Today marks the 10th Fourth of July since I moved outside the United States. Over the years I have been questioned about that move and about my continued foreign residence.
It all started for business purposes. But over the years, I became more distant from the US—each time I returned it felt more and more foreign. To me, it is no longer Ronald Reagan’s “shining city on a hill”. I simply do not like, nor can I support the country that the US has become.
I cannot understand how we managed to fight and win the Cold War against a powerful, dedicated and implacable foe without the Patriot Act, secret courts, warrant-less searches and the entire “homeland security” panoply that has descended upon the country of my birth. Compared to today, McCarthyism was a lame joke. Big Brother is alive and well and getting bigger.
But I wish none ill—I have no conspiracy theory—I am not even outraged anymore. I accept the democratically expressed will of the American people to have this kind of government—but I cannot, and will not be part of it. To me, it is a renunciation of every ideal on which the US was built. It has transformed the US from a limited republic into an imperial democracy…
Some twenty-two years ago, Uruguay emerged from a decade of dictatorship—that experience is still burning in almost every Uruguayo memory and is the best safeguard against a future recurrence.
So, like my ancestors before me, who left Europe for a better chance at freedom in America, I have left the US for a better chance of freedom here in Uruguay. This is now my home. I am no longer an expatriate—an American living outside the US but ready to scurry back at the first sign of trouble. Instead, I am an immigrant who has chosen to make his future in this new land.
Hi Southron et all,
I’ve been following your blog off and on for a few months and I am really attracted to the idea of moving to Montevideo. I left the US tons of years ago to live in Rome but Rome has become impossibly expensive. At 61, I really like the idea of selling my small apartment here in the Eternal City and moving someplace (Montevideo?) where I could retire in a modicum of comfort on the interest (small but probably sufficient) I’d get from a Swiss bank…
I think that my 40 years plus of chaotic Italy has prepared me for anything Montevideo could dish out but it’s a big move and my feet - if not exactly cold - do tend to get chilly off and on…
I have loads of questions and don’t really know where to start…
I’d be travelling with 2 small dogs (Lhasa apsos) , no Spanish (but fluent Italian) and a huge dose of enthusiasm sprinkled with a few worries…
Well, this is just a few lines to get started in actually doing something (even though not much…). I’m really stuck until I get a buyer for my apt. but after that it shouldn’t take me long to board a plane…
The one question I would like to ask you now is if you are still enthusiastic about Montevideo after having lived there for 14 months???
In the hopes of joining your expat get-togethers in the future (near)
all the best to you and your crowd,
Corinne
>>Hello Corinne:
After more than 14 months, I am a bit less enthusiastic, but only because the newness has worn off a bit. I am howveer, even more committed to Uruguay than before. Uruguay is comfortable, and now that I have learned some of the basics of how things happen or can be expected to happen, I am quite satisfied.
My basic analysis remains the same: Uruguay is not exotic or exciting, but rather is wonderfully normal. Uruguay is not the cheapest place to live, but it gives great value for money. Most of all, Uruguay is safe and welcoming and filled with some of the nicest people on earth.
Left by corinne on July 4th, 2007
Hi Compatriot Southron. I read your post on Independence Day, and I’ve been chewing on a response. Though I’ve been poking around on the forum some, I’ve hesitated registering here. Not sure exactly why, either. Perhaps it’s that reading your blog has been like reading something I might have written myself, since you and I are about the same age and both have a bad case of “unreconstructedness”. The big difference between you and me is that you’ve acted on your convictions, whilst I’ve just hunkered down.
Frankly, I’ve come to the sad conclusion that the United States of America is a “dead man walking”. Thanks to the imbeciles that we call national leaders, the beloved nation we once knew is about to be tipped into the unholy “North American Union”. Once that is accomplished, the dead man will collapse and the buzzards will swoop down for the pickin’. What’s so alarming about it is how quickly it could possibly come - maybe before 2020. I guess after that, any of us who hang around had better sign up for Chinese immersion classes, so we can speak the language of our new masters.
Also, I’m torn. I’ve got about eight years to retirement, a life pension from the SC Retirement System. As state pension plans go, it’s one of the most fiscally sound, and as long as any financial collapse is not a total one, I should have a reasonable income. However, don’t even talk to me about Social Security, the biggest ponzi scheme devised by man! I’m just glad that my dad and my grandmother got theirs while they could. I’ve advised my son to write it off as a total loss.
Anyway, here’s the jist - your blog (and your e-book, thanks for taking the time to write it!) have given me some hope for finding a decent refuge for my wife’s and my final years. I’m thinking that I’ve got eight years to plan for emigration, which should be enough.
I don’t think it takes courage to plan for this - honestly, I think it will take more courage (or something else, maybe some serious rose-colored glasses??) to hang around South Carolina and watch the place burn.
Anyway, thanks for letting us in on your Independence Day thoughts, and for letting this Sandlapper cry on your shoulder.
Left by Sandlapper on July 7th, 2007
Southron
Don’t be to hard on the Amerikans, they are children that have lost their way. We are without statesmen and only have politicians, there tools are blame and namecalling, while whining their way thru the next election cycle. Very few solutions, just encumberment of those that are working hard and paying taxes for themselves and six or eight others.
As one that is exploring the idea of relocating, I still do not consider it with lightness. My three boys will not be coming (at least not immediately) and my family of faith and blood will be left behind. I am to a point in my life that physical needs are decreasing while the simpler things are more cherished. My bride of 34 years, good conversation, a warm welcome, fly fishing these are the important things, not the drival from a self absorbed public servant that has no idea of serving!!
Thank you Southron for your words and the fact that you are altruistic toward your new home. I really look forward to meeting you in late September.
Vaya Con Dios
Moustache
Left by mharper on July 11th, 2007
The view looking back upon the ten-year period by the Southron calls to mind an excellent statement by the Chilean writer Ariel Dorfman on those who have left their homeland: - an exile (expat one can read) has only two possessions, the language of his/her birthplace and keys to a house that no longer exists. Dan
Left by dangog on July 11th, 2007