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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsGarrison Keillor: Think Moving Abroad Will Save You From Trump? Think Again.
http://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/277-75/35844-think-moving-abroad-will-save-you-from-trump-think-againWhen I lived in Copenhagen long ago, I knew some Americans who had gone there years before to escape being drafted and sent to Vietnam. They did okay. Copenhagen is fairly Anglophonic, so you neednt go to school for months to learn how to order coffee and a sandwich. They came to appreciate the egalitarianism, the fried herring, the cobblestone squares, the secularity. They learned to say rodgrod med flode. They fell in love with Danish women, which is the best way to learn Danish, since you will likely beget children, who will speak their mothers tongue, and children are excellent teachers because theyre not aware theyre doing it, so by the time your child is 15, youll know the right Danish to be cool. Totally. But still there were gaps that couldnt be filled: Danish rock-and-roll is too studied, and politics is way sedate, and in football, you cant pick up the ball and carry it you must push it around with your feet or bounce it off your head, which is ridiculous. One night you find yourself in a bar in Osterbro and you hear that Harmon Killebrew died and youre the only one who could care.
Exile is no bed of roses. If you go to a foreign country to escape the Big Snapper, you will run into him wherever you go. Foreigners hear your voice, and its like youre wearing a big red A around your neck theyll ask you about the Snapper, and how could America be so hopelessly stupid as to elect this blowhard ignoramus to lead the Free World? In Boise or Tampa or Kansas City, youre not a spokesperson for America, youre just a great lover, a cool dude, and a smart cookie let de Tocqueville figure out what it means to be American, you go pursue life and liberty and have a cheeseburger but when you go abroad, suddenly youre hauling a knapsack full of nationality. I spent time in Europe during the George W. Bush era; I know.
highprincipleswork
(3,111 posts)got one to get me?
Helen Borg
(3,963 posts)JustAnotherGen
(31,777 posts)I think black Americans may be better suited for it as we are treated like "less than" in America anyways. What's the difference between the machete here and some sideways glances in Ghana?
This is a fear based thinking article and the majority of white Americans will be fine. But black, Hispanic, Asian - if we can go we should go. What's the worst that can happen?
It's not Trump himself - it's his supporters who want to "Cut The Tall Trees".
cwydro
(51,308 posts)He always makes me chuckle.
I also spent time in Europe during the W years, and people would ask in amazement how we could have elected such an imbecile.
dorkzilla
(5,141 posts)I've been grilled over the years, starting with Reagan, but they're already aghast at the popularity of Trump. Especially the Scots...they've already had their fill of his antics, and then the Irish were stupid enough to allow him to build a golf course in Clare. He's already said it's nothing more than a plaything for his kids and that he will build a wall around it. Stupid man.
Ford_Prefect
(7,867 posts)Why indeed.
It turns out you can fool nearly all of the people some of the time...just ask Lee Atwater, Karl Rove, or David Brock.
pampango
(24,692 posts)spoken aloud. The economy started tanking and Iraq was a horror and Texans studiously looked the other way and talked of the weather and fishing and their upcoming dental hygiene appointment.
If you want to escape from the Great White Turtle, you could move to New York. New Yorkers saw through this guy 20 years ago, a living, breathing cartoon of a tycoon, vulgarity on wheels, a man who was very lucky that his father was born before he was, and they have closed the book. So he takes his show on the road, and it did okay in Florida, Illinois and North Carolina, and so the intelligentsia is working ever harder, trying to figure him out. Its like psychoanalyzing a toasted bagel. The guy paid $29 million for a 282-foot yacht, sailed on it once, got seasick, and never sailed again. He likes tall models with foreign accents. He dyes his hair. He likes to read about himself. What else do you want to know?
Of course, you could not really 'escape' from Trump by moving to New York but you might here less about him that you would in Copenhagen.
Nice article, eridani.
dorkzilla
(5,141 posts)But I'm not running from anything. I'm running to a better life, with family nearby with clean air and water and the peace of mind that I won't go broke paying for medical care.
It also helps that I can drive on the "wrong" side.
cwydro
(51,308 posts)I think they're the only ones who drive on the "wrong side".
Don't forget Scotland and Wales drive on the "wrong" side as.well!
cwydro
(51,308 posts)My entire family lives in Wales, England, and Ireland. Only mom and sis are here.
I've got a dual nationality and think about relocating often.
dorkzilla
(5,141 posts)Thank dog for dual citizenship! I just got back last week from a trip and am looking for a rental for the summer on the east coast...not far from the ferry to Pembroke.
Surya Gayatri
(15,445 posts)I'm keeping a very low profile for the duration, i.e. until one of our Dem. candidates wins out over the neo-fascist ogre in November.
At times like these, I thank the Universe for my French passport, and the fact that my accent in French can sometimes be mistaken for Alsatian or northern European.
Protective coloring. Camouflage.
cwydro
(51,308 posts)I've been keeping up with this horrid news today.
Surya Gayatri
(15,445 posts)much these days. Still on the mend from my broken hip.
Anyway, we Parisians are a stoic and defiant lot. Terrorism is NOTHING new here.
There have been attacks of one kind or another since the 80s here in the city. I've never modified my habits one whit in any case.
cwydro
(51,308 posts)beac
(9,992 posts)I used to think Bush was going to be the most embarrassing American politician I ever had to explain, then it was Sarah Palin, now Trump.
I may have to go back to my strategy from the Bush years of claiming to be Canadian with all but the closest of friends.
RoccoR5955
(12,471 posts)and in the October before. Not a thing was mentioned about any of that. I was only there for 2 1/2 weeks each time, so I probably did not get the sort of feeling described here. Though the country seems to be very Americanized, there is a certain beauty about the countryside, and its people that I cannot find here as much. Perhaps that is because I was an alien to them, who knows.
I have a girlfriend in Wageningen, and plan to move there when I retire in about 2 years. Wageningen is a college city. It has one of the greatest agricultural colleges in the world. This gives the city an international flavor, with more acceptance to people from other countries.
I have been to different corners of the country, and believe that I will feel comfortable there in my retirement. I just have to master the Dutch language. Even though I was able to pick up a good bit of it, it will take a while being immersed in the language to get it.
Just my two cents.
Tot Ziens.
muriel_volestrangler
(101,262 posts)For Halloween, my cousin's son, who is very switched on politically (he's 12, I think), wanted to go out wearing a Trump mask. His parents (and I agreed) said not many people would recognise it, and persuaded him to do something else. But by the end of November, it would have worked great.
I think European media (British, anyway) thought he was another one of those "takes an early lead and then fades as people, even Republican voters, see the multiple reasons he'd be a disaster" candidates, and it's not worth reporting much on that. Then we had the "OMG - they're serious ..." gradual realisation.
ileus
(15,396 posts)Erose999
(5,624 posts)could pass for Canadian maybe not in PEI or Nova Scotia, but probably in the UK.
MattSh
(3,714 posts)that didn't save me from Obama.