Posted on 08/12/2013 10:42:33 AM PDT by Deathtomarxists
Just listening to Rush
He is discussing the increase in people giving up US citizenship. I have thought about this as have many in my family. But where to go? Is it really an option politically and financially? Which culture would be the best fit for an ex-American citizen? What kind of legal hassles would result? Please be specific as to why you feel the country you state is the "best" country to immigrate to; political/social atmosphere, wage, social mobility, entrepreneurial opportunities, etc.
Thailand has many advantages and attractions - but it is not paradise. Chiang Mai is a very nice place in the North Mountains (kinda North West)... It is hot in Thailand everywhere - just less hot in some places in some seasons. I don’t recommend it for American families unless you have or can get an international employer with a job in Thailand. It is very difficult to find work in Thailand for Foreigners of all nature (Westerners are called Farangs) - jobs are protected for Thai Citizens (novel idea the USA ought to try it). If you are a retiree or co retiree couple - have savings and a monthly retirement pension of at least $1,800 for one person or about $2,600.00 for an older couple - then you can live just fine in Thailand... Medical care is very affordable and of high quality in many cities especially Bangkok (but it cost more to live in BKK). Foreigners cannot own land in Thailand unless you are married to a Thai then the Thai spouse actually owns the land. Foreigners can own Condos - just the structure part. Rent is cheap, cars are just as expensive or more in Thailand. Immigration is a hassle - there are various visa options but most of those require leaving the country every 120 or less. A retirement Visa requires proof of at least 28,000 in a Thai bank (never ever under that mark). But about 500,000 Expats live in Thailand and make a go of it. Many are doing quite well. You can own a business with a Thai partner and a lot of other stipulations. I am going to retire there in a month or two... Basic Thai language is not difficult. I have a friend who lives near Phuket in a nice - small bungalow and his total monthly expense is less than $1,200. and he lives nicely in a tropical beach paradise.
Panama is bending over backwards to get American Retirees to move there - very few restrictions on Visa - you can work there, etc.
Ok, let me rephrase...Texans don’t run.
Somalia.
bfl
It is time to for us to unite. We need a Freeper convention and discuss a new path for America. Our children’s lives depends on it. I am tears over what is going on with our borders. Washington is totally out of touch and our country is being destroyed by communists. It is their agenda to take us over by removing our borders. God help us.
More about Thailand to clear up posted misinformation. The Muslims are less than 3% of the population ... 96% Buddhist ..1% other... Muslim terrorism is only a problem in the extreme far south on the Malaysian border. There is next to NO problem with Muslims anywhere else in the entire country.
Thailand Visa - again - yes on most Visa types you have to leave the country several times a year - BUT this is not a big deal - Laos, Cambodia and Burma are only a bus ride away and most Expats make a ‘Visa Run’ with friends and make a sight seeing tour out of the effort.
I don’t recommend for anyone to consider living in places like Phuket and Pattaya and parts of Bangkok ... The ‘Tourista’ business has ruined it. If want a secluded site near (but not on the beach) I suggest Krabi, If you like more rural and mountains I suggest Khon Kaen, or Sakon Nakhon in the Isaan Region... You can rent land and farm.
Welcome to Mexarica .....
“Ok, let me rephrase...Texans don’t run.”
****
I’m Texan...However, in addition to being a U.S. citizen, I’m now also a permanent resident of another country because demographics are destiny. The Lone Star State is being invaded from the south and the north by those who will destroy it within 10-15 years.
Unless Texas secedes in the next couple of years and protects its borders as an independent republic, it will become the next Mexifornia. Secession is unlikely to occur unless (a) there is hyperinflation or (b) a national gun grab.
To paraphrase Rand, you can deny reality, but you can’t ignore the consequences of denying reality. Have an escape plan in place even if you never have to use it.
There is exactly ONE Mosque in South Korea. Sure it can be seen for many miles because its atop the main hill in the Itawon portion of Seoul, but nothing is perfect
I’m not leaving, either. I’ll be 65 this year and time marches on with no escape. Best to be at peace with my Lord and Savior and know that this vale of tears is for but a season.
Meanwhile, get in the best possible shape I can, keep the hardware cleaned & oiled, and pray that when my time comes I will be on my feet.
For those who want to stay and fight -— I suggest you join me an my Group - March on D.C. 2013 - along with a number of other groups we plan a sizable protest demonstration in D.C. on September 9th. Contact me and I will send you the Facebook address of my group and several others.
I very,very,*very* strongly wish to leave the United States.However,I don’t want to leave North America and I’d like to stay as close as possible to the place of my birth.The solution? Secession! The red states should secede and create a more prefect union.I’ll move to what is now known as North Carolina,Georgia,Tennessee...even West Virginia or Indiana.Let the blue states issue as many EBT cards,as many Obama Phones,as many marriage licenses to perverts,as many green cards as they wish.
Scouts Out! Cavalry Ho!
Internationally one will generally find that established, stable governments tend to run towards the authoritarian end of the spectrum. Civil liberties and basic property rights are subject to restriction in most developed, first-world countries.
Owning firearms, owning land, keeping the money you make, choosing how to raise your family, practicing your faith or lack thereof, voicing your opinions, enjoying your intoxicants of choice without paying five times their value in taxes or having your bedroom door kicked in by the local thugs in the police force, things like these are hard to come by.
Conversely, it’s easy enough to find unstable nations that don’t have much in the way of “official” taxation and regulation. Most of the time the unofficial “taxation” and “regulation” will more than make up for the lack of government oversight. Want to own a business? Better pay the local police for a “license” that doesn’t show up on any books anywhere, and don’t forget to pay “fees” to the local labor union and community leaders to keep your business from catching fire at night. God forbid you settle down in a nice tropical paradise right in time for the government to nationalize your property and your bank accounts. Understand that you may need to aim for the right balance between local corruption and centralized control.
In many areas of the world westerners are seen as money trees - just run up to them and shake them down for a bit of quick cash. It’s also comparatively harder to fly under the radar in some nations when your color, dress, or language loudly proclaims that you’re a foreign devil.
Human beings are tribal creatures, something most people in the west have both forgotten and take great pains daily to try to disbelieve. Outsiders have to manage to get along chiefly without the benefit of social support from the local community, without the allegiance of the dominant local groups, and without the social credit and trust that comes from being a “cousin”. If possible, try to ingratiate yourself into existing immigrant communities or faith-based communities which you might reasonably have some allegiance to. It’s better to be an Irishman living in the Irish communities in Boston than it is to be the proverbial lone Irishman living in Haiti.
Never, ever forget that countries are temporary and fleeting artificial creations. Invasions, revolutions, coups, demographic displacement, and religious displacement are some of the reasons that the map of the world gets redrawn every couple of years.
That’s a lot of unpleasant social and legal terrain you’ll need to navigate around.
You can improve your odds of living a long, happy, productive life by following a few general rules.
First, try to maintain as much financial independence as possible - don’t place all of your money in the government run banks, things like checking accounts, savings accounts, retirement accounts, these are like piggy banks for unscrupulous governments (re, all governments). Read up on the economic troubles in Argentina to get an idea of what can happen to your bank accounts and your IRA when the government has bills to pay. Further note, currencies can and do fail - don’t neglect to have a reserve of foreign currencies set aside, or some assets in specie. If the local currency turns in to so much toilet paper over night, it helps to have a well-respected and recognized international currency.
Despite the ever present risk of robbery, it’s often a good idea to have some hard cash on hand for emergencies. Temporary disruptions of goods and services should be expected the world over, it’s naive and simply wrong-headed to assume that you can walk into a bank or hit up an ATM any time of the day or night whenever you need to. Likewise, during times of civil unrest or in the early stages of a government transition, what you have on you and in your pockets may be the only things you’ll have that will help you escape or subsist.
Having multiple sources of revenue adds a level of security as well. What would you do if your pension checks, or your social security checks, just stopped coming one day? Professional knowledge and marketable skills are certainly easily transportable and hard to steal, and the right ones can keep you from going hungry or ending up in a refugee camp.
Consider maintaining some degree of physical mobility. As a general rule you don’t want all of your eggs in one basket, and that rule can encompass having a second little property in another nation to escape to if your current nation changes radically over night. Likewise, if you’re sailing around the world on your dream boat, don’t discount the possibility that some corrupt little government official will appropriate your yacht and leave you stranded on shore - have a backup plan.
Research the nations you plan on frequenting! Understand both the written and the unwritten laws of a nation. Too many people in the anglosphere assume that the rules are written down, and that anything not written down is A-OK. A hell of a lot of what passes for governance in the world goes on off the books.
Look at the history of the nation to understand how its borders came to be, what its relations with its neighbors are, what peoples and cultures and religions control the various political and geographic units, and pay special note to any long-simmering ethnic or cultural conflicts that spark into genocidal violence every 50 to 100 years. All cultures and tribes are not created equal, and some cultures and tribes are so incompatible that you can bet good money that they’ll be warring with each other until kingdom come (or one wipes out the other).
Your general strategy will be different whether you’re planning on retiring some place, whether you plan on living and working in another nation, whether you want to raise a family and create a legacy that will last for generations, or whether you plan on traveling while in semi-retirement/semi-work. Do your research carefully with an eye towards your real needs. Check and see if there’s a thriving expat community living there already. These people may be a wealth of information for you.
Develop good street sense. Most of the world doesn’t have the benefit of huge, professional, well-funded and mostly non-corrupt law enforcement agencies. Kidnapping is big business in many countries. Home invasions as well. Sometimes you’ll find the local law enforcement “moonlighting” in these occupations. Staying away from drugs, steering clear of revolutionary movements (even of the ideological kind), avoiding prostitutes, not gambling, and keeping a low profile will help avoid some trouble, but you’re still probably going to appear wealthier and easier to knock over than the locals. The world isn’t Mayberry.
Check your illusions at the border, keep your head up and your eyes & ears open, be flexible, be mobile, be realistic, be cynical, have backup plans to your backup plans.
Translation: Time to start a new country
(not that I disagree with you in anyway)
Look at their Tax Code via Goog;e etc and it is enough to make Steve Forbes Drool.
They haven't darn near taken over the Gen-Av airplane market by shear luck, tax code and smart engineers, all home grown all helped...
Rush is talking more ominous everyday IMHO.
I wonder if the day EIB 1 wheels go up not to return are not to far off...
As John Cazale said in “Dog Day Afternoon”: Wyoming.
Social Security Benefits are paid to all who have qualified, whether U.S. citizens or not. There are specific Nations where SSA beneficiaries cannot receive payments due to lack of various treaties etc., but they are few.
If things go in the same direction for another three years, this country will be in civil war.
Escape, good luck to ya and can't say I blame ya, but I'm stickin.
I love my country, my state and am willing to fight and die if necessary to keep her free.
May sound grandiose, but it is not. Kinda like a dog getting in the chicken pen for the first time. Once they taste blood, you'll never keep’em out.
Those who have tasted freedom (especially my generation), will never allow it to be taken without a fight.
Not advocating anything, just plain tawk.
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