Rats Leaving the Sinking Ship?

My wife and I sometimes talk about leaving America. I love America, but looking at all the trends here I don't see a bright future. Doesn't mean the country won't turn around, but I see the fight as an uphill battle.

Apparently, I'm not alone in this. "In 2008, over two million US citizens fled the United States for greener pastures..."

Link

I'm sad to say I expected to see this. Yet I'm caught off guard when I finally did. I wonder what the usual expat rate is? Maybe this isn't such a telling sign as it appears.

Note the link source is kind of sketchy, but if this is true...not a good sign.

I guess the main question is where to go? America, at least for now, has the highest standard of living in the world, and our citizens have the highest degree of freedom, and as much as government is growing more and more intrusive into our lives, it runs rather efficiently compared to many parts of the world (frightening huh). So when/if you leave America, you will face a lot of adjustments. That being said, looking at municipalities, states, and the federal government struggle to maintain their budgets while the tax base massively shrinks isn't pretty to watch, and I don't see good things coming from the struggle. I see greater taxes, more government intrusion into all areas of life, more authoritarianism, and more drastic measures taken as feeble politicians grapple with decline.

So where to go? Australia? Brazil? Somewhere in the "new" Europe (though not to close to Russia)? Not sure. All these countries don't just take anybody (unlike the U.S.). You have to qualify. My wife and I both have skills in demand which might get us in the door, but my health might be a factor, so we might be stuck.

Plus we leave numerous friends and family members behind. I'd like to take them with us, but it isn't my place to convince them to go. Maybe we can start a beach head somewhere, and pull in relatives if and when things get bad.

And even if things are going to get bad, we as a family and you the reader as an individual needs to understand that God might not want you to leave, even if things get bad. We serve a higher calling then just ourselves. Might have to stick out whatever comes, even if I do see a window of escape that stands open for the next few years. That window may not be there down the road.

[Update]
I'm really worried about the currency becoming worthless in the next five to ten years, but it looks like for now we might actually see a bit of deflation. But don't get too excited, as the Federal Reserve will use deflationary pressures to counter act their printing money out of nothing (which causes inflation). So the two forces might balance a bit. Buys some time to manuver if you choose to.