Why I don't just go live in Canada or something.

[tongodeon]

I have vague memories of growing up in the late 70s and hearing the phrase "If you think America so bad why don't just you go live in (foreign country) or something?" used against critics of American politics and policy. Some consider Iraq to be this generation's Vietnam, and whether or not that's true I've noticed a resurgence in what I remember

Comments

[mkb_cbr]

The notion that people who criticize the US government must hate America is probably the most dangerous of all the anti-liberal canards. That sort of thinking isn't just bad for the liberals, it is bad for America.

Al Franken has the best response I have read. Franken says that both liberals and neo-cons love America, but we love her differently. Neo-conservatives love America the way a three-year-old loves his mommy. "How dare you say anything bad about my mommy?!" Liberals, in contrast, love America the way adults love one another. "I love you and I want to stay married, but you really need to stop squeezing the toothpaste in the middle."

[dnereverri]

,,,you really need to stop squeezing the toothpaste in the middle.

More like, "You really need to stay on your meds."

The correct slogan

[drieuxster]

"My Mother, Drunk Or Sober" is the traditional rebuttal to the fiasco of those who never really understood what patriotism means...

[mmcirvin]

I spent a lot of time after the election scolding depressed Americans about their escape fantasies.

I'm glad somebody outside the US actually feels that way. What I hear from Canadians and Europeans on the Internet these days is more tinged with schadenfreude, "get out while the getting is good, your shining city on a hill is permanently fucked".

[tongodeon]

You might hear that from Europeans. America has enjoyed oceans protecting it from Europe's troubles and that protection goes both ways. Canadians are living right next door to the crazy neighbors, and if our house goes up theirs is next.

[erikred]

I said it on 11/03/04, and I'll say it again:

"Leaving the country now would be like leaving a loved one in the presence of a serial rapist because you don't approve of rape. I'm here for the long haul."

[matrygg]

This is pretty much why I stay. I actually was fairly close to running for congress in the special election when Christopher Cox became head of the SEC, but I didn't find out about it until a week after the deadline to file. I feel constantly like I should be doing something, because I'm half convinced I'm going to end up holed up in some bombed out building with an Ak-47, or dead, within the next ten years if our country continues being so divisive.

[catbear]

I'm a born American citizen and I appreciate my country and heritage. I'm going to be a Canadian citizen because I think Canada is a great place to live, and if I'm going to live somewhere (dammit) I want to be able to vote.

However, I'm /not/ going to give up my American citizenship (and I don't have to). I won't abandon the country I was raised.

So, I vote, I agitate, I have opinions, and... I live somewhere else.