prillalar | (no subject)

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Dear United States of America,

We are done. I will no longer cross your borders, not for the forseeable future.

I have been considering this for some time, wondering what it would take to push me over the edge. Your bullying of Canada over the softwood lumber tariff, your refusal to participate in the Kyoto Protocol, your continual tightening of your borders, your determination to explicitly disallow same-sex marriage, among other things.

And now the inconceivable humanitarian tragedy that is the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Your country has always made me uneasy; now it frightens me. I don't feel welcome there and I don't feel safe.

I do not dislike US citizens as individuals; those that I have met have predominantly been nice, decent people. But the country as a whole -- the ideals, the institutions, the government -- is something I cannot deal with.

I have dear friends in the US that I would like to visit, cities I would like to see, conventions I would like to attend. Three times this year I've been to the US, a little nervous, but enjoyed myself anyhow.

But no more.

Your country is not a good place to be. And so I will not go there.

Good luck to you. I hope you find your way. And if you don't, I hope you don't take Canada down with you.

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Yeah. :/

It's a hard decision, especially because of friends, but still, something I have to do. Or not do, rather.

I have a feeling that you will be seeing some of your USian friends sooner than you're thinking you will.

But not because you'll be visiting HERE. I'm just sayin'.

(The fact that I work at a hospital which takes disaster cases, am on the disaster call list, and live in an area that has relatively frequent earthquakes, may have something to do with this, but.)

I love your icon! Is it shareable?

watersister, who is from Louisiana and who made it, and I, will be happy if everyone who sees it steals it.

Go to her journal, if you like, she has a Cafe Press store and is selling shirts and stickers for Katrina.

So love this. Stealing now. (g)

Excellent. (http://www.livejournal.com/users/yonmei/511287.html)

Yeah, I won't be surprised. Though it can be more difficult than you'd think to immigrate to Canada from the US, at least from the experience of a number of friends of minen.

Do tell, I'm interested. My father emmigrated easily to Canada in the late 70s but that's because the company that was hiring him really wanted him, very badly. But things may be very different now. What sort of problems have your friends had?

My boyfriend and I have talked about it, and I do have my father who's lived as an ex-pat in Canada for nearly 30 years....

Icarus

Please understand that many of us down here feel the same way. However, our current government has tried all they can to shut us up by calling us "unpatriotic" and "un-American". They're corrupt to the bone, and only the uneducated still follow them.

When the next election comes, I will do my part to change this, be sure of it (although I'm not sure how much it will matter. Stupid electoral college.)

Oh, believe me, I do understand. And I really feel for you.

*holds up sign*

WILL MARRY CANADIAN FOR GREEN CARD (OR EQUIVALENT)

Sorry I can't offer myself, as they've not yet legalized bigamy here. :)

Well, if you know one who could use a housekeeper, let him know... ;-)

LOL. i love it.

Sadly, I totally understand how you feel.

My country is still my country, and despite its current (horrifying) "leadership," I'm not leaving - I'm not ready to abandon it yet - but man, if I didn't live here, I don't think I'd want to visit at the moment either.

*hugs* I understand how you feel too.

I'm there. Or rather, I'm not.

Nearly two years ago, a friend and I made plans (four-way plans, originally) to go to ZCon this year, then to book some self-catering accommodation and the four of us to hang out for a few days post-con in Chicago, looking round, doing Due South fan things, generally having a good time. Well, three of us dropped out, all for the same reason: none of us want to go to the US any more. (Ajay's still going. She has family to visit, if she can't persuade them to come back to Scotland.)

There are cons I would like to go to. Friends I would like to visit. Places I would like to see, or to see again. But I'm not going inside the borders of the US.

We need more cons in other countries, we really do.

We're so, so, so sorry. :(

You know, I've been sitting here in a completely shell-shocked, furious, angry state for the last seven days, watching all this happen. I've been too angry to cry.

This is the first thing I've seen that's truly brought me to tears.

We're so, so, so sorry. :(

I know. :( And so many of the Americans I know are people who work hard to change the way things are. It must be frustrating beyond comprehension.

May I link to this?

Please feel free to link or quote at will.

Wow. It's scary that you've come to this decision.

A while ago in Jordan, I asked my uncle (jokingly, as money for the flights would be a problem) to take me with him next time he had a business trip to Saudi Arabia. A little bit later, I thought, no, I refuse to benefit the Saudi economy by one fucking dinar. Not a country that plain evil.

And now you're feeling that way about America.

Not my post, but since I've been coming to the same decision slowly since the beginning of the war, and finally took it in December '04 after that disastrous non-election, I'll answer you in my own way.

It's not only, or even at all, thinking the country is 'evil' - not for me anyway. It's not only about not contributing to their economy; I suspect I can't live my life in Europe without doing that, for one, and I suspect there's no way a lot of good would come from a further impoverishment of the US either, if I was to manage to provoke just that by my own lonesome's action *g* anyhow (or at least not many chances for that to happen as we're all bound by a global economy and all that).

It's, for me at least, a question of feeling unwelcome, unwanted, endangered, suspected, frowned and trod upon. It's a way to say 'get your fucking act together.' Maybe not the best way, but there you are. :(

Yes, I think that sums up how I feel. Thanks. :)

Well, I didn't say that I think America is "evil". Mostly, I find it scary and unwelcoming. Not the actual people -- most people I've met there have been fine. But the country as a country, that's different. It's especially weird for Canada, being right next door. Often, I feel like the US takes advantage of us, especially over stuff like fisheries and trade agreements. (You know, the stuff George Lucas likes to make movies about.)

Anyhow. *sigh*

:( We are trying, we are trying. It pains me to think that these are the "ideals" the world sees when they look at us. I see so many great and good things in our past. I am still unwilling to give up hope for the future.

I know, I know. :( And I certainly don't fault the individual people! I'm glad you still have hope. If Canada were in the same place, I hope I'd feel the same way.

I second Las, that's a big step to take. I haven't been to the States in nine years, and I kinda miss going there on a regular basis. I love it, i.e. the people, too much to take the same step. (Yet.)

Though I of course share your sentiment of total and utter disgust. I still don't understand. Likely, I never will.

Completely randomly, I scanned some POT trading cards today and scanned the one MomoKai card I have especially for you. Will post sometime in the near future.

It's a difficult decision, because of friends and fandom, but it's just too much. I think, really, the recent announcement of further border-tightening was enough to push me over -- this just happened at the same time.

MomoKai! Yay!

Sounds like my husband's sentiments. He's a British national, and the whole bungling of the Katrina situation has made him embarrassed to be in this country. Right about now, I really can't blame him (says the daughter of six generations of American soldiers and patriots, going back to the Revolutionary War).

It's difficult for everybody, that's for sure. :(

Interesting. As an american indian, I'll stay here. native canadians cannot vote, own property and don't have equal rights. America is worth fighting for ~ contrary to proper opinion, we fight for (& about) everything. Same old same old. It keeps us young. I doubt we'll notice your absence, to be honest. Apropos wiksushi... daughter of Vietnam/Korea vet. My daddy flew jets.

I certainly don't mean to imply that Canada is a paragon. And I hope that if we got to the place I see the US in now, that I would stay here and try to make things better.

native canadians cannot vote, own property and don't have equal rights
Canada certainly has not treated the Canadian First Nations in an exemplary fashion, but I understood that they had gained the right to vote in 1960. And I have never seen anything about them not being able to own property or have lesser legal rights than other Canadians. Can you link me up? I'm googling now, but having trouble sifting through things.

And, again, I'm not trying to say, la la la everything is fine, because I know it's not, just trying to get the facts straight.

I was refering to the right of sovereignty over their traditional lands. The Mohawks have been fighting for the right to control their own destiny. This can be read in something about timber? here (http://www.jewishresource.net/index.cfm-method=LOIa.htm). Sorry all I could find on short notice. Quoting "First Nations—Canada's indigenous population whose rights over the years have been systematically eroded in favor of the monopoly of entrenched interests."

It does have a great deal to do with sovereignty, not much written about to be googled.

My family has always had this attitude, that tribes in Canada fared much worse. Have to check nativeweb. The voting thing was late, in the 60s, wow.

I was refering to the right of sovereignty over their traditional lands.

Ah, k, that makes more sense; I thought you were talking about individual rights. Thanks! I know that's a pretty confused situation. There are a lot of First Nations groups involved in land claims, especially here in BC.

The voting thing was late, in the 60s, wow.

Yeah, it sure was. Canada became a country in 1867 so that's almost a hundred years later. :(

I can't say I'm surprised -- we've talked about this, and as I've said before, I don't blame you one bit. Far from trying to talk you out of your decision, I'm focused more than ever on how I can get the hell out of this place.

I'm too damned disgusted to post anything myself. I've been in la la land, trying to ignore it all.

I'm focused more than ever on how I can get the hell out of this place.

I'm looking forward to hearing how that's going. It's been ages since we've talked!

Gah. I wish things were different.

I know! But next Sunday for sure. I will tell you all.

your post makes me sad, but also something indefinable. i'm not american, but the fact that a country has managed to scare someone away when not even trying is just. wrong. countries shouldnt do that. the concept of a nation shouldnt be that. and it makes me feel... odd.

also, i <3 canada; when i'm in legal studies, learnign about goddamn fascist laws in australia, me and my bud are always like: "dont worry! we'll escape! to CANADA! ooh canada sweet caaanaadaa..."

It's certainly making me think about what a country *is*. Is it the people? The government? The history? The policies? The culture?

I hope people don't have unrealistic expectations of Canada! We're certainly not perfect. But I do like it here.

as long as you have meese, ur cool :D! (and as long as you all say "eh")

(I hope you don't mind the out-of-the-blue commentary, but I've been reading your journal for a while because of the PoT fiction which I've really enjoyed, and should get around to actually reviewing soon.)

I think we're both shaken by this total disaster of a situation and the complete failure that is, at least right now, the American federal government. I'm a stranger and a teenager, but even to me this is a real nightmare, and if I'm being overassuming in thinking that my mindset is comparable to your mindset I apologize but am going to continue writing this comment anyway.

I think I understand where you're coming from as you write this. I can't, however, say that I can abandon America with the same confidence you have, not just because I live here but because I feel reluctant to turn the "America" label over to George W. Bush and his cronies. To me, America is the nice, decent people you mention in your post just as much as it is the president, and it's sort of sad in light of that to see so many smart and resourceful individuals giving the word up without a fight. I want America to be more than its current political agenda; I want to say I'm not ashamed of living here, because of how many people I know in this country who are kind, thoughtful, and intelligent. I want those people to be just as important a part of the country and its associations as is the government.

This might be unduly idealistic of me, and very sappily phrased, but I want the right kind of people to take this name back and make it mean what it should rightfully mean: a nation of hundreds of millions of real, live, hugely varied people. I realize that I don't have any right to influence your own decisions, but I really hope you don't give up on us because you believe we only amount to the polices of a man a lot of us hate.

. . . after having thought about this for half a minute, I realize that the last half of my last sentence should rightfully read:

. . . really hope you don't believe we only amount to the polices of a man a lot of us hate.

Whether you decide to dislike this country is really your own personal decision; my issue is with allowing the word America to mean what it really ought not to mean.

Getting off the soapbox now.

Commentary always welcome, any opinion, any time. :)

I certainly don't expect Americans to abandon America. Like I said in another comment above, I hope I wouldn't abandon Canada in the same situation. I'm glad to see your optimism. I hope things do get better and sooner rather than later.

It's not just the current administration that makes me feel this way, though. Of course, it's a *big* factor. But there has always been a sense of unease for Canada, being a small country (population-wise -- geographically, we're huuuuuuuuge) neighbour to the US. I have long-standing feelings that we've been pushed around, taken advantage of. (Again, *not* by individuals. And sometimes aided by our *own* government.)

It's complicated. And it makes me sad.

I want to say I'm not ashamed of living here, because of how many people I know in this country who are kind, thoughtful, and intelligent. I want those people to be just as important a part of the country and its associations as is the government.

That is good to hear. :) May it be so.

I don't blame you. It's crazy here...

::blink blink::

That's... yeah. I don't even know what to think here.

Do you mind if I link to this too?

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