There are dozens, sometimes hundreds of moments in a given day when I look around and I simply don't recognize this place anymore. It all seems terrifyingly foreign. Maybe you understand what I’m talking about. johnpavlovitz.substack.com/p/the-americ... - ThreadSky

johnpavlovitz.bsky.social • 2 days ago

There are dozens, sometimes hundreds of moments in a given day when I look around and I simply don't recognize this place anymore. It all seems terrifyingly foreign. Maybe you understand what I’m talking about.

https://johnpavlovitz.substack.com/p/the-american-dream-of-being-an-expat

Comments

batgurl62.bsky.social•2 days ago

It's always been propaganda and lies. This place is not exceptional, it's basically an illiterate shit hole

merivel.bsky.social•2 days ago

I call that “country dysmorphia” — knowledge that my country is deeply disfigured and a strong desire to get out of it for my own wellbeing.

wev5280.bsky.social•1 day ago

As an expat (three years, two countries), I can tell you that our disappointment doesn't disappear overseas. I, like a lot of Americans abroad, are deeply concerned too about how T is shredding our norms and trampling on decency. Living overseas means you witness how far the stench travels.

srfrgrl.bsky.social•1 day ago

living in the US with an outsider’s perspective, I felt and experienced some of the weirdness we’re seeing before the onset of Trump/MAGA. Trying to find a church to attend has been really difficult and disheartening.

srfrgrl.bsky.social•1 day ago

Agree and thank you for using your platform to speak the truth, and encourage and challenge people to stand up for it.

srfrgrl.bsky.social•1 day ago

If it’s of any interest, as a Canadian expat and dual citizen living in the US for the past 17 years, I witnessed a cultural difference between Christians in Canada vs US before I moved to the US…

ingomargirl.bsky.social•2 days ago

I feel like I am living in a bad dream.

msriesling.bsky.social•2 days ago

I understand exactly! I’m an American expat living in Europe since 1998. I’ve seen the slow change since. I don’t recognize the country I left. I don’t regret my decision to leave the US for one minute!!!

curiousdan60.bsky.social•2 days ago

I am an expat. There is no way I would move back. Oddly, it is not all about trump. It is the US way of life. Italy is my new home.

usasunder.bsky.social•2 days ago

The America you want is still there.

We just didn't know how many racists and haters were in the shadows. It's a shock to see them out, loud and proud.

But they are not the majority. Neither Right nor Left extemists are a majority. The quiet reasonable majority in the middle have to take a stand.

bgbell.bsky.social•2 days ago

Yes I do

daddymando.bsky.social•2 days ago

10 years ago,felt the first hint of this,now full force.I long for that interaction with a neighbor or stranger at supermarket.Light hearted encounter about weather, sports,Spring. There is a dysthymia to life right now. A lack of happiness and half of my fellow Americans are responsible for it.

briangomez.bsky.social•2 days ago

I’m an American expat, and every time I start to feel homesick, I remember how sick home is.

grandmasharyn.bsky.social•2 days ago

Understood John. My husband and I fear losing everything we saved for our retirement as well as SS. We talk about where we can go, how could we leave our kids and grandkids etc. it’s just awful.

wev5280.bsky.social•1 day ago

Depending on where you live, living overseas can be quite a bit less expensive than in the States, and you can still collect SS (assuming it's going to be around). The most difficult part of living overseas, as you stated, is the family you leave behind.

bluebello.bsky.social•2 days ago

I feel this so much. That is why my wife and I will be retiring to B.C. Canada.

sp762au.bsky.social•2 days ago

I hate to tell you this, but unless you’re employed overseas by a us company, you’re not an expat, you’re an immigrant.

stilljupe.bsky.social•2 days ago

I feel you. I grew up in the Civil Rights Era John, nothing was fair for people who looked like me.
Our Right to exist was won by bloodshed. Now, Races that aren’t White, the Elderly, Sick and Poor are targets again; by the same rich racist bigots who lost the fight against Civil Rights 58 yrs ago.

brendancalling.bsky.social•1 day ago

Well, put it this way. My kid is a dual US/Canada citizen, and also transgender. She’s allowed her US passport to expire and now refuses to enter the US due to Trump/Musk/Project2025. Already working on GTFO, because I miss my kid.

munchkinpr.bsky.social•2 days ago

I spend winters in beautiful Honduras. But l have not felt joy or optimism since Nov 5th. Being witness to the downfall of America has had a mental and emotional toll. Sadly even a change in location has not given me piece of mind.

bigpoison.bsky.social•2 days ago

Misspelled “immigrant.”

aime2smile.bsky.social•2 days ago

It was bad enough the first round when 45’s presence in our White House poisoned the nation. Now it has been like the toxicity from “Agent Orange” is blowing all around the earth and being set ablaze with flaming bombs of ignorance, incompetence and intolerance. 💔

grace143so.bsky.social•2 days ago

This is exactly how I’m feeling. I hate it.
I am here fighting but as a lesbian also watching closely.
I am learning how to immigrate to Portugal in case it truly looks like Gilead is coming.

hollyjog.bsky.social•2 days ago

I’ve had genuine panic attacks because I don’t have coping mechanisms for my country morphing into something so far removed from the level of peace and security I grew up with. I miss boring news and kindness so, so much.

averagehoser.bsky.social•2 days ago

Going through the exact same thing.

eaglespirit8.bsky.social•2 days ago

No place to hide, threatening everything, so I stand and fight

taylorcollins.bsky.social•2 days ago

As one of the minor female spokesMAN…welcome to my world…since overturn of Roe, this is like a badly directed B Movie with a high school cast. Or Stepford Wives comes to mind followed by the Handmaid’s Tale, Brave New World, 1984, Animal Farm, the concubine hacked into twelve pieces & Lot’s wife…

jcliff24.bsky.social•2 days ago

I keep seeing scenes from some of my favorite dystopian sci-fi flicks. Makes me wonder why they are trying so hard to become masters of a wasteland. Won’t they just end up cannibalizing each other?

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