After too long an absence, this is the next installment in our series of contributions by a mysterious denizen of Mobile, Alabama, named “Felix Veritas.” I promise that I am not Felix and Felix is not I. In fact, there will surely be times when I disagree with Felix; I probably could take issue with a sentence or two in this installment.
Felix is very thoughtful and a terrific auto-didact, with a great sense for “the big questions” of culture and politics. I am delighted to have his contributions to this site. Please be on the lookout for more, in the coming months. — Quin
[kpolls]
Here:
With the advent of collegiate “Safe Zones”, America is officially evolving into a society of whiny wimps dragging adolescence into their 20s and even 30s. God help us if the country faces real adversity like our grandparents did in the early 1900s. A reflexive twitch into the fetal position is how most of today’s vertebrae-optional generation likely would respond to a legit national crisis.
Obviously some of our citizens believe America is the worst place on Earth. Now, I can’t cite hard scientific data indicating our malcontents’ political leanings, but I don’t find many conservatives saying “America is unfair” or “America sucks.”
At least not yet.
The sad truth is that may come to pass if liberals keep getting their way and screwing up the greatest, most productive society in recorded history. So what options do we have? How to quarantine the Democrats’ scourge which created inner-city Chicago and Detroit, and the homeless-ridden streets of San Francisco, but still give Lunatic Leftists what they want?
I give you Paid Expatriation — a concept whose time has come.
If people think America stinks and want to leave, I say let them. And give them the money to do so, about $20,000. That kind of cash goes a long way in most third-world, proletariat paradises. A person could stake themselves to a decent life in the People’s Republic of their choice.
A few minor details, though. Seriously, they’re no big deal.
First, one-way visas only. No returns to the United States for five years for any reason. No funerals. No birthdays. Nothing. For five years. After five years, you can apply for a visitor’s temporary visa, but nothing permanent. You aren’t a U.S. citizen any more. But hey, you hate America anyway, so what are you really missing?
Also, you lose the right to vote. Again, this isn’t much of a drag for someone who doesn’t want to be here anyway. So no sweat, right?
The first question is, can we afford this program? What if a million people want to leave…can we afford to drop $20 billion? Honestly, I haven’t done all the math so I can’t swear it’s a cash-positive proposal within 3 years. However, I strongly suspect many of those willing to trade their citizenship for 30 pieces of silver absorb more resources than they produce. Removing these citizens likely creates a net financial gain in the communities impacted, across all racial and ethnic lines. Further, if we implement this also as an option to decrease prison populations, the financial viability becomes even stronger.
Pay $20k to get rid of someone we’re already spending at least $40k on to house, feed and clothe EVERY YEAR? That’s a no-brainer. Plus, they become someone else’s problem.
I’m rapidly coming to the conclusion that America is for everybody, but everybody is NOT for America. Why tie people down who will be happier elsewhere? Let’s help them move on while reducing the country’s whine factor consistently over time. We all win.
That’s IF the bellyachers really think America is that unfair and rigged against them. IF. I’m suspicious that’s not the case, but the Lunatic Left’s intellectual honesty (or lack thereof) is a topic for another column.