On Being Foreign

The thought is mildly disturbing when the it surfaces in the recesses of my mind from time to time -- that my eldest child, Ted. will soon be a half century old.

There's nothing either of us can do about that chronological fact. It probably bothers Ted more than it does me.

For him it is a bench mark of advancing age. But for me -- been there; done that. Based on the Social Security and Medicare laws, I am officially old -- even though I refuse to join with those radical leftists who pretend the AARP is non-partisan.

Libertarian Agreement

In politics Ted is what I ruefully will call a "marxist libertarian." I have long since have reached the somewhat contradictory status of "conservative libertarian" -- so Ted and I find ourselves in agreement on the issues about half the time -- the libertarian parts happily overlap.

We are both disillusioned with Obama, but only Ted made the mistake of voting for change in which he and many others thought they could believe. (Having a father who was a congressman should have been a warning about believing politicians).

Connected

The Internet age has brought Ted and I closer together, (for many years he lived in South Africa, where he has dual citizenship) although now he, his wife and daughter, live only several hundred miles away. (I am proudly blessed with another son, Jim, and two daughters, Genie and Victoria, and six grandchildren -- two girls and four boys).

A few  weeks ago, Ted sent me essay from one of my favorite magazines, The Economist. Entitled "On Being Foreign," he knew it would appeal to me, both because of its thoughtful content, but also because it touches on many aspects of of my Sovereign Society writings over the last decade -- especially living and making your home offshore in a foreign land.

Indeed, the essay easily could be a chapter in my latest edition of The Passport Book.

The Essay begins:

* "For the first time in history, across much of the world, to be foreign is a perfectly normal condition. It is no more distinctive than being tall, fat or left-handed. Nobody raises an eyebrow at a Frenchman in Berlin, a Zimbabwean in London, a Russian in Paris, a Chinese in New York [or I would add, an American in Panama, Switzerland or Singapore]. The desire of so many people, given the chance, to live in countries other than their own makes nonsense of a long-established consensus in politics and philosophy that the human animal is best off at home."

Certainly the many thousands of citizens from many nations who have joined the Sovereign Society, (current membership 26,000, A-Letter subscribers, 230,000), have acquired a thorough knowledge of offshore possibilities, including acquiring dual citizenship and second passports.

 

The Homeland

* "And yes, no doubt many people do feel most at ease with a home and a homeland [if not Homeland Security]. But what about the others, who find home oppressive and foreignness liberating? Theirs is a choice that gets both easier and more difficult to exercise with every passing year. Easier, because the globalization of industry and education tramples national borders. More difficult, because there are ever fewer places left in this globalized world where you can go and feel utterly foreign when you get there."

We've come a long way, what with worldwide satellite digital communications, cell phones, encrypted laptops, the Internet, online banking and investing and supersonic flight -- tempered only by personal fatigue and, more usually, the gross and ignorant interference of border bureaucrats.

A Golden Age

In what The Economist calls "the golden age of genteel foreignness"...foreignness was a means of escape -- physical, psychological and moral. In another country you could flee easy categorization by your education, your work, your class, your family, your accent, your politics. You could reinvent yourself, if only in your own mind. You were not caught up in the mundanities of the place you inhabited, any more than you wanted to be."

Yet you, (as have very many Sovereign Society members who have followed our advice), can still achieve that vaunted "genteel foreignness" in welcoming offshore jurisdictions as far flung as Andorra, Monaco, Uruguay, Belize, the Isle of Man or Austria.

Guilt of Betrayal

* "Even so, all other things being equal, foreignness is intrinsically stimulating. Like a good game of bridge, the condition of being foreign engages the mind constantly without ever tiring it...living in a foreign country can evoke many of the emotions of childhood: novelty, surprise, anxiety, relief, powerlessness, frustration, irresponsibility...

But as the essay suggests: * "Beneath it all there is the guilt of betrayal. To choose foreignness is an act of disloyalty to one’s native country.." some would claim. This is a point I  wrote about only recently in my own essay that asked: "Is It Un-American to Go Offshore?"

The Pleasures of Freedom

Providently, The Economist essay echoes exactly what we at the Sovereign Society have been saying for over a decade:

* "Life is full of choices, and to choose one thing is to forgo another. The dilemma of foreignness comes down to one of liberty versus fraternity -- the pleasures of freedom versus the pleasures of belonging. The homebody chooses the pleasures of belonging. The foreigner chooses the pleasures of freedom, and the pains that go with them."

The Passport Book - 7th Edition

If you want you want to discover a new, freedom loving place in which to pitch your tent, deposit your cash or protect your assets, the seventh edition of my best-selling publication, The Passport Book, is now available. You can get your copy now. Here's a sample of the contents.

The Sovereign Society is a recognized voice in the complex offshore world.  Join the Sovereign Society and keep informed.

Comments

[caregiving for the elderly]

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