Posted on 05/21/2017 4:12:38 PM PDT by ThankYouFreeRepublic
As the founder of Best Places in the World to Retire, Ive spoken with more than a thousand expats, many of whom have told me of instances where they were told that because they lived outside the US, they were no longer entitled to be called an American, that they were unpatriotic, or in extreme cases, that they were traitors.
Not only do I reject these charges, but I believe that those making them dont understand what it means to be an American.
There is no better statement of what it means to be an American than...
(Excerpt) Read more at newsmax.com ...
`American’: lives in America
ex·pa·tri·ate
noun
1. a person who lives outside their native country.
Ex-patriot.
Waste of bandwidth.
Not even close
The yob is certainly full of himself though. Then again it’s Newsmax
Tagging this article, for follow-up.
:D
I live outside the US part time...4 or 5 months a yr. And i vote!!!
Precisely
Funny episodes of House Hunters International aren’t on streaming TV. Would love to see a redo of those who chose France, Sweden and Germany.
It’s easy. Just keep a low profile.
I'm retired in the States, but if I weren't, I'd only consider returning if I were needed in my Navy. That's unlikely as I'm almost 76!
That flame still burns in many countries.
Hopefully, it will spread.
The English have been doing this for a long time due to their Empire. They are still English.
Over the years I’ve heard a few on FR say (in a huff) that if things started to get bad here they were GONE. I didn’t like that, nor see that as remotely “American”. People choosing to live abroad freely and in peacetime? Why not?
As long as I carry a U.S. passport I’m an American regardless of my address.
I’ve had some discussion with people about this.
And some of what I’ve heard on this subject is as follows:
1. expatriots tend to be retired, and they are rejecting America in favor of some other country in their retirement. The country which was good enough for them in their working life is not good enough in their golden years?
2. expatriots are running away from America’s problems. They won’t stay to help fix what’s wrong. They often are moving because of dissatisfaction with America, but won’t stay and be part of the solution.
3. expatriots often go to countries with fundamentally different social and economic systems; which result in those countries having lower costs of living. Thus retirees find that while their dollars go further, they are supporting a corrupt status quo in places such as Mexico.
4. expatriot retirees are said to be selfish, abandoning America and their extended families, including grandchildren, just to retire somewhere with a lower cost of living.
I’m not saying I agree with this. I certainly don’t want to tell anyone else how to live or where to live. Just saying I’ve heard people talk like this. Legally they are all still Americans unless they take steps to renounce American citizenship. I don’t think too many expatriots do that.
I live in Colombia
Banks the world over used to go GAGA for Americans —now we’re HIV+ lepers.
The IRS went to all major overseas banks and said, “Ya know we can’t FORCE ya to give up all financial info on Americans keeping accounts with you..”
(throws switchblade into dart board for effect)
“...but if we find a SINGLE case of an American depositor who has evaded US tax..? Well, we’re going to charge you a 30% penalty on EVERY transaction you had that went through ANY American bank during that year -maybe BILLIONS of transactions. CAPICHE..?”
Voila..!
They don’t want to hear from ANY of us —just TOO risky to accept deposits from Americans.
We got that after A SINGLE black Prez.
THANK YOU, OBAMA. Now we really ARE ugly Americans.
You’re right, of course, about how difficult it is to get a bank account abroad and that many banks won’t even accept Americans under any circumstances.
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