I'm getting sick of all these people saying they're going to move to another country if (since?) Bush wins (has won?). As someone who actually did that, all I can say is be prepared to stay away for a long time and for nothing to have gotten any better when you come back.
I graduated college in 1987 and was not a big fan of Reagan and the whole social climate of the time, so moving to Japan seemed like a good way to avoid it all. I came back in 1992 and Bush Sr. was in the White House. My desire to go to grad school had trumped my political emotions and then Clinton got elected that year anyway. I went back to Japan in 1996 and moved back to the US again in 2003, with yet another Bush in charge. I'm ready to stay put now even though I am not thrilled with the way the election seems to have gone.
Maybe I just picked the wrong country to run away to. Maybe if I had picked someplace more comfortable for me I could still sit back and be a smug expat. If you want to go ahead and flee, you do that. But don't go waiting for things to change to your liking while you're away avoiding it all. They most likely won't.
4 comments:
I'm not saying all expats are smug, but a lot of the ones I met were. Anyway, I feel like crap, my head hurts and I really am disappointed with the results of the presidential race, so cut me some slack. If I can't be all bitchy on my own blog, what's the point?
I'm not about to leave the country. I might be forced out or imprisoned, but I am not being forced out.
The situation is back to the good old days of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, nearly. This time they can't get away with Jim Crow. But the climate of fear is intense and what is needed are calm centers.
I am going to work on becoming one of those.
P.S., I love you Pam. We'll get through this.
Thanks Joel.
I know this is not the time to give up in despair. It's time to persevere and, like you wrote, become a calm center.
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