>>This may seem dramatic but I am seriously thinking of leaving the country when Emily leaves for college a year from now. I don't like what the U.S. has turned into. It's an ugly country full of hatred. Our better days are behind us and we are on the downslope of empire. I'm not sure who will replace us as a world power -- things pretty much suck all over -- but we are not what we were. I am thinking of Vancouver, Toronto, New Zealand, and Scandinavia. Can you get by speaking English in Scandinavia or would I have to learn long unpronounceable words? ;-)
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>Better days behind us???
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>Open up a History book and point me to the page of History you're talking about.

Not history - economics. Much of it is nowadays built on quicksand:
Rising debt backed by "no alternative", "earnings" made by "financial industry" taking windfalls off interest set too low/too much money floating around as well and "market forces" needing natural resouces backed by a a large military force
Not that europe is better - we are in a similar shape when seen in debt% of GDP, without even funneling some of the debt into arms.
[Not meant as an anti american post, more like western industrialized countries voting themselves bread and games ad infinitum without regard to economic and population facts].