In this week’s issue of Many Flags Newsletter, I answer a question from a Redditor looking to Amerexit: “I’ve always dreamed of living in a country where the majority of people don’t like war. Any suggestions?”
My answer: Wow, that is a great and at the same time loaded question. As a pacifist, former soldier and Amerexiter currently residing in Canada, I completely understand where you’re coming from. But your question assumes that the majority of Americans like war. Are you sure this is true? Believe me, I know it can seem that way at times. Do you live in a big city? Close to a military base? A rural area? Heartland? Coastal? Was this overall feeling of yours, that everyone in this country loves war, stronger when Russia first invaded Ukraine, and weaker now that it’s dragged on for two years? That Iraq/Bush era of which you spoke, how many years have passed now? Americans eventually grew quite weary of that ceaseless nonsense; do you feel the everyone-in-this-country-likes-war sentiment is as strong now as it was then?
San Antonio and Houston, two major Texas cities, are only three hours apart, and I’ve lived in both. One has a strong military presence, and consequently it feels like everyone there is pro-war. The other has almost no military presence, and so the vibe is very different. I posit that the we-like-war vibe, as you describe it, is stronger in rural areas, weaker in cities, stronger in cities with lots of bases, weaker in cities with lots of universities. Have you lived anywhere near Washington DC? I can’t imagine🤮.
I’m not trying to talk you out of leaving. You should get out. Sooner rather than later. But what if you found a country with zero pro-war sentiment, but it isn’t safe to walk the streets after dark?
Don’t overthink it; just go. The yearning is obviously burning inside you, or you wouldn’t be on this subreddit. Your US passport is your ticket to 6 months in Mexico—all you have to do is show up at the border. If you have one of those jobs you can do from your laptop, you could work and plan your next move, not from within the US but from without. It’ll enrich your perspective. Will your next move be Belize, Costa Rica, Panama? Spain, Portugal, Italy, Slovenia, Montenegro? I sure wish I’d done it when I was in my 20s or 30s. I have friends who did it—Mexico without a plan—a couple of my friends are now living there full-time.
I went the other direction, for better or for worse. I moved to Canada. My wife and I have decent jobs, our son just graduated from high school up here and our daughter’s about to graduate from the 8th grade. There is no vibe at all of everyone-in-this-country-likes-war here in the big city. Out in the rural areas that we visit frequently, yeah, there’s a little more of that. I sense more of it when I visit Calgary, less when I visit Quebec and BC. More when Russia first invaded Ukraine, especially in my very Ukrainian and Russian neighborhood; less so now. So in those regards, Canada’s no different from the US (What is different is that it’s prohibitively expensive and it’s harder to make friends than we expected.)
My wife and I like bustling urban centers. That’s where I would focus my search if I were you. If you like small towns and agricultural communities, then you’re not going to avoid the patriotism/pro-war/xenophobia in your everyday life.
Rich mega-states, like the US, with too many people and too little representation, are experts at controlling the narrative and swaying public opinion. Most people don’t realize how hard Uncle Sam had to work to persuade a reluctant populace to enter World War One. Nor do folks nowadays realize how unpopular WWII was prior to the bombing of Pearl Harbor. So no matter what country you move to, if the self-anointed decide they want to sway public opinion towards war, they know how to do it. You’ve just gotta immunize yourself and glom onto like-minded people.
War-mindedness might be less prevalent in small countries, but revolution-mindedness may be a lot more likely. Is that something you can live with?
Another danger of over-researching is that everything is a snapshot in time. Things can happen quickly—even overnight. Will Ecuador remain as volatile as it is at the moment? Will Canada remain as LGBTQ+-friendly as it supposedly is at the moment? Will the Caribbean remain a tax haven? Will Europe remain a tourist destination?
We haven’t even talked about your options Europe and Asia, much less Africa and the entire global south. I’d say it’s time for you to research just how powerful your US passport is, and what countries grant you visa-free access. And of course to research what your next passport is going to be. You already want to Amerexit; that’s good. Now study flag theory and execute. Good luck! (End of my answer)
Now, for fun with AI: “What are 25 Countries with the least warlike populace?” Here’s ChatGPT’s verbatim answer:
(Begin AI text)Determining the "least warlike" populace in countries can be subjective and challenging, as it depends on various factors such as historical context, government policies, cultural attitudes, and levels of conflict. However, based on factors like low military expenditure, peaceful foreign policies, and absence of internal or external conflicts, here's a list of 25 countries that are often considered to have relatively peaceful populations:
Iceland
Switzerland
Denmark
Norway
Finland
New Zealand
Austria
Portugal
Canada
Ireland
Japan
Costa Rica
Sweden
Slovenia
Mauritius
Bhutan
Botswana
Uruguay
Qatar
Chile
Luxembourg
Malta
Estonia
Singapore
Czech Republic
Please note that while these countries are generally regarded as having peaceful populations, it's essential to recognize that no country is entirely free from conflict, and the perception of peace can vary depending on different perspectives and criteria.(End AI text).
I note the US isn’t on the list. Canada is even though she follows her Uncle Sam around everywhere he goes.. Neither is Mexico. I also note that of the 25 countries listed, all but three are on our list of places to visit once we get this newsletter off the ground and go fully location-independent. The only ones not on our visit list are Qatar, Botswana and Bhutan. Perhaps we should give them a closer look.
Thanks for reading, and as always, reply to this newsletter with your questions. It’ll come directly to me. I’m building a list of service providers in the community—tax experts, offshore bank accounts and trusts, business incorporation, immigration consultants, and more. If you’ve worked with any, I’d like to know how it went and whether you’d recommend them.
Sincerely,
Gene Basler