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this post was submitted on 18 May 2024
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United States | News & Politics
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If moving to a civilized country is a potential option for you, it could pay off looking into your genealogy.
I grew up in the US and moved to Norway after feeling like the country was nose-diving politically. I remember feeling serious shame for paying taxes to fund such horrendous actions, an unwavering sense of hopelessness, and even serious depression. I remember the first time I realised how much I felt like a foreigner in my own home country, and the existential dread those words brought with them, amplified by the fact that I felt like there was nothing in my power I could do to change that. It was so far beyond awful. I'm struggling to find the words that can accurately convey how bleak and worthless life in the US felt.
And I say this as a cis white man. I've heard horror stories, but I can't possibly imagine what it must be like for trans people in the US, especially in the past several years.
At some point I learned that because my grandmother was born in a certain EU country and fled during WWII, I qualified for citizenship of that country, just by proving my relation to her. It took some time, but I got the documents in order to put together my application, and left everything behind to move to Norway. With EU citizenship, you could move almost anywhere in Europe you choose. I chose Norway for many many reasons, but scandinavia in general is just so incredibly politically refreshing. Regardless of political views, the system itself just... Works.
Since you have 20+ years experience in your field, you might not even need to go though the process of getting a citizenship you may or may not qualify for as a birthright, depending on your profession. Many countries also have immigration laws in place making it extremely easy for skilled workers to relocate there, permanently. I know in Norway, the company hiring the skilled worker can essentially vouch for skilled workers, granting them the right of residency as soon as they're hired. And there are many companies which post job listings in English, without requiring you to know the local language, because... Well, damn near everybody here is completely fluent in English and has no issue speaking English, or even switching to English for entire groups of people, even if only one person struggles with Norwegian.
But anyway, I'm sorry you're forced to feel the way you feel living in your own home country. I can relate to parts of it at least, and even the sum of those parts was unbearable for me. So it saddens me to read messages like yours. I just wanted to offer a suggestion that worked to stop these feelings for me, and ended up being the best damn decision I've ever made in my life.
If you have questions or anything, feel free to send me a message.
Cries in 'German from Russia' with no marketable skills
Spätaussiedler? You’re not German, Waldemar. Everybody can tell. Go home to Vlad. He’ll need every man.
I have no idea what you mean. I was told by my grandparents that was my heritage: "German from Russia" both spoke fluent German, not Russian. I can't recall all the details, although they did make a pretty detailed family tree. But if you know better, yay for you, I guess.
Yawn, we don’t need Putin U-Boats bringing their medieval ideas from the East back to us
Are you off meds, or self medicating? I realize now why I have you noted as: "kinda asshole".
Go back to Russia
Norway… you hate the sun and nice weather that much?
Haha we might not get as much nice weather and sun around here as someplace like San Diego, but man, when the weather is as nice as it has been these past few days, we make sure we enjoy the hell out if it. Plus, this time of year we get more daylight hours than most of the world. It's truly spectacular walking outside at 3am this time of year, when the streetlights don't even need to turn on for a couple of months straight.
On the flip side, the winter months are dark and cloudy, with only around 4 hours of daylight for the weeks around the equinox, a few minutes of actual sun if you're lucky and the clouds clear out temporarily. But if you ask me, the glorious summertime sun more than makes up for that.
Plus, when I'm leaving the bar with my friends after last call and one of us faceplants on the concrete, it's comforting to know that calling an ambulance won't bury anyone in debt 😁😂
You write and think like you’re 12
And here I was thinking you were being a bit tongue in cheek. Don't be so offended that I left the US to live a better life, snowflake. Be glad I'm gone instead.
What? I’m Europe
Excuse my assumption, I'm just very familiar with the defensive patriotism-fuelled reactionary insults from Americans when they learn I live in Norway. I've never met anyone from Europe who had a similarly negative reaction to that, because why would they?
So I guess I'm a bit confused and a little curious as to what made you so sour for seemingly no reason. Care to fill me in?
Nobody likes more Americans (or Russians or Chinese) coming to live in Europe. All these countries have or recently had leaders that are actively working to destroy the EU.
Ah, so individuals who disagree with the actions of their home country so much that they leave their entire lives behind to find a new home with a governing body they can feel good about supporting with their taxes are the ones to blame for the idiotic behavior of their bought-and-paid-for government representatives?
Being born somewhere doesn't define a person. Not a single person on this planet has control over where they come from, but we do have control over where we go next. Pointing fingers at people who leave the countries they don't want to be a part of and telling them "nobody likes you" without a shred of knowledge about who they are beyond something as inconsequential as the place they happened to be born... It's xenophobic, prejudiced, ignorant behavior, simple as that. And you should work on that.
I bet you'd find that you have a lot more in common with people who uproot their whole lives to separate themselves from their home country than you think, if you talked to some. Most people will at the very least admit openly "yeah, my home country just needs to get it's shit together". Some go as far as renouncing citizenship of their home country after becoming a nationalised citizen in their new home, myself included.
Most immigrants also don't like the actions of their home countries' governments, maybe even its population in general. In fact, it's probably the biggest reason they moved away in the first place. So if they aren't taking those ideals with them when they immigrate, what's there to be bitter about?
It can be hard to communicate tone over text, and I'm running on very little sleep because of exams so I might not be doing the best job of that right now... So I just want to make sure it's clear that it's not my intention to attack or insult you here, and I'm sorry if my message reads like that. I just think you have a viewpoint that is flawed, and I want to outline the flaws I see in a way that might get you to look at things differently and consider things from a different perspective.
There are always exceptions to the rule but I cannot judge over the internet if that applies to you. But in my experience the majority of US citizens (or Russians or Chinese or even Japanese) who move to Europe as adults ultimately do not respect its culture (even if they are absolutely certain they do) and don’t quite get it. We have a very special unique cosmopolitan thing going on here, and the more US people etc. come here, the more that will get watered down to become more hick-y. And if Trump wins it could even get very uncomfortable because not everybody will have the courtesy to ask you if you voted right before punching you.