>>For myself I did nowhere argue/propose to leave my/western countries in those posts... Even declining Rome had for a long time much more to offer than other areas - decadence has its charme as well <bg>. Downslope can still be coupled with good place to live in. OTOH less stable countries - giving you more opportunities with more fluctuations/"dangers" are becoming more attractive - the gap is closing also in my "list of possible alternate places", where the US and South Africa are not as much in the lead as 30 years ago.
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>I spent 3 years living in Germany and my mother lived in Frankfurt for some time while I was there. I can see why you haven't argued/proposed leaving your western country.... :o)

If you know where Betts or Gibbs Housing areas were, you practically know where I spent much of my time growing up... Loosing the american contingent has made our small town more sedate in certain areas on weekends<g>. Spending time with the americans balanced my take on things in the early 70'ies - while we still are one of the more mixed towns in germany, I miss having a TV with a channel for AFN TV [my first really successful attempt at altering electronic devices myself which was not really conforming to the highly regulated rules on broadcasting and phones...] which I kept when I did not have the time for an afternoon of football (not soccer <g>) or around some big grill a few times each month, as well as the times working out in the barrack and having a few beers afterwards.

regards

thomas