If you do things right, dot your i's and cross your t's, pay your taxes and behave in your new country, you can go back anytime you want. Then again, you may just like life so much in your new home that you don't ever want to go back even if things work out for the best in the U. S.
I would be abandoning my family members who don't want to leave.
These situations present very hard choices for all of us, but remember this: a time may come when even your reluctant family members want to leave the U. S. If you have already established yourself abroad, it will then be much easier for your children, your parents, your grandchildren, your in-laws, to flee than if none of you had ever left.
To leave is to let "them" win.
The idea that is the United States lives beyond its physical boundaries. In fact, that idea may only survive elsewhere for a while. You can still vote from abroad if you think that helps. You can continue to express yourself just as I am doing. And the time may come when you will be a witness to the world of what has happened to America or be able to help others who try to escape later.
If you've never seen the movie "V," I recommend it. It's about a fascist takeover in Britain. At one point, the female lead, Evie played by Natalie Portman, recalls when her parents were arrested. As the scene plays on the screen of their being brutally taken away, Evie says in a voiceover:
My mother wanted to leave the country, but my father said that would be letting them win. (He thought) it was a game.
I can take my gun and head to the hills if it gets that bad.
Don't let the myth that you can play Nathan Hale or Patrick Henry stop you from doing what is best for your family. This is not 1776. When the "Swamp Fox" was harrassing Cornwallis, the British didn't have Apache helicopters and satellites that could pick out a license plate number.
Don't be trapped by myths.
People from Moses to Einstein have fled oppressive governments to make sure that freedom could survive. There are times when there is nothing that an individual can do to stop the slide to totalitarianism in his homeland, when the best thing to do is to make a tactical retreat and live to fight another day. Don't allow yourself to be trapped by a myth.
Ezekiel provides a free newsletter with information and links about how to emigrate and move assets. Write him at ezekielinexile@gmail.com.
