Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Zrk2]

America is not as bad as it seems. You have no reason to leave. Politics is shitty everywhere and anyone who tells you differently is lying.

[GlyphGryph]

I'm sorry, MSH, I can't believe that. Finland is a flawless, amazing place, and Santa lives there, and you can't deny it because you've never even lived there.

Of course, I've never even visited, but how far off can I be?

(More seriously, it's my second choice country simply because it seems like an amazing place to bring up a kid and they seem to have all the best programmers)

[Levi]

I always figured that some good choices would be Iceland or the Netherlands

But really I have no idea.  We need an ambitious country to try to become a Utopia.  I think utopia's are out of fashion these days.

[Il Palazzo]

Re: Italy
+ beautiful(esp places like Tuscany, or the Alps and anywhere by the sea)
+ laid back atmosphere
+ sunshine
+ relatively happy and friendly people

- unemployment is high, national debt is very high, politics are a mess
- people speaking English are rare, which might mean that you won't be able to find any sensible job apart from language schools. This actually is true of any non-English-speaking country you'd like to go to, regardless of the ubiquitousness of English.

[Leafsnail]

All countries have their problems

But those problems may not be as severe, or they may not matter as much to you personally, or you may just feel like you learn a lot from experiencing and living in another culture.  This "Everywhere is literally exactly as bad for everybody" vibe is really odd.

[GreatJustice]

So, as I've become more and more politically aware, I've been slowly become more and more disgusted with my native country of the United States...

You sound like a disgruntled Elite Liberal~!

Let's see here...

And now, I'm starting to humor ideas of moving out of the United States, as soon as it is safely affordable to do so....
But... Where should I go? I know practically nothing about the world outside the United States (Thanks, American educational system!)...

Were I an American seeking to leave America (and barring one small part of the US, I would leave pretty fast since I'd rather not be cavity checked every time I wanted to fly in a plane and then get sent to Gitmo without a trial), I'd go to Estonia. It's a bit cold, but I've heard great things from that country, it has most of the benefits of Europe (decent technology/healthcare/people/etc) without the downsides (crippling debt, obnoxious people, angry Stalinists rioting in the streets)

Italy sounds like an absolutely wonderful place to live, but what would be some downsides to consider?

-Roman Catholic bible thumpers (not as bad in the US, mind)
-Communists of the Stalinist variety, as in Greece
-Bombs in the tax office
-Terribly corrupt politics
-Crippling debt and related economic problems

What about Germany, or somewhere else in the EU? I've always loved the culinary, and because of my love of culinary I've started having an interest in farming, especially the research and development of new techniques...

Germany's nice enough, though they're presently riding high off of exports to the rest of the EU. It would probably be best to be in Germany if you already had a long time union job there, since otherwise you might have some problems adapting (+ language, etc). Better than Italy, though. The rest of the EU I wouldn't advise at the moment (excepting, again, Estonia).

Or Australia? I know they have a pretty good green/permaculture movement down there, which is something I'm a big fan of...

-Lots of crazy, pro-American goons from what I've seen (foreign policy wise)
-Hot
-Angry racist types (though they exist in France and Spain as well)
-Very dirty politics
-Morally active video game censors (though Germany has that too I suppose)
-Deadly snakes, deadly fish, etc

on the plus side

-Cool accents
-Cool hats
-Pleasant enough people

[GlyphGryph]

You should definitely no go to New Zealand and clog up their immigration list though. They have, like... uh... bad stuff there. And terrible television.

Also, tell more more about this... Estonia.

[Haspen]

If you plan to settle in Europe, stick to north-west. UK, France maybe. Nobody mentioned Netherlands and surrounding small states.

The more you go north-east, the more you get absurd prices and taxes.
The more you go south-east/west, the more you get unemployment, corruption and economy crisis.

So yeah, get yourself a fine cottage in an UK village and you will be set

[Josephus]

I say you should move up north, to Canada.

Pros:
Plenty of government programs and services in place to help you find employment
Decent healthcare

Cons:
Milk in bags

[Leafsnail]

The national languages of Estonia are Swedish and Estonian though, which to my knowledge are both pretty horrific (Estonian is closely linked to Finnish, which is the absolute last language you'd want it to be closely linked to).

[Zrk2]

The national languages of Estonia are Swedish and Estonian though, which to my knowledge are both pretty horrific (Estonian is closely linked to Finnish, which is the absolute last language you'd want it to be closely linked to).

Because it isn't even in the same family as English?

[Detonate]

Australia is nice if you love living in a country that actively discriminates on a national level against the 500000 or so people that have been living there forever. Politics is shit everywhere, not just in the US.

Also, Swedish is only regional in Estonia. There are only a few hundred old people left who speak it there, and they're dropping like flies. I doubt very many speak it as a second language either.

e: Don't become enamored with the Nordic countries. Most people think of them as liberal paradise, but it's romanticism. They are nice, but not perfect. Emigrating out of the US is a serious decision, I wouldn't leave it up to some people on an Internet forum.

[Leafsnail]

Because it isn't even in the same family as English?

That in addition to being awful in every way.  I was told this by a Finnish friend and looking over the verb forms I had to agree.

[GlyphGryph]

The national languages of Estonia are Swedish and Estonian though, which to my knowledge are both pretty horrific (Estonian is closely linked to Finnish, which is the absolute last language you'd want it to be closely linked to).

But finnish sounds so beautiful.

[scriver]

Norway seems like a great place to me. Confidence-inspiring politicians, good economy, the language makes everyone sound really happy and nice (even when they're angry! ...Though that may be a con too ), and you can literally make a living peeling bananas there (though you might have to compete with a lot of Swedes for those positions), and all the other benefits of as socialist state. The main con would be the high cost of living.