I would like to talk about some of the underlying reactions we’ve been getting to our decision to move. A lot of people seem to think we’re overreacting. They have the mentality that, “Sure, this is all really bad now, but in 4 years it will be over and everything will be fine.” Stacey and I do not share this mentality. I won’t speak for her (though I know she feels the same), so I’ll make this post about my own personal feelings about the state of the United States of America.
There is a proverb that explains how an environment can get lethal so slowly, that no one in that environment notices how bad it is, until it’s too late: The frog in the pot of boiling water. The concept, if you don’t know, is that if you put a frog in a pot of cool water, and slowly raise the temperature until the frog is boiled, the frog will not even try to get out of the pot, because the change is slow and anti-climatic, so before she knows it, the frog is poached.
This is happening here in the US. Changes are happening and our democracy is crumbling, but we’re too distracted working multiple jobs, taking care of families with very little support, and numbing our minds with social media, alcohol, weed, whatever gets you through… so we aren’t aware of the crisis around us. This article in the Intellectualist describes the situation perfectly. It’s exactly what I’m afraid of. The temperature is rising in our proverbial pot, and none of us frogs are even noticing. We’re just carrying on with our lives like this is just more political tomfoolery.
“Most people living through history don’t realize they are inside a moment of collapse because each event, taken alone, does not seem like the end of democracy. The shock of one ruling being ignored does not feel catastrophic…. Because when you are inside the collapse, it feels like just another day. The weight of history is often invisible in the moment, its consequences spread out over years. But the truth is unavoidable: this is not just another legal dispute. It is not another chapter in partisan warfare. It is not an escalation of existing dysfunction. It is the end of constitutional government.“
This is why I lose sleep at night. I have a haunting feeling that it’s already too late. My employer, a prominent college with an international community, sent out an email to the entire college warning international faculty, staff, and students not to travel internationally right now because they may not be able to get back into the country. This is insanity. I just keep keep my eyes on Portugal and keep plugging away at all we need to accomplish to GTFO of the US.