1.01.2005

like-minded

Greener Pastures, which I mentioned briefly below, is really nice. The writer's reasons for leaving the US are very similar to ours; you can read about them here. I especially liked this:
"Isn't it running away and giving up?"

Well, only if I thought that I could hop on the pendulum and alter its swing. Here's the thing. The U.S. is the land of opportunity. Economic opportunity. Creative opportunity. The whole idea is to give individuals the freedom to do whatever they want, and achieve whatever goals they set for themselves. The common good is not the priority. It's about individual success. Now, I'm not about to attempt to rewrite the mission statement of the U.S. I've been a good little participant in the democratic process; I've voted, even in primaries. I've demonstrated, I've canvassed door-to-door for causes I believed in. But at a certain point, I think it just makes sense to go to a place that's already a better match for your values. I don't have a problem with being taxed for the common good. I like the idea of basic, single-payer, universal health care. I'm not motivated to buy stuff out of fear, or desire for status, or because it's the patriotic thing to do. I want to live a resourceful, less wasteful, less materialistic life. I could do it here, but I think the current is running more in that direction up North. I don't feel like I am running away. I feel like I am running... home. Giving up? Nah, no more than I "gave up" on personal relationships in the past that weren't right for the long term. At a certain point, you've got to stop beating that dead horse.
That's the best answer to that "giving up" question I've seen anywhere. Thank you!

3 comments:

zonie-phone-home~ said...

WOW. I'm in awe. My husband and I are sucking air reading this. It's US. We are going... (see my other posts.) We've said similar, but this could NOT be said better than you have here.

laura k said...

ZPH: Thank you for this and your other comments. Best of luck to you guys. It's a long road but it is so worth it. Stay in touch!!

Anonymous said...

'The U.S. is the land of opportunity. Economic opportunity. Creative opportunity. The whole idea is to give individuals the freedom to do whatever they want, and achieve whatever goals they set for themselves.'

Actually, this is no longer true (if it ever really was). Research shows indisputably that many European countries are now way ahead of the U.S. in terms of social mobility. In fact, upward mobility - your chances of moving from a lower to a higher income bracket - are much higher in Sweden than in the U.S.

This is largely because its more easy for an ordinary person to get a top quality education in Europe than the U.S. (or some of the other English-speaking countries). Thanks to universal free education - above all, free tertiary education - all the Nordic countries make it possible for a person from the lowest social strata to move into a high income job.

In other words, the American dream is either over or it is and always was a sham. It's more alive in Europe than anywhere else, although that's a problem for those of us who don't know the language of the country we might want to live in.

Social Democracy Now
http://www.blogigo.co.uk/socialdemocracynow