Let me point out, due to my life’s circumstances I live outside of the US, and probably won’t be returning to live there although I grew up as an American and only took advantage of my British citizenship in my late 20s (have been here in Blighty since 1998.)

I was ignorant, really, of the tribute the USG demands in terms of forms (especially as I own a small business here).

I must say, though, despite all the messed up things about political life in the UK, I feel much freer as a single nationality Brit than I did as dual nationality British-American.

Our relationship, for the most part, with people like the police and other representatives of HMG is much more benign than that imposed upon Americans by the representatives of their government. And I speak from deep experience of both.

I have seen interactions here between the public and the police end in light-hearted banter, whereas similar instances in the States would end up with the “perp” on the ground getting beaten for resisting arrest. (What that does for general law and order, however, one may make one’s own conclusions.)

And dealing with HMRC is sooooo much easier than dealing with the IRS.

It seems more and more, in the US, since I left in ’95 , the relationship between citizen and state has reversed polarities so that the citizen exists at the sufferance of the state rather than the other way around. (hell, maybe it was always thus!)

So if people are looking to the US for Galt’s Gulch, I don’t think they will find it there.

As I recently discovered Doug Casey’s musings, I am coming to think that maybe places where corruption runs rampant are the only places where true freedom lies.

But for now, the rule of law still applies – for most things – in the UK, but no longer seems to do in the US.

The Tea Party is a great start, but it takes real backbreaking effort to keep it moving. This is one reason why I revere Michele Bachmann: She has sheer guts, and she can do book-larnin’.

2. Most on the “Right” buy into many of the propositions that have enabled this whole mess. As far as I can see, the States’ adopting Winner-Take-All is one of those. It means, for instance, that downstate Illinoisans (means those not denizens of Cook County and some of the so-called Collar Counties) have effectively no say in the Presidential vote. Of course, the blade would cut the other way in the case of a “Red” state.

3. More and more people even on the “Intellectual Right” seem to be in favor of Direct Democracy, even as they finish their latest rant against the Evil of Democracy. Perhaps I misunderstand the posish, but that’s what I make of all the sniping at Representative Democracy.

Political, like military and Foreign Affairs strategy, is extremely difficult. It seems to me it’s a Chaotic System, like the fluid dynamics and thermodynamics of the atmosphere.

More and more I come to think that Jefferson was right about “nourishing the Tree of Liberty with the Blood of Tyrants.”

More and more it seems to me that the Last Hope is the UK, and the folks Down Under.

If they can solve the foregoing problems somehow.

Yes indeed. This is why I often argue that it is US nationals who best fit the description ‘subjects’ rather than ‘citizens’, something I have long pointed out here.

In theory at least, We The People are doing it to ourselves. Subjects have their chains slapped on them from on high with no say in the matter. We choose to put on the chains.

That’s a good idea. I’ll look into it.

If you want to see really scary re: the US, look up FATCA…

Yes indeed. This is why I often argue that it is US nationals who best fit the description ‘subjects’ rather than ‘citizens’, something I have long pointed out here.

As the only country in the world besides Eritrea that taxes its citizens abroad, it is now demanding foreign financial institutions report on the doings inside the accounts of US Persons (this can be US citizens living abroad, people with green cards, family members, etc., whether they are citizens of other countries or not)

Of course this means breaking data protection laws, so UK.gov got the banks off the hook by agreeing to let the banks collect the data and let HMRC give it to the IRS.

A pernicious, evil piece of legislation, and one which was the final straw for the maintenance of my US Citizenship (having to pay a tax lawyer a few thousand bucks every year so he can tell the IRS I owe no money.) So, ironically, I am now only a British subject.

I was ignorant of this.

A lot less difficult to get into than Guernsey and Jersey (and the houses are a lot cheaper) and only an hour or so by air to London or Dublin from Castletown.

We haven’t even gotten into state, county, local, and property taxes yet and the headache that comes with being in one state, working in another, and owning property somewhere else.

In some ways I think low tax is a bit like the old problem with Mutual Funds/ Unit trusts. Often a trust would outperform the pack for a year or two and lots more people would invest in it, but afterwards it would perform the same as everyone else, or underperform. Similarly, if you move somewhere with low taxes it’s often a transitional thing, and it time the taxes move back to being more in-line with the average for the region. Of course, in Ireland it happened because of the huge bank guarantee mistake, but I think it would have happened sooner or later anyway. If the bank bailout hadn’t have happened probably something like a free-spending left-wing government would have. There’s reversion to the mean everywhere.