Attitudes on Expats

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  • #160476
    camby
    Member

    I am interested in what you all have experienced that have moved out of your respective countries by your fellow countryman?

    Anger? bigotry? charges on being unpatriotic? pity?blank “why would you go there” stares?

    I have heard many say that if you expat out, for work, personal or retirement, somehow you are unpatriotic and anti-___ (usually american). At a work lunch the other day, a lady I worked with said this, about a fellow that moved to Belize, saying something like “hey, he chose to move out of the USA and turn his back on this country, so he deserves what he gets”

    Bare in mind, this is a black lady, Democrat, Obama supporter and early 30’s with college 4yr degree, not a Red state flag waving white Republican, though have heard this from both “sides” of political/racial groups…

    I know some are envious, but has anyone gotten grief, etc?

    #160477
    camby
    Member

    also, would like to hear the responses that Canadians, Brits get vs USA….

    #160478
    davidd
    Member

    [quote=”camby”]I am interested in what you all have experienced that have moved out of your respective countries by your fellow countryman?

    Anger? bigotry? charges on being unpatriotic? pity?blank “why would you go there” stares?

    I have heard many say that if you expat out, for work, personal or retirement, somehow you are unpatriotic and anti-___ (usually american). At a work lunch the other day, a lady I worked with said this, about a fellow that moved to Belize, saying something like “hey, he chose to move out of the USA and turn his back on this country, so he deserves what he gets”
    Bare in mind, this is a black lady, Democrat, Obama supporter and early 30’s with college 4yr degree, not a Red state flag waving white Republican, though have heard this from both “sides” of political/racial groups…

    I know some are envious, but has anyone gotten grief, etc?[/quote]

    why would you care what anyone thinks??

    just making the logical intelligent decision to leave the Country puts you in such a small %% of people that you really should not waste your breathe speaking with the.

    most of our society are walking around fully asleep like in a catatonic state.

    when you try to have a civil discussion if your not attacked verbally with nothing more than unfounded emotion not based on anything then its a waste of time.

    time that you cannot replace or ever get back.

    there are no sides.. except the truth and what is actually going on.

    it’s better to just stay in gridlock than anything else and let the chips fall where they may.

    here is a great quote from john stossel that i agree with 100%

    [b]Stossel thinks that, for the moment, gridlock will delay or slow down the mad race to total government:

    My hope for now: gridlock. People say they like bipartisanship, but bipartisanship usually means politicians conspire to take more of our money and freedom. Bipartisanship gave us the Department of Homeland Security, TSA, PATRIOT Act, Import-Export Bank, war on drug users, ethanol subsides, TARP, No Child Left Behind, foreign wars and an ever-rising debt. When Democrats and Republicans come together, they put us deeper in debt.

    Let’s have some gridlock!
    [/b]

    #160479
    camby
    Member

    True enough and not really bothered if someone is not happy with me, my opinions, decisions,etc….

    good on the Stossel quote too

    But, what I was really trying to see-from those of you that are expats, is what, if any, reactions you have had from family, friends,neighbors,etc? whether good or bad……

    #160480
    maravilla
    Member

    i’ve heard it all — from you’re a traitor, to a sell-out, to a wimp, to whatever comes across their little minds at the moment. i sent you the personal attack i got from someone i didn’t even know when i made a statement about being upset that one in five children in america live in poverty. she told me to leave. i told her i was ahead of her and had already done that. well, you saw the exchange. jajaja the bottom line is if you lived your life, or made your decisions based on what the sheeple think you should do, not a one of us would do anything daring, and as most people know, i don’t give one whit what other people think about my choices.

    #160481
    Andrew
    Keymaster

    Agreed!

    Who gives a damn what anybody else thinks, and that includes you own family which is typically the biggest stumbling block for most people.

    It’s your life, live it the way you want to live it… Whether that’s in Costa Rica or Katmandu!

    Eso es la pura vida no?

    Scott

    #160482
    pharg
    Participant

    [quote=”Scott”]

    “Who gives a damn what anybody else thinks, and that includes you own family which is typically the biggest stumbling block for most people.”
    [/quote]

    Unfortunately a lot of unsolicited opinion is based purely on [b]ignorance[/b] (present group excepted of course :wink:) – a good example is “Why do you want to move to that place – it’s an island, isn’t it?” (confusing Puerto Rico with C.R.). And of course there are scores of examples of ignorance leading up to the U.S. election.

    A wise man is superior to any insults which can be put upon him, and the best reply to unseemly behavior is patience and moderation. -Moliere

    #160483
    sprite
    Member

    [quote=”camby”]I am interested in what you all have experienced that have moved out of your respective countries by your fellow countryman?

    Anger? bigotry? charges on being unpatriotic? pity?blank “why would you go there” stares?

    I have heard many say that if you expat out, for work, personal or retirement, somehow you are unpatriotic and anti-___ (usually american). At a work lunch the other day, a lady I worked with said this, about a fellow that moved to Belize, saying something like “hey, he chose to move out of the USA and turn his back on this country, so he deserves what he gets”

    Bare in mind, this is a black lady, Democrat, Obama supporter and early 30’s with college 4yr degree, not a Red state flag waving white Republican, though have heard this from both “sides” of political/racial groups…

    I know some are envious, but has anyone gotten grief, etc?[/quote]

    Sounds like you might be living in one of those “red states”, camby.:D

    #160484

    I have never heard anything negative from any foreigners I have met so far. They all say how lucky we were to live in such a beautiful country and admire the courage it needs to make the move. Only unhappy and envious people would say something negative.

    #160485

    “Sheeple” is one great line! Interesting in that I have had a lot of unwanted advice..telling me I am nuts but I can handle all of that just fine. I just have to look at the depression around me, read the papers and watch the news to underscore the validity of our decision. If I need new friends, it looks to me like there are enough intelligent people that comment on this website for me to fill up my address book all over again. Kudos to our predecessors!

    #160486
    bogino
    Participant

    I think that if you decide to expatriate and move to Costa Rica, Brasil, France or wherever you would do so with the intent of “[b]wanting[/b]” to immerse yourself within the culture you are moving to because that’s what you like about the idea.

    After all, if you’re an American moving to Costa Rica (just using this as an example) and you immerse yourself with the local American community in Costa Rica then what’s the point of moving in the 1st place.

    If you’re [b]only[/b] motivation to expatriate is economic then I think that’s the wrong reason to move.

    In any event, if I decide to move to a different country it’s because I want to become part of the local culture and what anyone else may think or say about that I could care less about.

    #160487
    Andrew
    Keymaster

    [quote=”elindermuller”]Only unhappy and envious people would say something negative.[/quote]

    There are unfortunately tens of millions of “unhappy and envious people” people out there and I would suggest that this number grows with each passing day ….

    #160488
    waggoner41
    Member

    [quote=”davidd[b]Stossel thinks that, for the moment, gridlock will delay or slow down the mad race to total government:

    My hope for now: gridlock. People say they like bipartisanship, but bipartisanship usually means politicians conspire to take more of our money and freedom. Bipartisanship gave us the Department of Homeland Security, TSA, PATRIOT Act, Import-Export Bank, war on drug users, ethanol subsides, TARP, No Child Left Behind, foreign wars and an ever-rising debt. When Democrats and Republicans come together, they put us deeper in debt.

    Let’s have some gridlock!
    [/b]

    [/quote]

    I’ve never encountered any static for living out of the States except when commenting on the U.S. economy. Apparently some in the States think we are unaffected by the economy there and I am asked what difference it makes to me.

    In one respect I disdagree with Stossel. Fear gave us the Department of Homeland Security, TSA, PATRIOT Act, etc.

    When you elect representation that has no inkling of what makes the world turn you are asking for problems and God knows the U.S. has problems.

    #160489
    Andrew
    Keymaster

    [b]“The word bipartisan means somelarger-than-usual deception is being carried out…”[/b]

    Our good friend George Carlin ….

    #160490
    watchdog
    Member

    I’m Canadian (Victoria, B.C.), Natuarlized as a Costa Rican (carry two passports) and have lived in Costa Rica for over fourteen years. Any such remarks, or inuendo as you suggest, are, in my opinion, based soley in envy and jealously. In a sense, if you’ve successfully made the move to Costa Rica, or the like, you are living a dream that few of your countrymen are able to achieve, for one reason, or another. It takes “guts” to make the move initially and even more “guts” to make the cultural compromises required to sustain it. If you’ve done it, be proud of yourself and consider yourself lucky enough that you were able to enrich your life with the experience, that many of your disgruntled countrymen wished they could have as well.

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