When I came to America in 1993, I was somewhat 'right' off centre.
I admit it!
Mea Culpa! Mea Maxima Culpa!
It took me all of three weeks of real American life to turn that around.
Uprooted from my Christian Democratic foundation of anti-revoluntionairy ideology, I found myself prey to no mean exasperation and surprise with the downright stupidity of the Amerian electorate and my own blindness at the time.
I came to 'better' insights, which I will elaborate further on, after te squiggle.
I had found peace with the fact that as a fairly succesful telecommunications consultant, I had to start at a retail-job, earning pennies to the dollar of what I used to make. I was fine with that. I expected no less.
What I did not expect, however was the measure up to which Americans are slavishly courting and promoting the causes that are so nauseatingly counter to their self-interest.
Gradually, I found the reason and strength to migrate away from my proto-republican views and came to know and love Paul Wellstone (later also Al Franken) and embrace his (their) outlooks. I became a (non-citizen) Democratic individual.
Anyway, I switched jobs and assignments and rose near to what I had achieved in Europe while at the same time starting the family which I had craved for for so long.
The Clinton years were on the whole good. The family was thriving and with the arrival of offspring, I was happy as a clam, but I had not made the decision to become American. (National pride is a hard thing to conquer and especially for a former commissioned officer who made a solemn oath to the Crown.)
Then, came the Bush years, which laid ruin to all what I found attractive to America.
I survived, but deep inside I found the travesty of deregulation (granted: Started under Pres. Clinton) deeply worrying. The vile (Bush) distortions about Irag, which I knew to be untrue, tipped the scales and destroyed whatever credibility America had for me.
I became disgusted with, and adverse to the American prevailing mindset (both Republican as well as Democratic). Homeland security in my view is just another '1930's and 1940's Brown-shirt HeimatSchuetz'.
A moment of hope arose with Pres. Obama getting into (basically political procedure-ordained, but nevertheless better than expected) office.
America hated it!
Racism bloomed and flourished!
Birtherism exploded and tea-party idiots endorsed it, thus dragging the whole republican ideoligy back into the (intentionally) dark-ages.
Instead of giving this president a wholehearted mandate and full support, from the get-go we had the so-called patriotic opposition (Nader and republican coddling Naderite surrogates, we know who you are!) block any viable initiave and we ended up in a(n almost???) Republican treasonal disruption and opposition to whatever that was needed to resolve the injurous effects of the 'Bush' republican sickening and disasterous administrations.
Now, we see a Bush look-alike (Romney) gaining ascendance and we also see the the ludicrous so-called assertively-opposing 'Liberal and Progressive' entities rooting against anything that potentially furthers their cause.
This is Nihilism to the core, and it will lead to murder and mayhem, which is contrary of what I understand the American constitution to stand for.
I see no other outcome than maybe a Presidential Obama re-election, but an at best devastating gridlock in congress, which leads to stupidifying and idiotic standstill of legislation and regulation. More of what we have had in the last four years.
I have no stomach for this.
I will not look back but in anguished self-scorn, but I had expected better and I have always been willing to make it so. I have firmly decided to NEVER become an American.
I cannot combine my concept of social-justice with what I see America moving towards.
America already failed the 21st century.
In fact it has misreably failed the 20th century.
I will be happy to leave it behind and will with myself in wonder as to why I sought to embrace it in the first place.
It must have been love of freedom, but love has a tendency of skewing perceptions and it proved to be a mirrage, as the whole concept of 'American Freedon' has become to current America. A distortion by those who seek pure and unreglated capitalism, which in my book is nothing less but a plutocratic kleptocracy.
Therefore, I am signing out idefinitely.
Good bye.
I wish all of you the best.
The higher being of your choice knows that you will need it!
Kalong.