Invest The World -- International Travel and Investment

Escaping the U.S.

I was trolling on one of the Belize message boards today and ran across a new user whose username, though I can't remember it, alluded to his desire to escape the craziness of the U.S. It was obvious from his plethora of new posts that he'd been reading up on Belize and was excited about his upcoming trip, and that in this trip, he was hoping to find that paradise to which he could escape.

Folks like these come along on the Belize message boards every few months and, I'd suspect, if I checked, I'd see the same sort of folks in lots of other message boards dedicated to traveling and living in "third world" countries. There's something about Americans and Canadians that, almost by dint of where they've ended up, that puts into them the desire to move to new frontiers and look for freedom that they believe has been lost. Right now there are a whole bunch of folks wanting to leave to somewhere that's less left-skewed since Obama took office, but for the eight years previous we'd constantly hear from disaffected leftists wanting to leave the "police state" they believed George Bush had enacted.

And then there are folks less motivated by politics but more culture--they want to move somewhere less materialistic, more traditional, less of a rat race.

All of these reasons are valid, although most folks who have moved to foreign countries to "escape" their home country very quickly take off their rose-tinted glasses. That's not to say anyone is wrong to leave the U.S., or that these other countries are bad places. Rather, it's a little like meeting the love of your life--you're going to learn their little bad habits once you marry them, but you still love them anyway.

Here, in no particular order, are some places I've visited, with some of my thoughts on the politics.

First, for folks with libertarian leanings like myself, one of the things I've come to terms with is that many of the countries I visit, while theoretically much less libertarian than the U.S., are practically much more so.

To the extent some of these countries have passed laws, the areas effected may restrict freedoms in that area much more than in the United States. However, because these countries simply do not have the money, power or time to micromanage every area of life, there is as a practical matter much more freedom. For example, in many Latin countries, domestic employees are given all sorts of rights and protections from firing and benefits that must be provided. However, many of these countries have almost no tort law (i.e., the kind of law that makes up the bulk of U.S. civil lawsuits), meaning that a "life is tough" rule plays into effect quite often.

Here, then, are some of the countries I've visited, and my thoughts on how your politics might fit in:

Belize:
Government: a two-party parliamentary democracy in which both parties are virtually indistinguishable. The newly ruling United Democratic Party had been viewed as slightly more pro-business than the previous Peoples United Party, but, once in office, enacted a takeover of one of the opposition media stations.

A political haven for: folks with theoretically strong environmental leanings. The "jewel" as it's known attempts to make laws to protect its natural resources, which its citizens realize to be one of the biggest drawing cards to its biggest industry (tourism). In day-to-day practice, the environmentalism is typical third world--bad trash dumps outside of town, dumping of garbage in inappropriate places, etc.

Not an ideal place for: people who like government bureaucracy to be effecient, people who want an easy place to set up a business, very liberal people who want others with similarly "enlightened" attitudes or very pro-business conservative people.

Ecuador:

A political haven for: center-leftists. Rafeal Correa is a left-leaning U.S. trained economist, and has attempted to enact more left-leaning reforms. As a practical matter, so long as the government does not attempt to make inroads into taking property or restricting rights, government more or less leaves people alone.

Panama:

A political haven for: pro-business types, conservatives, libertarians. Panama City is a haven of capitalism though, like much of the U.S., the building bubble has probably burst. Business is encouraged, and because of the long-time relationship between the two countries, there is a large North American influence.

A lot of expats who've made the move seem more likely to be successful when they're running to something rather than away from their home country. In other words, that person moving to Belize has a much greater chance of success if he's moving there because he's looking for a warm climate, simpler lifestyle and a seaview climate, rather than because the guys that served him tropical drinks at the bar on his last visit were much nicer than his neighbors back home!

Labels: escape

posted by Wesley Deaton @ 6:22 PM