The Patriotic Expat
For those of you who think that an expat is NOT patriotic think again
As Independence Day 2010 passes, I can’t help but reassess my values, my country and the reasons I made the decision to leave the U.S. and make an attempt to find peace and security elsewhere. Let me give you a few examples as to why many of us have decided to step back from the heat of the burning barn…
Independence Day happens to fall on the date “July 4th”. The holiday was created to observe and appreciate the Declaration of Independence, which was penned by Thomas Jefferson. I would be willing to bet the farm that the thought has never occurred to most Americans to sit down for 5 minutes and read this most important founding document. When is the last time you read it? Hmm… Can you imagine what would happen if Americans actually read it?
The grievances enumerated against King George…. ARE ALMOST IDENTICAL TO THE ISSUES AND PROBLEMS AMERICANS HAVE WITH OUR GOVERNMENT TODAY! We started and fought a revolution for less than what is going on right now! Yet, here we are, singing “I’m proud to be an American, (where I get to THINK I’m free)”, have picnics and barbeques, play with matches and make loud noises with imported pyrotechnics. “July 4th Sale!” scream the newspaper and TV ads. “July 4th! July 4th!” Over and over.
Think about this for a moment. How would all the Christians feel if Christmas was suddenly called “December 25th” with no mention of “Christmas”? “Merry December 25th!” They would be up in arms! Why then are we so oblivious to the same scenario when it comes to our most patriotic holiday? Is it possible that the attention has been redirected away from the Declaration for the simple reason that we as Americans might, just might actually think about what patriotism is really all about? Wow! What a concept! Standing up to authority! Pitchforks! Torches! Tar and feathers!
Oops! Sorry. Can’t have any of that kind of talk! That might be construed as “anti- government”, “extremist” or “domestic terrorism”. People might say mean things about me, call me names or try to link me to some kind of hate group. Can’t have any of that! I’m a “good” American who does what I’m told! Right. But I digress, back to the issue of how expats can be considered “patriots”.
The argument is sometimes made that those who flee their respective countries have no right to look back and criticize the political and economic path that their country has taken. Sure, some have washed their hands and thrown in the towel in disgust and want nothing more to do with the confusion and moral decay that is so much easier to recognize from afar. Others leave to take a hiatus and get their head cleared in hopes that upon their return, they will be better prepared and emotionally stronger to rejoin the battle for national sanity. Those at home sometimes look at their friends and/or family members who have expatriated with an assessment of cowardice and condemnation.
Just wait a doggone minute! The overwhelming majority of Americans (and Brits from what I’ve heard) have made it a national pastime to sit at the local pub, dinner table or any other social gathering and gripe about their government and national policy… and then justify their inaction and complacency by repeating the tired and well known mantras, “You can’t fight City Hall!” or, “I’m only one person” or, “It’s always been this way”, etc… And then retreat to their favorite sit-com, TV drama, reality show, DVD, sports program and legitimize their denial by using the tired excuse, “I deal with enough stress every day! I DESERVE to unwind and escape for a while!”
For those of you who subscribe to this deluded philosophy, please try to understand why expats like me have such a difficult time trying to understand why you can’t find the motivation to get off of your big, fat, sweaty, pimple-covered butts and do some damned thing to help yourselves and your community! What will it take to get some people to realize that “entertainment” is something you indulge yourself in WHEN YOUR WORK IS DONE? It appears we have evolved into an entertainment society where we have a radio, TV or mp3 player plugged into our brain for most of our waking hours. I’m sure some feel uncomfortable when confronted with the prospect of an environment devoid of the constant drone of electronic audio or video, making silence an unacceptable condition.
The founders paid with their blood, sweat and tears to establish a Constitution that would enable the people to keep the government in check so it wouldn’t go mad with power. They sowed the seeds so that we could reap a harvest of liberty and freedom. So what happened? We all got so lazy that we stopped watering and weeding and then passed that responsibility to… THE GOVERNMENT!!!????
To compound matters, those of us who attempted to remind others of these simple truths had to weather attacks and ridicule from sofa-slugs who get their news from corporate controlled taking heads or candy-faced “blow-up dolls” on CNN or FOX.
So why is it that some of us who have left our countries to become expats are seen as less patriotic because we are less inclined to bail furiously while the “pseudo-patriots” look on? I’ll tell you why.
There can be no doubt that we live in the most interesting and challenging times in human history. The specter of an impersonal, insensitive, inhuman collective of global corporate entities gaining total control of the destiny of our spices should strike fear into any soul who still has the capacity to love and appreciate freedom of thought.
The “New World Order”, “New International Order”, “Global Partnership”, “Global Government”, whatever you want to call it, is and will be run by the legal fictions who have lost sight of their humanity and place more value on their profit margin and dominance over others than appreciating the miracle of life we have all been given the opportunity to experience and appreciate.
Of course, the majority of humanity still has the ability to overcome the mainstream corporate media’s propaganda with its seductive drone of ever present video and audio candy. That is, if presented with honest and truthful information and if the power of cognizant critical thinking skills has not been totally purged by the public education system.
The main hurdle is and will continue to be overcoming the fear of discovering that what we have all been led to believe… is a lie.
Deception and manipulation of information is the main tool of the corporate “borg” and when a population has been raised on a steady diet of lies, it should come as no surprise that when the truth comes along, it tastes a little funny. Many reject it altogether because to admit that one has been duped or made a fool of requires the shunning of ego and the suppression of pride. This exercise appears to be a most challenging and difficult activity for many who have come to thrive and depend on having their ego insulated from any possibility of error.
Indeed, there are millions of people who have become involved in actively resisting the multi-tentacled “borg” by focusing on one issue or another. Veterans’ issues, forced vaccines, chemtrails, the FED, the IRS, 9/11 truth, GMO foods, loss of privacy, the almost complete police state, the list goes on… and on.
There is a myriad of fronts to involve oneself with, as there is virtually no aspect in our society that has not been corrupted by the ever-present Borg, and those who are involved with the globalist agenda know full well the age old methodology of “Divide and Conquer”. It is for this reason that now more than ever we must accept the cold harsh reality that there are forces hard at work (with decades of research and practice) manipulating and indeed “guiding” humanity through the process of “social engineering”.
What this means is that even the most controversial resistance group or “patriot movement” has been compromised and/or infiltrated before it has achieved any real success. Some think that the level of discontent has reached mainstream proportions through the current “Tea Party” movement. Are you serious? The “Tea Party” Movement? Led by former CNN propagendist (a propagandist with an agenda) and current FOX news pied piper Glen Beck?? Given national coverage of their rallies from coast to coast? If ever there was a classic example of assimilation and redirection of a resistance this is it!
Liberals vs. conservatives! Republicans vs. Democrats! Right vs. left! How about right vs. wrong? If there was any REAL effort or desire to inform the populace the networks would focus on the dynasties behind the banking industry, the oil companies, agriculture, medicine, communication, big pharma, etc. Council on Foreign Relations? Trilateral Commission? Bilderbergers? Council of 300? Nope. Don’t go there. Fair and Balanced? News you can trust? It would be side-splitting laughable if the joke wasn’t on us.
Recently, the USA Today newspaper reported the loss of 400,000 jobs for state workers across the country and California will soon cut the average pay of state workers ($65K) to minimum wage ($15K).
Wow! Do you thing any of the legislature will cut THEIR pay by over 75%?
For those of you who think that somehow an expat is NOT patriotic and has no right to gripe or whinge about things at home, you should think again. I spent the past 20 years learning, broadcasting, singing, producing controversial documentaries and screaming from the rooftops to awaken the American “sheeple”. Been there, done that, have a t-shirt factory and have been labeled as everything from a Nazi to a Mossad agent. And yet there are “Peyton Place Patriots” who thrive on gossip and finger pointing rather than searching out information that can be confirmed, not only about the messenger, but the message itself.
And by the way, those of you that somehow feel that this forum should be devoid of any political discussion, you too should thing again. Economics, moral decay, individual rights (and their infringement) and the standard of living are ALL the direct result of the policies (politics) imposed by your representatives (politicians). Go back to your reruns, sports, whatever, complain and whinge, and point your finger at those of us who have actually DONE something about it. And please don’t become an expat. You’ll give the rest of us a bad reputation.
About the author: Dave vonKleist is an activist/musician and a broadcaster for 30 years. A talk show host for 15 years, he has been involved with many controversial issues such as the 9/11 attack and an advocate for veterans rights.
He now resides in San Rafael, Argentina.
I too am an American and have lived much of my adult life abroad. Over the years I have felt myself increasingly estranged from most Americans. I can no longer share their shallow values, deluded sense of national pride and materialistic consumerism. As an undergraduate living in Philadelphia during the midseventies, it was already obvious the mercantile class was in decline under the double yoke of increasing taxes and an invidious fiscal policy. A fiscal policy intended to inflate our currency while providing many more devalued dollars to the public coffers. A New Republic, resigned to robbing Peter to pay Paul, ponzi scheme tax policies and crooked politicians, rung in the New World Order.
This was obvious as I walked down Philadelphia streets lined with townhouses, once built by merchants to house their families. Townhouses subdivided to house the new rich in the best of cases and the many poor in shabby slums. I remember commenting to friends, this was obvious evidence of policies eventually intended to enslave most of us. Then as now, most laughed, more concerned with their next recreation than their future serfdom.
Scanning the mighty Philadelphia skyline from my 17th story Rittenhouse Square apartment, it was clear something was wrong in the land of the brave and the home of the free. Like Humpty-Dumpty, the U.S.A. was in deep trouble and it seemed that neither, bombs nor tanks, neither Presidents nor their men, could put it together again.
However, the values America once represented, those cherished by its founders, live on in the hearts of some men. Such men will seek refuge where they will but never will they surrender to tyranny. America was an idea declared by freemen prepared to die. They insisted they had certain unalienable rights, namely, life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. In this search for happiness, some men have found need to remove themselves from present circumstances, in search of new lives, new meaning and new opportunities.
Those who have done so are not less patriotic but more brave for having done so. Their lives enriched as immigrants, they take to new shores all that is good from where they came. Like their forefathers before them, they have braved a new frontier, still seeking, still hoping that in this place in this time I will find my happiness. Independence Day is worthy of our celebration, wherever we have been, whereever we are and wherever we go!
Hi Dave – I was attracted to your article because of its “political” content. Thank you!
I have gotten out of the habit of reading anything in Escape from America because in general it seems to cater to people who are wealthy enough & educated enough to actually make a good escape. I have noted, however, that there is less and less concern for the underclass that is often present in the new country – especially in “developing” countries. It seems to me that if someone is serious about giving up on the mess we have in the US, there should be concern for not creating or maintaining the same elsewhere (exploitation of land and people, widening gap between the few “haves” on the backs of the many “have nots.”).
Of course, I must acknowledge a certain amount of sour grapes: I’d like a bit of land, something that would allow me to plant more trees, have more chickens, keep my bees all in the same place, have a REAL garden – etc! I’ve checked into legal immigration and find that I am (as you may have guessed) too old, too poor and too uneducated to leave.
By the way: I am a community organizer (for clean air, zoning, gardening) and one of those who questions the utility of voting for federal office but nonetheless writes letters and makes phone calls. I think democracy is a fiction in this country. When things finally get “bad enough” for most to revolt I’m afraid the so-called “tea party” will successfully usher in the frank fascism of their financial backers and handlers. Even if I did have the financial wherewithal to relocate, I would have to think long and hard about it – I must question whether there is anywhere to hide from the tail-eating behaviour of corporate dictatorship, given its historical and present reliance on a war economy – and nuclear weapons. On a nuclear desert the only escape would be death.
It is possible that escaping to a better life is an illusion that can exist only as long as there is a habitable world.
Thank you for writing something with overt “political” content. It is a welcome change from the endless adverts for individual profit and comfort.
What a bunch of clap-trap. Did it ever occur to you “that what we have all been led to believe… is a lie” includes the fraud called the CONstitution? The Constitution was established to transfer power to the moneyed elite and to assure their posterity that they kept it (and, boy, has it worked like a charm!). In legal fact, it’s actually more of a will than it is a foundational contract. It cemented a coup d’etat without firing a shot.
I have to say, you are “spot on.” I ‘m a black male, 50 something, conservative. I aslo served in the U.S. Militray for 15 years. I have for five years, been preparing myself to leave the U.S. I have visted Argentina, Urugruay, Ecuador, and this year Panama. Frankly, it’s very hard to live in the U.S. anymore. From taxes to the assault on our freedoms, I have had enough. All of my friends and family think that I am crazy for abandoning our Nation. I tell them, no, my Nation has abandoned me.
Dear Mr. von Kleist,
How delightful to hear from someone who has done something about the USA as problem child! I could not agree with you more and find myself in similar situation. However, the desire to make socio-political commentary on this site,imo, should remain only one of the areas of interest. Least we make of it a political site and not a site useful to expats who need info on how to and where to expat.
That said: your comments vis a vis the Declaration,et alia are too true to be enjoyable. Few have read them and fewer still understand them. Less than imaginable have any idea of Th. Paines’ “Rights of Man” ( or any of his other works) and almost none seem to know he was an expat par excellance.
The nature of the USA , today, is imo, an off-shoot of the National Socialist ideas of the late 1920 – 30′s as expressed in the USA of that day. Few seem to realize exactly how much …assisstance Hitler/Nazi’s received from USA industrialists and how much in favour of Hitler the average American was – at that time.
Today we have so few patriots, i.e., lovers of their own homeland and believers in its proposed form of government and governance as to make one dispair. Like you I love it and would see it returned to its true and proposed form…. However, shan’t hold my breath. So, off I go to live and work elsewhere and continue to do my best to bring some small awareness of the problems and challenges to those who might help do something about them.
Expats can be, and in some instances are , the most dedicated of patriots. Be well , enjoy and don’t let the name calling discourage you. Just be careful when you see them, monkey-like , begin to deficate in their paws.
Sincerly Yours, Tim H. Rudisill