getting out while the getting is good

When watching the apparent mechanical trajectory of events in Weimar Merka and pondering what history suggest lies further along the path, I occasionally consider options for getting out in hopes that the Monster will not crush me in its death throes because I was standing too close.

Laura and the SOTT folks thought it wise to leave for France while they could.

How hard is it actually to leave? Is it difficult to get permits to live and work in France?

Is Argentina or some other South American country a viable option?

It seems like the English-speaking world in particular is rife with power grabs based on stoked fears of terrorism. It seems this pattern is also playing out in Australia, but I'm not sure about the political situation in New Zealand. Is it best to get out of the English-speaking world?

How hard is it to make a living in another country?

I've travelled outside Merka before, but the notion of making that big of a move is daunting and I don't know much about what is involved...

Disclosure: I am a North American expat currently residing for the past five years on a tourist visa in a Southern Cone country living off of my savings, investments and speculations (how about them precious metals!!).


On many message boards, I always eventually end up saying "Get Out While You Still Can!"

---First part of expatriating is mental.

Go to:
http://www.escapeartist.com/
and other similar sites to build the dream, inspire resolve and build confidence. But realize that even the writers there may not be giving you the real low down on specific locales or on the true challenges of an expat lifestyle.

---Second part is ACTION. Can you transition from talkin' the talk to walkin' the walk? Bite the bullet and immerse yourself in research and make plans to visit the places on your hot list. AND THEN DO MAKE MULTIPLE EXTENDED TRIPS to observe, analyze, make contacts all the while remaining objective and even skeptical during the whole process.

---Third, decide on your primary target destination but always have secondary and tertiary plans if things don't work out as planned.

---Fourth, make the friggin move! What are you waiting for? In a recommended time scale of a year to three months you will want to get rid of your stuff (I am still regretting putting my crap in storage), transition your official address of record to a mail drop service, setup mail and parcel forwarding if necessary, setup communication services, apply for any visa if that is what you need (I personally am a fan of the Permanent Tourist method), move all financial accounts to e-statements, internationalize all your accounts (web access, permission to do wire transfers via net/phone/fax, ability to have replacement ATM and credit cards sent to you overseas, etc.) and tie up any other loose ends.

The rest will take care of themselves if you are truly committed in your endeavor.

If you can survive more than a year as an expat, your chances of making it are good. Five years, probably a done deal.

Suerte.

If you are an EU citizen, you have the right to live and work anywhere in the EU. Since Laura's husband is Polish, and Poland is part of the EU, they have the right to live anywhere in the EU they please. From Ireland to Greece. And maybe even Turkey, if that ever happens.

If you're not an EU citizen or married to one, you're basically in the same boat as the H1-B people here - you've got to get a company to sponsor you for a work permit, and then you're at the mercy of that company - if they fire you, you have to leave and go back.

I lived for a year in the Netherlands, um, er, illegally. It's amazing what you can get away with, if you have an American passport. It's like a golden ticket. Europe is not that free, and it's sad that in some ways, europe has more liberty than the U.S. does.

There are other options - amass enough investments to earn a return sufficient to cover a lifestyle in some 3rd world country where the living is cheap. Thailand is a popular spot, Costa Rica is another. The way the dollar has been going, I don't think that's a sustainable option. Odds are good the dollar will crater, and every foreign land will be mucho expensivo (unless you're properly hedged, and even then, it's going to be touch and go).

I myself just wanted to find a quiet corner of North America and stay out of history's way. But after reading the C's, I'm not sure what I want to do anymore.

Keep in mind that the "dangers" will be minimal for people who keep a low profile. For us, the situation was entirely different. Ark was being pressured to sign a security clearance contract that basically would have sold our lives to the War making machine. His options for working at anything pleasant were being closed off on all sides, and we could see that this was deliberately designed to squeeze him toward the military contract. Meanwhile, of course, I was cranking up the Signs page and saying all kinds of politically incorrect things. And finally, there was the activity of the ADL people and the COINTELPRO people (which connect behind the scenes quite often) that was wearing on our nerves. As John Chang says above, Ark, being a European citizen made the decision less problematical.

So, if you aren't a scientist or involved in a public work that steps on the toes of the powers that be, you can very likely do okay as long as you have a network of friends and family and, if things get really weird, can close ranks and help each other.

Still, we think it is going to be a rough ride, but the disease will eventually run its course.

Personally i had this thought awhile ago, and being young a relatively un-attached i could do it, but then it hit me like a ton a bricks: i'd be running. In my mind i'm sposed to stay here in the US, even after it falls to facism, because there will be resistance and anyone who grew up in the 90s totally got the Rage Against the Machine vibe. Thus ill be happily resisting with my peers and the divine help of the universe (my trump card). Ya hear that Pro-entropic spies? I'll be resisting.

/still waiting for the MIBs to show up.

Cyre2067 said:

Personally i had this thought awhile ago, and being young a relatively un-attached i could do it, but then it hit me like a ton a bricks: i'd be running. In my mind i'm sposed to stay here in the US, even after it falls to facism, because there will be resistance and anyone who grew up in the 90s totally got the Rage Against the Machine vibe. Thus ill be happily resisting with my peers and the divine help of the universe (my trump card). Ya hear that Pro-entropic spies? I'll be resisting.

/still waiting for the MIBs to show up.

Click to expand...

Exactly! I had the same thoughts as well :)

I was also thinking about "the move" for some time until after my workshop visit where I learned a very important lesson of:

"Where you are is not important. Who you are is and also what you see."
The Cassiopaeans.

I had always thought of the question of why I was put here. Because I am an immigrant from Iran, I must have chosen at a higher level to experience a life in Canada as an Iranian-Canadian person in this time frame. So in the end I would also be running away from something I might have chosen to do/experience at a deeper level. That is when I decided to continue my learning and to try and build as much of a local network as possible. Also, since I live in west-coast of British Columbia we are literally right by the US boarder, and when the time comes I think there is going to be a lot of US refugees coming to Canada to flee their own government. They will most likely be looking for anyone who can help which I want to be able to do. (Although who is to say that Canada is not following the same fate as the US?)
Anyway, just wanted to share some thoughts on the subject.

Thanks
Nina

What is the difference between being an immigrant or being a refugee?

TIMING!

Think very carefully about living the "Red Dawn" fantasy of resistance under a torture using/psychopathic regime. I doubt most have the stomach to do it (especially in current day USA) and would probably just knuckle under like they have been doing since late 2001.

JMHO.

That being said, I know there must be a reason I just happened to move months before 9 1 1 thus escaping the mass brainwashing/mind control psyops that immediately went into effect in the Homeland.