(no subject)
Sobering radio show tonight made me think about emigration. Not emigrating, per se, but I simply pondered the more general concept for some time. I found it interesting that I did even this, since until now I still reflexively rolled my eyes whenever I heard any of my countrymen thrashing about moving to Canada. Well: I still do, I suppose. But, for the first time since I was 18ish, just draft-registered and looking at the start of the first Gulf War, I considered seriously what would have to happen in order for me to think about resigning my citizenship and going elsewhere.
I note that it would take a lot of bad stuff -- things of a true deep-doo-doo class that have yet to really even begin happening -- to dislodge me, mostly because I live in very politically iconoclastic part of the country, so I'm usually rather well insulated from The Will Of The People. And during those times when I can't ignore it, I can look around, look to my friends, and take heart. So, two emigration scenarios, as I see it:
* The country goes through so many terrible changes (presumably after some years) that it looks completely unrecognizable from today's standpoint, and I am forced to decide whether I want to continue to struggle for personal heights when all the ground is sinking so far down.
* Something happens that makes me afraid or otherwise reluctant to continue living in Boston, in particular. (Again, this would have to be huge.) And if that happens, it could be that I'll figure I might as well go and keep going.
I don't want to write about this too much, because I invariably think about, y'know, Evil Jmac writing these exact same words during the height of the Clinton administration, and the derision I'd feel towards him as a result. I believe that my reasons are more valid than his, of course, but of course I do.
I note that it would take a lot of bad stuff -- things of a true deep-doo-doo class that have yet to really even begin happening -- to dislodge me, mostly because I live in very politically iconoclastic part of the country, so I'm usually rather well insulated from The Will Of The People. And during those times when I can't ignore it, I can look around, look to my friends, and take heart. So, two emigration scenarios, as I see it:
* The country goes through so many terrible changes (presumably after some years) that it looks completely unrecognizable from today's standpoint, and I am forced to decide whether I want to continue to struggle for personal heights when all the ground is sinking so far down.
* Something happens that makes me afraid or otherwise reluctant to continue living in Boston, in particular. (Again, this would have to be huge.) And if that happens, it could be that I'll figure I might as well go and keep going.
I don't want to write about this too much, because I invariably think about, y'know, Evil Jmac writing these exact same words during the height of the Clinton administration, and the derision I'd feel towards him as a result. I believe that my reasons are more valid than his, of course, but of course I do.