By Jamie Douglas
If you liked this article please click the +1 button and let others know where to find our great content
We would love to hear your comments on this article email us at editor@expatdailynews.com
If you like what you see here on Expat Daily News, we ask you to donate whatever you feel like, to help us to continue producing interesting articles for you. Thank you!
 |
| Melbourne, Australia (image via Wikipedia) |
It seems that only few days or weeks pass between new comprehensive studies being released, telling us where the best place is to live. Just when you had your bags packed and were ready to move to Vancouver, BC, you find out that it is really not the most desirable place to live anymore (Hint: They don’t much like “Americans”). Change of plans: Go west, way, way west, and south, all the way to Melbourne Australia, to be precise. Here then is the new ranking from the Economist Intelligence Unit:
1. Melbourne 97.5 out of 100
2. Vienna 97.4
3. Vancouver 97.3
4. Toronto 97.2
5. Calgary 96.6
6. Sydney 96.1
7. Helsinki 96.0
8. Perth 95.9
9. Adelaide 95.9
10. Auckland 95.7
Calgary? Is it the lovely Tar Sands of Alberta that are the attraction?
What of course speaks for itself is that half of the most livable places are in Australia and New Zealand, three are in Canada, and two are in Europe, and not a one in the USA! Perhaps this could explain why so many residents of the Corporate States of America are looking to bail out of there.
The quality of life, or as it is referred to as the “American Way of Life,” has deteriorated to a degree where most residents of the USA have made massive sacrifices to adjust to the new and lower standard of living, while the cost of everything from energy to food to college tuition has sky rocketed, leaving many families in the lurch, after having gone on an uncontrolled spending binge from the mid 1990’s until the big bubble burst in 2008. It was a case of US consumers spending way beyond their means, contributing billions to the trade deficit with the purchases of all those imported goods, financing everything with easy (high interest) credit, while selling their souls to the devil (Angelo ‘The Tangerine’ Mozillo of Countrywide infamy) by getting second mortgages on their homes and spending the artificially accumulated equity on yet more frivolous items like Hummers, that 3rd SUV, new cars for the kids, and so forth.
This disaster was allowed to happen because the government was taken over by lobbyists, which during the Bush administration had free reign over Congress and the Senate (remember Tom Delay, convicted money launderer, the K Street Project, and good ol’ Jack Abramoff?), writing bills to benefit their corporate clients, and turning them over to their underling elected representatives to introduce as legislation, which in turn would be rubberstamped by the corrupted system.
Then there is the heavy influence of the small-government evangelicals. Before one can run for public office in the CSA, one has to sign multiple pledges that are passed around, assuring the very loud minority that they will never (fill in your favorite divisive issue), and you end up with people running for office who have already abrogated their legislative powers to those on the fringes of sanity, completely crippling the legislative process. One has to be blind to not recognize that all the political power in the country has shifted from individuals electing their representatives to the large multinational corporations having their lackeys elected with massive cash infusions. This has been virtually enshrined by the US Supreme Court, also known as Court 54, in its usual 5:4 split decision ruling that corporations have the same right to free speech when it comes to making political donations as do individual citizens, who are now hopelessly drowned out by the huge campaign donations made by secretive groups with no accountability whatsoever.
The formerly United States of America is losing its best and brightest citizens to foreign shores, because those who analyze the current situation with an unbiased, non-nationalistic mind will find that the best days are behind them, that the republic has been driven off the cliff, and that much worse times are coming. One need look no further than the assortment of wing nuts who are clamoring to get the republican nomination for president, to start the worrying process.
For those of you interested, I wrote some articles about Australia a few weeks ago, covering the exact cities listed above.
Also, watch for an article on Expats in New Zealand in an upcoming issue of Escape From America Magazine.
Round trip airfares from the west coast of the US are currently running about $1o00. Buy roundtrip as it is always cheaper that the one way fare, mate.
Jamie Douglas
San Rafael, Mendoza
Where that Fine Malbec Wine helps when I write about the CSA!
I encourage you to write to me, jamie@expatdailynews.com with any questions or suggestions you may have, and if necessary, we can establish a voice communication via Skype. Disclaimer: I am not in any travel related business. My advice is based on my own experiences, and is free of charge. (Donations accepted). It is always my pleasure to act as a beneficial counselor to those who are seekers of the next adventure.
Jamie Douglas is an Adventurer, Writer and Photographer with an amazing array of Nikon equipment, and a lifetime of experience traveling and documenting. To contact him for assignments and new adventures, email: jamie.douglas [at] yahoo.com
See more expat articles by Jamie at
If you liked this article please click the +1 button and let others know where to find our great content
