Nazi Germany.
Others of his extended family were not so fortunate.
I don’t think “the orange felon” himself is the new shitler, but the puppet masters pulling the strings of P-2025 would be more likely. Especially more so as T’s cheezy mind slips off its cracker and they hide all of his speeches and videos from being archived.
Loved your story.
It gives a lot of us pause on whether we would really leave, especially those with close ties to adult children and grands, or elderly parents.
It is always on my mind these days.
"What America is, however, is a country that holds enormous potential for good, a potential that is bigger and stronger than anywhere else." This is what holds me here, my own small efforts of disobedience to be good. To be better than our administration but many days I wonder, why?
So many of us.
Great read. We're half-timers. Were before trump starting trying to change the United States into a banana republic. Now we have even more reasons to spend time out of the U.S. Possibly full-time, with returns for visits, eventually? But, as you point out, everyone's situation is different. No easy answers.
And here I was, ready to pack up & visit.
My urge matches yours. Let’s hold on tight.
And we can never lose the power of dreaming, and wishing, and imagining ourselves in a different place, of putting our minds through a dialogue of what it would really be like to live away from America. I love this piece!
I feel you. In the end it comes down to the fact that I love San Francisco and my little town nearby. Much of our family is here. Most important by far, I have a son in college in the US and wouldn’t leave him behind. And also, I think of the practical things: how would one get a visa? How would we make a living? Will there be a sudden law banning Americans who live abroad from returning, or seizing assets? And…would want Americans now?
I would hate to see good people leave our country. We need to take back control and try to set things right.
David, as always, your essays get to the heart of the matter. But leaving the U.S.? Not an option.
The advantage of being an older adult - I'll be 75 in July - is that I remember what it was like in the 1960's and the 1970's: JFK, MLK, RFK, the Vietnam War, Richard Nixon, J. Edgar Hoover, the CIA, the protests across the country, the murders of Kent State and Jackson State University students because they disagreed with the government. It went on and on.
I knew so very little back then, but I knew, along with millions of others, that what was happening to our country would compromise our democracy and the very tenets of the Constitution. We the People never gave up, and we won.
Today the government is much weaker than 50+ years ago. The Democrats are confused and still trying to find their way. The Republicans are scared to death and conciliatory to the machinations of the Trump administration. The Supreme Court? DEAR GOD IN HEAVEN!
But, We the People?
We the People are strong.
We will stick together.
We will never give up, and we will get through this.
Thank you for your essay.