Over on my travel blog, I summarized a years’ worth of web news stories about Americans who moved abroad. I originally set out to read stories about people who moved abroad, and to find stories about solo travel, especially by guys. Unfortunately, there are almost zero stories about guys doing solo travel. The overwhelming majority of travelers are women by a 2:1 ratio (see Recreational travel is dominated by women: why? – Coldstreams Travel and Global Thinking). And the overwhelming majority of travel writers are women. Thus, there are no stories about guys traveling.

As I read these “move abroad” stories I saw they had the same format:

• America is awful
• Crime is awful, life is stressful, everything costs too much, everything is awful in the U.S.
• So, we moved to country X where life is idyllic
• Almost all are written by young, attractive, female writers – who attended expensive private universities in the U.S. – and benefit from their family wealth and luxury derived from the U.S.

You can read my summaries of these stories on my Travel blog: Part 1 and Part 2.

Left out of these stories (but I tracked them down), about 2 in 3 of those who did these moves had pre-existing dual citizenship, a right of descent ancestry immigration privilege, or married someone in the country. Many were born in other countries and have dual or triple-citizenship.

Most Americans cannot easily pack and move to another country except for

• Young, with the right high-skilled, in demand work skills (usually STEM or healthcare)
• A right of descent ancestry privilege (for some countries, if you have even a grandparent or great grandparent who was a citizen you can qualify for residency or citizenship – and most countries grant citizenship if at least one of your parents is a citizen at time of your birth).
• You married a citizen of the country (seems to be educated, attractive young American women who do this)
• You have pre-existing/prior dual citizenship by virtue of being born in another country, or born to parents from a country that grants citizenship based on parentage, regardless of where born. (Most of North, Central and South America grants citizenship based on being born there, regardless of parents’ citizenship, while the rest of the world grants citizenship based on your parents’ citizenship. Europeans, Asians, etc, can travel to N, C or S America, give birth – and their child will have dual citizenship. Americans cannot move to Germany, have a kid, and then have the kid take both German and US citizenship – because in Germany, citizenship is based on your parents’ citizenship, not where you were born.)
• You are wealthy and purchased an investment/residency visa (ranging from $100k to $10 million typically, with $500k and up typical).
• 2 out of 3 of the subjects of these stories had a unique immigration privilege – the largest group is American women hwo married a foreigner, then those with pre-existing dual citizenship, or a unique right of descent ancestry giving them a privilege of moving to another country. Most Americans cannot readily move abroad.

If you are not on that list, moving abroad will be challenging.

The main point is that in most of these stories the story subjects think America is the worst country in the world. Ironically, many saying this grew up with American wealth, attended private schools, private universities and did both study and travel abroad – due to the wealth their American privilege provided them. Now, they say America is awful.

These stories changed my perspective. I was as down on the U.S. as anyone. Then I realized we are bombarded with propaganda from media reporters, who had the privilege of attending elite schools and study or work abroad – but now create Down With America stories as click-bait content mill trash. Those who benefited from their American privilege now spend their days trashing the U.S.!

We are inundated with propaganda from media – because controversy and emotion sell ads – that America is the worst country in the world. Yet in the real world, America is the #1 desired destination of foreigners who wish to move to other countries. We are the wealthiest country in the world. By virtually all measures, over time, life has gotten better for nearly everyone and most people are doing well – especially compared to the rest of the world.

So why do we Americans hate our country?

It seems many of us are inundated with negativity, doomerism, and a constant barrage of “everything is awful” reports.

I was prompted to write this post after reading a “news” story that said flying the American flag is an act of oppression, a symbol of hate, and a symbol of white supremacy. The new meme is we must repudiate our citizenship and hate America – because that will make something better?

I’ve never flown an American flag in my life. I’ve never even waved one at an event.

But this year, I am going to fly an American flag on my house on the 4th of July. Because I am tired of non-stop doomerism and negativity from the “I hate America” crowd. If they didn’t hate America, they’d have to find something else to hate. It’s about being caught up in the “Culture of perpetual outrage”.

Update: I bought a flag and put up the mount today. The flag goes up on July 3d and will fly through the holidays.