Possible DU group - US expatriates?

On the heels of a very successful lounge post I did several weeks ago relating my experiences as a new US expat in the UK, I'd like to propose an idea for a DU US expatriates group. I think this could be a useful thing for the following purposes:
1) Discussion of practical US immigration/emigration issues.
2) Discussion of cultural differences observed by ex-pat DUers in their host countires.
3) Discussion of US politics from the perspective of ex-pats who by definition are in contact with a lot of "dem damned foriners" on a daily basis.

There is a lot of well-intentioned theorization on DU as to how the rest of the world views Americans and their government. Much to my surprise, I've found quite a bit of the common DU wisdom to be wrong on these points, or at least a gross oversimplification of complicated issues.

I think this could be really fun and interesting. Doesn't matter where you live, hell it doesn't even matter if you're an expatirate. It's certainly enlightening to discuss US current events from an outside perspective.

Well, what do you think?

And have lived as an expat all over the world, so I'd welcome an opportunity to bounce my experiences off others.

Bring it on!

Prague is #1 on my list of places to visit, once I've got accomodations sorted.

Although my local friends sure give me an earful about the region when I ask.

Basically Eastern Europe is trying to figure out how they can get to where Europe's been for the last 25+ years -- free, with an improving economy, reliably observing the rule of law, fairly low corruption, a future to look forward to rather than dread, etc., etc.

My friends have a nervous feeling, however, that they may have missed the boat -- that the glory years of the US and Europe are behind us, and with Peak Oil, Global Warming, terrorism, bushism, fascism, and religionism, they'll never have the chance to have a good job, a nice apartment, and plenty of leisure time.

Ethnic strife is probably lower than you might expect, although there are despised peoples and rivalries all over the place. Many of the states broken up in WWI and WWII and crammed back together under Soviet dominance are not fully happy with their borders, but show little sign of doing anything crazy about their discomfort.

They get really pissed when a neighboring country proposes to do something ecologically stupid, partially because the former governments were eco-disasters, and they know how bad it can get.

That's a brief look. More if the group gets going.

I did't see the post you mention, but I'll certainly look later.

I agree, and for a whole host of reasons. I'm still looking at the group dynamic here and thinking about the best approach. I agree with your points, maybe even going so far to say the EU/US relationship will be the critical one in years to come. And yet, needless to say, what I see happening isn't very encouraging.

My main concern at this point would be not to limit the scope to the group to expats. Take a look at the Democrats abroad forum and see that it doesn't generate much traffic.

I guess the basic question is how to include all overseas DU members, generate plenty of interaction between groups, not be another isolated group, and yet not have international perspective overwhelmed by the current topics of US interest, as in the GD and LBN forums. After all, much of what goes on there is why many of us left. I'd like to hear more input from the rest of the world too, not just the EU/US. My friends from Asia and Africa have many interesting things to say.

Thanks and let's keep up the discussion.

>maybe even going so far to say the EU/US relationship will be the
>critical one in years to come.

I would put US-China and EU-china in that category as well.


>My main concern at this point would be not to limit the scope to
>the group to expats. Take a look at the Democrats abroad forum and
>see that it doesn't generate much traffic.

I didn't even know that forum existed. Thanks.

> I'd like to hear more input from the rest of the world too, not
> just the EU/US. My friends from Asia and Africa have many
> interesting things to say.

I never intended for it to be limited to only expats in the EU. I suppose my main thought was to have a place for all who have common history in the US, yet have many varied experiences outside the US to discuss various foreign views on US politics and policy. Perhaps that is too limited a scope. I just see so many "what do people in place X think of US policy Y?" posts that I thought it would be cool to have a venue for discussion of those topics. But yeah, it might get lost in the shuffle.

I was just thinking back to the number of people who have tended to start or reply to threads that had an "international" slant and I think there would be good support. Many of them might not think to look in the lounge (at least I haven't noticed them here as much) and see this. You know DU better and must think there would be good support for such a group. I'm still looking for the coffee.

>I never intended for it...
I knew that's what you meant, but I had to say it anyway...couldn't help it.

I've looked around for other sites over the years and have not seen any with quite the possibilities for cross-cultural political exchange as this one. So many of the other sites are, well, you know, less than.

Besides that I think it's needed for the survival of progressives in the US and to alert others around the world what they are up against. This bunch in power will never give up. And neither will we.

Expat in Canada going on 4 years; I got here just before 9/11. I'm in.

I'm in the US right now, but spent 9 months living in Germany, and learned a heck of a lot about how we are viewed, and about living and functioning within another culture (albeit one not drastically different, but still major, noticeable differences). It would be neat to talk about many of the things you mentioned!