I am someone born in the USA and white and male, so I am less at risk of harassment and brutality than others.
My take on things is that Trump is probably a Russian asset and Russian leadership probably wants a US civil war (but I don’t have proof).
Midterms are still many months away. I am pretty sure Democrats realize that Trump wants conflict and they are trying to just wait for Midterms.
I am scared and feel like civil war could still happen. I have no children, few ties to any area, and only work remotely. I live in a very liberal area. I am mostly a poor person and have less than $25,000 saved.
I also have been arrested and held in terrible conditions in a notorious jail, experienced physical and emotional abuse there, and fear being arrested again and experiencing more abuse. Some of the things I experienced meet definitions of torture although not egregious physical torture (iron maiden type stuff). I am also gay and effeminate and worry I could receive worse treatment if involuntarily held for mental health reasons or for poverty because of homophobia by religious people.
Should I be trying to flee the USA now? If so, would Canada be safe? Is there anywhere else I could go to? I could claim asylum in a Northern European country but am concerned about the Russian War of Aggression.
I do not know if I am over-reacting. Will I still have time to flee if I wait and the situation gets worse?
If you do decide to go (and I can certainly see why you would), you definitely shouldn’t try to apply for asylum, but get a proper work visa for your country of choice. No country currently accepts asylum applications from Americans as far as I’m aware, certainly nowhere in Europe. And even if you somehow managed to do that, coming here as a refugee is no pleasant experience. You’d spend at least a couple months living in poor, very crammed conditions among people from countries where homophobia is much more widespread than in the US.
If I ever decide to leave Europe, my plan was always to go to New Zealand. Seems like a good place to escape global geopolitics and/or a possible WW3.
NZs current govt is friendly to trump… So no… Not a choice.
Yes we have our problems, both social and in government. And many Americans seem to struggle with our low ‘standard of living’ and high costs of living
Everything is relative. I currently live in Southern California in an area where the median home price is $930K USD ($1.565M NZD). A $1M NZD home is only $590K USD, which would be a “steal” here. Accordingly, housing, the biggest expense in the cost of living here, seems like a relative bargain in NZ.
Yes, other things may be a bit more expensive, but overall I’d be looking at a reduction in the cost of living. As far as “standard of living” goes, it depends on what you value. Personally, I love nature, the outdoors, and am an avid surfer and mountain biker. From my perspective NZ’s less crowded waves and spectacular natural beauty makes for a very attractive standard of living.
The challenge for me is that given my age (~60), I am not a preferred immigrant, so residency offers some challenges, as I am not yet to the point financially where I can spring for the golden visa (though I should be at that point in not too long of time). Accordingly, if I were to move there I’d have to implement other strategies. I’d probably start with a tourist visa to check it out and see if I wanted to live there, then perhaps enroll in some classes and apply for a student visa to buy more time.
It’s a different proposition for someone planning retirement to someone earlier in their working life.
If you’re not reliant on income then yes, NZ is a cheaper place to live.
If you need a job then your earnings in NZ may not go as far as they do in other countries.
Meh. “Friendly” is a relative term. While NZ may be swinging a bit towards the right these days (as opposed to when Ardern was PM), NZ has ranked choice voting, which mitigates some of the political polarity seen in places like the U.S. where things stratify into two camps. This tends to make political power more responsive to the people, so even if the current administration is favorable to Trump, as the U.S. slides off the rails I would expect the NZ government to step back.
I consider friendly siding with him on the international stage such as why things like Palestine, leaving the WHO, etc
There are a few (as in single digits, like for example Holly Collins in the Netherlands ) in Western Europe and Canada, but they are truly exceptional cases, based on very specific individual circumstances.
The courts in Canada and Netherlands are also considering a few requests from transgender Americans instead of throwing them out immediatly, so the situation might change for trans people, especially if the governments decide that they are done appeasing Trump.
Worldwide there were slightly less than 400 accepted american refugees in 2021.
Is New Zealand really self-sustaining? Genuine question.
Nope. And it also has a bat shit crazy government currently.
They have rich soil, a moderate climate, and an abundance of fresh water, so it is easy to grow food and raise livestock. They import virtually all their oil and gas. While the interconnected globalized world supplies a lot of what they use, if push came to shove and NZ were isolated the people would survive independent of the outside world, though there would be some challenges as thy learned to live without what they purchase from abroad.
We are doing what we can in our house.
It is hard being at the arse end of the world with no manufacturing left and huge food imports
No, and I don’t think any country really is nowadays. I expect it’ll still be a better place to be than where the bombs are getting dropped though. Unfortunately Europe quite often had the misfortune of being that place.
Yet.
I’m waiting for the full nazi invade-your-neighbors moment. Pretty sure that changes for the Operation Reverse Paperclip. I’m already here in EU on a work visa. Claiming political asylum while already here and stable hopefully helps me avoid some red tape in staying permanently.