Now that this election appears to be over, I've been hearing lots of grumblings about leaving the country; some people are apparently too fed up to deal with America anymore. I'd like to share a personal narrative with you. Last year, my partner and I moved abroad. We were sick of politics, sick of the Republicans and Bush, and quite frankly sick of a lot of the apathy, indifference, and the general inability of American voters to seem to be able to elect responsible and reasonable politicians.
Last December, my partner and I moved to Mexico. We were living in the SF Bay Area, paying $1500 a month to live next to a KFC, frustrated by American politics, and feeling like we needed a change. We were fairly unencumbered. We're both relatively young (me, 26, he 32), didn't own a house, and didn't have children. I disliked my job and was looking for a change, and we were lucky in that my partner does computer work. As long as he has an Internet connection, he can work from anywhere. We started asking ourselves what was keeping us in the Bay Area? What did we experience on a daily basis that couldn't be achieved elsewhere? Our friends were going to be hard to leave, the music and arts irreplaceable, but we felt that if we didn't make the jump now, we would be old, retired, and in a motor home before we got the chance to really experience living abroad. The expat life was calling.
Canada was initially considered, but rejected because it seemed like more of the same (with better health care), and rather expensive. Mexico seemed like a good choice; good weather, close enough to the states for family obligations, and culturally different enough to really experience the feeling of being abroad. We both started beefing up our Spanish, and ventured south in October of last year for an exploratory mission. We spent a month in Baja California researching the viability of a possible move, houses for rent, etc, and in December we put almost everything we owned into storage, and made the move with some simple belongings and our 3 cats (that's right, 3).
Life in Mexico has been a great experience. We've learned the language, made some friends, and have had an experience that I know others only dream about. But making the jump to a completely different culture and language has not always been easy. In terms of the election this year, it has been extremely difficult to watch from afar and not truly be able to participate. We spend a lot of time reading and writing on sites like this one, reading news sites, emailing representatives, and talking with friends about the issues. We voted absentee this year, and contributed to various campaigns and causes, but other that that there was not much that we are able to do.
If you want to leave America because you want to have an adventure, great! Go for it, but if you want to leave America because you are frustrated with politics, I implore you to please reconsider. America needs you. America needed me this year, and I wasn't there. I know that me alone would not have been able to change the outcome of this election, but I do know that there were many, many days that I was angered by events but was powerless to do anything about it. I wanted more than anything this year to be knocking on doors, registering people to vote, and getting the message of my candidates out. I want to live in an America where people have a conscience again, and my conscience is telling me that I need to do more.
We are moving back to the United States later this month. We were hoping to come back to a Kerry presidency, but things obviously did not turn out as we had hoped. I left because I was frustrated, and I am returning because I am frustrated. Leaving does not enable you to magically let go of it all. If you care enough about America to be reading this blog, I assume that if you do move abroad, you will be unable sit back quietly and watch your country be taken over by wingnuts. In addition, those folks would probably be very happy with your decision to move abroad - one less they've got to worry about. You will not only be angry like you are now, you will be angry AND powerless.
Between now and next election, I won't have any regrets or what-if's, because I'll know for sure that I did everything I could to put forward progressive candidates and causes. I'll know that I was in the trenches fighting, writing, and screaming, "I want my fucking country back" from the top of my lungs. Stay with me and fight. We need you, and your country needs you.