I think of the irony about people considering immigrating sometimes

[JohnKleeb]

I myself have comtemplted this but Ive said I wanted to say too. I say as a 3rd-5th generation American, I wonder what my ancestors would think of people like me considering going back to the old country and as you may or may not know I as a multi ethnic background person have no true old country. Its just ironic you know, they fled here for freedom and now I may have to flee for lack of. I would say I am in the middle as for as generations go, my family has been here since the 1860's at the earliest and 1910's at the latest. My grandparents grew up speaking their native languages at least my mom's folks did. My dad's had a very simliar life to I, they grew up lucky and fortunate. I just wonder what my ancestors would say if I told them I may leave America because of what she has became. I dont wanna became a man without a country or a refugee but the way the Bush adminstration is and reading about that new weapon last night just saddens me. To branch off topic, I find it sad that with all these wars, there is no end to them and the fact that the weapons used in the so called war to end all wars now look like children's toys but they are still deadly, same with the bomb dropped by the Enola Gay, its still very powerful and deadly but compared with what we got now, its nothing. That is so sad. I dont know where I would go, what I would do, final destination unknown. Sorry for the silly rant but I think about things like this. I wonder what our ancestors and what those who have died in the many wars are thinking and the dead overall.

[FloridaPat]

1. Interesting thought. Thank you for your input. I feel the same way

about leaving. But I never thought about my ancestors that came here for freedom. Yes, it has gotten bad and I'm not sure what I'm going to do. I'd like to get a business started on the internet that I could do overseas or even Mexico. I heard there were some American communities down there that are very nice.

[JohnKleeb]

2. not sure either

my ancestors came here for a bunch of reasons.
The Irish I think the famine and the british discrimination had a wee bit, the Germans not sure could had been religion or political, and the Slovak and Slovenes well poverty I guess and the fact they were in a empire, the Austrian-Hungrian one.

[1monster]

3. John, they came to this country seeking freedom and economic

opportunity because they couldn't have in the countries of their birth. I don't think any of them would dis you if the shoe were on the other foot.

After all, they fled political and economic oppression and ran to freedom and opportunity. Why do you think they would think less of you for doing the same?

It is not an easy thing to leave one's home, family, and customs to seek a new life elsewhere. It can be a very difficult decision to make. Give it very hard and long thought. Carefully determine the reasons you might want to emigrate, then carefully research to determine which country would best suit your needs.

In the end, you may find that the best country for you is the one you were born in. Or you might find that emigration is the only option you can handle.

But don't base your decision on the decisions of those who came before you. They had their reasons for the choices they made, just as you will have yours for any decision you make.

(edited to change boot to foot *~*)

[JohnKleeb]

4. I know dont worry about it

I am on and off on this issue. It depends really.

[GOPFighter]

5. My Dad's family came from Germany...

...in 1738, mostly to avoid the war raging in the Palatine. He did well here, and I'm glad he chose to come to America (apparently his other siblings went to Russia, Slovokia, etc.).

However, my uncle Ude (on my mother's side) came from Germany in about 1936. He was fleeing the increasingly fascist Nazi government. He continued to love "the old country," but he was soooo glad to get here and enjoy the freedoms America offered.

Now I'm watching in horror as our government, with the strong support of insecure, frightened Americans, is flirting with facism. I'm really dismayed at how many Americans are revelling in our decision to invade Iraq, while thumbing our noses at France, Germany, and the United Nations. I'm not proud of this strange behavior in America, and if it keeps growing, I will do what my Uncle Ude did almost 70 years ago: leave. If I do leave, however, I will never stop loving my "old country," the country that proved democracy could work - at least for 220+ years.

[JohnKleeb]

6. I think of the old country too

Its Slovakia actually no need to worry, Dubya got it mixed up with Slovenia both of whom happens to be countires in which i am ancestered from.

[HereSince1628]

7. I think my ancestors would understand

My family began its time in N. America in 1628 when they arrived in Mass. They almost immediately left there when they saw other opportunities, setting themselves to sawing wood and building homes, literally getting in on the ground floor of the settlement of Southampton, Long Island.

In almost every generation my family has grafted on immigrants, who by and large were looking for better economic circumstances...one group looked to escape life as household servants, another sought to move to owning rather than working in someoneelse's shoe shop. A displaced small land holder and his family departed Antrim Ireland crushed by the potato blight. Another group saw opportunity for carpenters following the Chicago fire, another had lived in the wet forests region near Lubbenau, Germany and understood the technology needed to drain the wet meadows of Illinois that had been bypassed in the westward expansion because they were too wet to farm. Another group understood watch making and moved to become part of the expanding Elgin Watch industry that supplied Sears with cheap pocket watches.

My ancestors understood the need to look for opportunities. If you haven't noticed, jobs are leaving the US, and are developing in other places. Not everyone weighing staying vs leaving is thinking only about living in the land of the free and the home of the brave. I've been out of work for over a year. Believe me, my search no longer is limited to within the borders of this country.

I think that my ancestors would understand.

[cosmicdot]

8. I think my ancestor is rolling over in his grave

what's happening in America today is similar to the tyranny he faced causing him to emigrate from France... if Dick Sneer Cheney were to have met him when he arrived in Jamestown c.1700, he'd likely have stayed aboard "Ye Peter and Anthony" ... perhaps returning to one of the many stopping points he made during the journey from south central France ... Switzerland, Germany, the Netherlands, then, to England ... the Netherlands might have struck his fancy ... the Dutch have been proven to be rather helpful to others in times of fear. Amsterdam has a nice Huguenot society headquarters. Having seen some of the south of France, it is certainly inviting.

The Berlin Wall came down ... Germany reunited ... the Soviet Union broke up ....... it seems we're in a period of transformation ...

Having heard c.1996 a fellow American (it was at work; one of the good ol'boys) say: "Who cares?" in regards to our Founding Principles (and, he meant it ... they only care about themselves; perpetuating their power control; and making their pie higher with no regard for the common good of anything... including company loyalty)

... I've thought that America has perhaps reached a point of diminishing returns; and, that we were in deep doo-doo with such mindset.

My ancestor, I believe, would understand ... been there, done that

Who knows ... perhaps return to our Father- and Mother-lands is fate.