I've been getting comments and email from right-wingers who mistakenly assume I am leaving the country because Bush was elected. Allow me to clarify.
We made our decision to emigrate in July 2003, and filed our applications in early 2004. The applications cost more than $2,500 and entailed quite a lot of work. We are not wealthy people who can drop thousands of dollars on a "what-if". In other words, we were planning on leaving no matter who was elected.
I wanted Bush to lose more than I've wanted anything in a recent memory. It was incredibly important to me to defeat his administration and I'm heartbroken that it didn't happen. (And even more horrified that he probably didn't actually win the election!!)
I voted for Kerry, but I'm not a Democrat. They are clearly the better choice, but they are also, in my opinion, clearly part of the problem.
I'm not your garden-variety liberal. I am what's known as a progressive. My politics fall several steps to the left of most Democrats. (Unless the Democrat is Joe Lieberman, then they fall several miles to the left.)
The system is bankrupt. The entrenched two-party system, the corporate stranglehold, the multi-million dollar campaigns, the lobbying, the antiquated electoral college and the corporate-controlled media - they all conspire to kill democracy. Add to that the ascendancy of the religious right - the war on women, gay people, the working class, the environment, education, science... it's a long list. I want out.
Please stop writing to tell me how John Kerry is not worth abandoning my country for. This hasn't felt like my country for a long time.
5 comments:
Perhaps I was unclear. Please do not post here again. Your comments will always be deleted. Thank you.
I agree that our system in America is a disaster.
How has it been corrupted so much that you have to be a multi millionaire to even run for the Senate let alone the White House?
It really makes little people like me feel utterly powerless.
The ruling class of this country has always been the wealthy elite, going all the way back to George Washington.
You're not powerless. People's movements have changed the world - ended slavery and apartheid, dismantled Jim Crow, brought the US universal suffrage. There are dozens of examples all around us. Now it's easier to organize than ever, because of the internet.
Joining together with others, you can help change the country and the world.
Hope you are having a wonderful day.
Snapping out,
D
I think I had been unconsciously plotting my escape from the "land of the free" for a long time. I remember distinctly how uncomfortable I felt, at age 5, in the first grade, at school in a suburb of Columbus, Ohio, about being trained in to chant the Pledge of Allegiance. What does this mean? I thought. I don't believe in God. I remember how stern our teacher was, the instructions to put RIGHT HAND OVER HEART. At that point, I still wasn't entirely certain which was left and which was right.
I know now. I am left. And I left.
--Mollie
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