You can hear it at a family gathering or pronounced from a barstool, a line at the bank or during a dinner. You might have said it yourself: “If (name the candidate) is elected, I’m moving to (name the country).”
The prospect of the election of a president a voter abhors triggers the fight or flight reflex. Some fight. They volunteer to make phone calls or go door to door on behalf of their candidate. People who’d sooner open veins than wallets donate to a political campaign. Others talk of becoming expatriates – some seriously, some with a light heart.
When you hear such talk, which is a perfectly normal response to impending doom, listen more. In the background, a Bob Dylan song is playing:
“I don’t care how many letters they sent
Morning came, and morning went
Pick up your money and pack your tent
You ain’t going nowhere.”
Polls show that 28 percent of American voters say they’ve considered leaving the United States if Donald Trump becomes president.
When a radio personality on a station on Canada’s Cape Breton Island created a website to promote the island as a destination for Americans fleeing Trump, it got 1.5 million hits in its first month. Canada is an oft-mentioned destination. Sweden and New Zealand are also high on the list.
Knowing where to go, for four years, eight or maybe for good, is a tough decision no matter what one’s political beliefs.
Want a country where terrorist attacks are less likely than they are here? That rules out much of Europe. Thinking long term? Then climate change could be a factor. Sunny places like the Caribbean, the Greek Islands, much of Italy and South America could be too hot for comfort. More extreme weather, hurricanes and the like could be a factor. So too is access to high quality health care.
Finances could also be a problem.
The cost of living is lower in much of the world, but the United States is one of the only countries that tax a citizen’s income no matter where in the world they earn it. An expatriate who doesn’t renounce his or her citizenship could wind up paying taxes in two countries. Nor will emigrating necessarily be easy.
All developed nations save the United States enjoy some form of guaranteed health care and all of them struggle to make it affordable. The last thing they want is older immigrants who have or will have lots of health care costs.
That’s one reason many nations, including Canada and Mexico, set income and asset requirements for people who want to move or retire there.
Mexico, for example, wants a married couple to have a monthly income of about $3,600 and assets of $100,000 or so to qualify. Australia, depending on where down under an American retiree wants to live, wants assets of a half-million to three-quarters of a million dollars per couple plus a guaranteed income of $50,000 to $65,000.
Finally, there’s the matter of freedom. Carp all you want about high taxes, too much regulation, government interference and the like, no country is as free as America.
Race, ethnicity, class and religious distinctions can matter even more than they do here.
The fact is, for almost everyone threatening to move because of political frustration, they “ain’t going nowhere.”
In her editorial board interview with the Monitor, Hillary Clinton was jokingly asked where she planned to move if Trump wins.
“Can I go to New Zealand?” she said with a laugh. She was just kidding. If Trump wins, Clinton said, she will stay right here and fight for her beliefs. And that’s what supporters of the losing candidate should do, too.