You can leave here but you can’t stay there

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There has been an increase in people saying “We’re gonna move to Europe if <X> happens” over the last few years and it’s increased exponentially over the last few weeks.

I totally understand the sentiment; a statistically significant portion of the voting public in the US seems to no longer be concerned about maintaining a democratic tradition. It’s gotten more and more uncomfortable for those of us ‘on the left’ because not only are our opinions not valued or respected, there are loud voices on the other side proclaiming that we should be punished for our disloyalty. How dare we have contrary opinions and not wholeheartedly support Dear Leader?

When I say I understand, I mean it. I totally get why you want out.

We left.

The politics was a big factor. Not just the presidential politics, the overall situation where compromise and discussion are no longer part of the process. The all or nothing attitude. My health issues were a factor; deciding to retire meant we had to make some decisions about where to live because staying where we were at meant continuing to work. The increased incidence of gun violence was a factor. Some nut job shot up the Safeway store I did most of our grocery shopping at. The…