you're speaking to the the hamster wheel of thoughts that plays in my head all the time. i appreciate you putting words to this and validating the fears that so many others downplay. even though i'm leaving in september, i won't be relieved of worry as long as my college kid is still here. that said, what is your sense of the timeline on this? if you had to guess based on today's info? 6 months? a year? two? i keep consulting with my amygdala, which tells me the time to go and get my kid out is yesterday. :) when is the moment when i say, listen kid, stop fucking around in college and get on a plane?
Best article ever written. Much of this was science fiction in the 1970s. A few books were written talking about the coming plastic card revolution when cash would be replaced, which could easily be closed out if you end up on a list etc.
This piece takes the science fiction of those days and turns it into reality. It doesn't get any better than this. I've said it already many times, walls aren't being built to keep people out, they will be used to keep people in.
Right now many people are secretly dealing with one or more of these bullet points. In fact a few are dealing with every one of them. I know exactly what this feels like and what questions it brings up for long debates, some of which go nowhere with your SO, children, family.
It is almost a repeat of Gulag Archipelago, with fear being the rule, i.e., wives turning in their husband's, husband's turning in their wives, children turning in their parents, even their neighbors, all for specious reasons. Many would say can't happen in the good old USA, but it already has started and will only get worse from here. Private databases are built amd being used to rat people out, put them on lists etc.
It's Ashcroft's See something say something rule, where your plumber, cable guy, yard man, mailman are tasked with spying on you, but this time with a government built to utilize that intelligence and a willing public living in a doomsday cult to give it two thumbs up.
If you're out, stay out. If you're in get out and quickly. Do a Kurtz, sell the car, sell the house, grab what you can and get out. There is nothing left there, it's over, it won't come back. It was planned this way long ago, and there is no going back to the good old days.
While not a political podcast, my recent Foreign Radio episode with Cory Vinny touches on the topic of "waiting." The conclusion we reached was this: if you can, then do it.
Moving abroad is a lot like having children: you never feel ready; there is an inherent leap of faith required in both instances. You need to trust in yourself and step into the unknown. You can't fully plan for it; you'll have to figure shit out on the fly.
There is a Chinese proverb I love that I feel applies here: The best time to plant a tree was ten years ago. The next best time is NOW. Sure, you can't wait to "see what happens" before you plant the tree, but it's probably best to plant it today, especially if you already have the seed.
I woke up on November 6 and started the process of leaving for Canada. We crossed the border on January 18. We will not be going back.
We left behind my 89-year-old mother, who is in a senior home in Oklahoma. We visited her every 6-8 weeks for years. She counted on those visits. Leaving her behind was absolutely the hardest part.
But she understands why we did it -- more with every passing day.
We're mitigating this by flying her to up see us three times a year. Given her age, we basically pack her in cotton wool and ship her like a fragile vase -- first-class tickets, layovers in the premium lounge, wheelchair escorts. It's not cheap. But it's the investment we need to make to give the kids time with their grandma, and keep the family ties minimally intact.
We'd move her if we could, but she can't get Medicare here. Our big fear is what happens when she gets really sick (which at her age is inevitable), and we can't go see her. Not sure how we'll handle that (though we have a few thoughts).
None of this is easy. Immigrants have left their elders behind in the Old Country for hundreds of years, often never getting to see them again. We're lucky to get what we get, I guess. But this part is just tough.
Thanks for writing a piece that covers the emotional experience of it all. I’ve lived abroad before but my husband hasn’t, so it feels like a bigger deal to him. Plus, we have a toddler. We don’t entirely know how he will react, but I also feel like this would be a better age than, say, when he’s 5.
you're speaking to the the hamster wheel of thoughts that plays in my head all the time. i appreciate you putting words to this and validating the fears that so many others downplay. even though i'm leaving in september, i won't be relieved of worry as long as my college kid is still here. that said, what is your sense of the timeline on this? if you had to guess based on today's info? 6 months? a year? two? i keep consulting with my amygdala, which tells me the time to go and get my kid out is yesterday. :) when is the moment when i say, listen kid, stop fucking around in college and get on a plane?
Best article ever written. Much of this was science fiction in the 1970s. A few books were written talking about the coming plastic card revolution when cash would be replaced, which could easily be closed out if you end up on a list etc.
This piece takes the science fiction of those days and turns it into reality. It doesn't get any better than this. I've said it already many times, walls aren't being built to keep people out, they will be used to keep people in.
Right now many people are secretly dealing with one or more of these bullet points. In fact a few are dealing with every one of them. I know exactly what this feels like and what questions it brings up for long debates, some of which go nowhere with your SO, children, family.
It is almost a repeat of Gulag Archipelago, with fear being the rule, i.e., wives turning in their husband's, husband's turning in their wives, children turning in their parents, even their neighbors, all for specious reasons. Many would say can't happen in the good old USA, but it already has started and will only get worse from here. Private databases are built amd being used to rat people out, put them on lists etc.
It's Ashcroft's See something say something rule, where your plumber, cable guy, yard man, mailman are tasked with spying on you, but this time with a government built to utilize that intelligence and a willing public living in a doomsday cult to give it two thumbs up.
If you're out, stay out. If you're in get out and quickly. Do a Kurtz, sell the car, sell the house, grab what you can and get out. There is nothing left there, it's over, it won't come back. It was planned this way long ago, and there is no going back to the good old days.
While not a political podcast, my recent Foreign Radio episode with Cory Vinny touches on the topic of "waiting." The conclusion we reached was this: if you can, then do it.
Moving abroad is a lot like having children: you never feel ready; there is an inherent leap of faith required in both instances. You need to trust in yourself and step into the unknown. You can't fully plan for it; you'll have to figure shit out on the fly.
There is a Chinese proverb I love that I feel applies here: The best time to plant a tree was ten years ago. The next best time is NOW. Sure, you can't wait to "see what happens" before you plant the tree, but it's probably best to plant it today, especially if you already have the seed.
Thought-provoking, as always, William.
I woke up on November 6 and started the process of leaving for Canada. We crossed the border on January 18. We will not be going back.
We left behind my 89-year-old mother, who is in a senior home in Oklahoma. We visited her every 6-8 weeks for years. She counted on those visits. Leaving her behind was absolutely the hardest part.
But she understands why we did it -- more with every passing day.
We're mitigating this by flying her to up see us three times a year. Given her age, we basically pack her in cotton wool and ship her like a fragile vase -- first-class tickets, layovers in the premium lounge, wheelchair escorts. It's not cheap. But it's the investment we need to make to give the kids time with their grandma, and keep the family ties minimally intact.
We'd move her if we could, but she can't get Medicare here. Our big fear is what happens when she gets really sick (which at her age is inevitable), and we can't go see her. Not sure how we'll handle that (though we have a few thoughts).
None of this is easy. Immigrants have left their elders behind in the Old Country for hundreds of years, often never getting to see them again. We're lucky to get what we get, I guess. But this part is just tough.
Thanks for writing a piece that covers the emotional experience of it all. I’ve lived abroad before but my husband hasn’t, so it feels like a bigger deal to him. Plus, we have a toddler. We don’t entirely know how he will react, but I also feel like this would be a better age than, say, when he’s 5.