Should I leave the country?

Hey guys, i'm new to ATS and i need some of your opinions. Recently i was given the chance to do my junior year of high school abroad in Australia. This trip would have me gone from mid-December until next fall. Recently i heard a man named Lindsey Williams speak of how oil will drop to 50$ a barrel and how the country will be thrust into chaos (very interesting video), i've also read about someone predicting a major tsunami to devastate the east coast (which would deeply affect me), there are also many other scenarios which you guys have probably read of already. I'm also frightened because we already know either Barack Obama or John Mccain will be in office, and everyone knows Ron Paul was our last hope. So my question to you is with the next 12 months being potentially crazy should i be selfish and take this to chance to seek refuge in Australia?

reply to post by rudy23


In about 10 years, I am going to live in Sydney and hopefully stay there for the rest of my days. The place is heaven on earth for me, personally.

But just leaving for the next 12 months? Well you'll be coming back to whatever crap we're going through anyway so it shouldn't make a difference.

Go if its good for your education. If it doesn't matter, plan a vacation in a few years after you graduate.

while some of these things may happen i dont think you should alter your life plans because of them. sometimes stuff ends up diffrent then people exspect. im in school too, and while i personally feel our economy is about to collapse im not dropping out. when i joined ATS people were believing what john Titor said about a civil war in america in 2006. well im glad i didnt get too freaked out because of that.

just do what youd do normally and see what happens. something might suprise all of us.

reply to post by rudy23


Don't leave for the wrong reasons.
If you are leaving for the experience and the education, Go!
Avoiding a mess should be the last reason to leave.

Is this the American mentality Just give up and move. Blame it on anything but yourself. Go ahead and move if you want to. If it's your dream then go for it. To bad people didn't have enough dream to stick it out and make a change. I've heard it from talk show host, "who by the way make millions to talk", say that they have their escape plan ready. If it wasn't for our military this country would be already a waste land. So much for freedom and a will to make that freedom a reality. Please leave the country if you want to, because you have the freedom to do so. The sad thing is that you'll have the freedom to come back when things get better. Good luck.

I won't advise you. You have to decide your fate along with the rest of us.

We left the U.S. 14 years ago, scrapped and scraped and made a new life. I've not regretted a moment. I've forgotten more that you might have have absorbed (that's probably old-person BS, but it sounded good ), but you, my friend will be the teacher for all of us that have forgotten how to learn. You are the present and the future.

Best of luck to you. It's a strange ol' world out there. Reach for it.


[edit to clarify the old-person BS]


[edit on 30-7-2008 by argentus]

I have to chime in long enough to agree with everyone else on this. No one knows what will happen tomorrow, so make the best of today. If this is a great educational opportunity, little in life is more important than knowledge.

Follow your heart, with your eyes wide open. It will lead you along your path, and your eyes will show you obstacles in your path. Do not follow the world, for it wanders in circles like a drunken sailor. Do not follow the words of men, for they are clues to their own path, not yours.

May you find peace and happiness in your decision, whatever it may be.

TheRedneck

Originally posted by TheRedneck
I have to chime in long enough to agree with everyone else on this. No one knows what will happen tomorrow, so make the best of today. If this is a great educational opportunity, little in life is more important than knowledge.

Follow your heart, with your eyes wide open. It will lead you along your path, and your eyes will show you obstacles in your path. Do not follow the world, for it wanders in circles like a drunken sailor. Do not follow the words of men, for they are clues to their own path, not yours.

May you find peace and happiness in your decision, whatever it may be.

TheRedneck

Thank you Mr. redneck ive remembered many of ur responses from different threads ive read because some were really good and its a honor to have you respond in my thread

Australia is a fine place to be, and if it's for your better education go for it. However you might want to ask yourself if you would rather not stay and at least try to make things better in the US. There is no right answer, only personal preference. It's up to you and best of luck.

pfft who says we want ya ? j/k

your home will more than likley still be the same place you left when you get home (if you still want to go home) the world is a big place and you should take every opportunity that comes knocking on your door.

good luck and if you come down this way welcome

You only live once. How many times do you get the chance to spend many months studying in Australia? Not many.

I know I am a bit off topic but whatever: If you want to go, and have the chance...what are you waiting for; so you can get locked into a job and maybe take a weeks vacation in an over priced hotel eating at tourist shops when you are 47?

Go damnit!

I moved from Kentucky to Sydney in July of 2001, and I feel my decision to do so was the best thing I could have done at the time. I was straight out of college, met a girl online (who already had established a career here) who then I married, and well the rest is history.

The move had both good & bad aspects, as any major life decision would. I miss my family, my friends, and I sometimes think where I would be or what I would be doing if I had not taken this path. The only deep regret I have is that I didn't spend more time with my Grandfather over the last 7 years of his life.

The good aspects are very good indeed, and I wouldn't change a thing about life over here. The only complaint I have is that it's freakin' sunny here every day. It might rain for 2 days and then be the same sunny weather for 2 months straight. Trust me, it sounds like I'm whining, but you never know how much you love the rain & thunderstorms until they become a rarity. If you want blue skies, we have plenty here.

Having lived abroad now for some time, I've been able to view what the U.S. has been experiencing through very different eyes. I watched 9-11 on Aussie TV. I travel a few times each year back to America, and I have experienced many of the new headaches and hassles of security, immigration, and customs. Also given that my wife is of Arabic ethnicity, I have witnessed her being pulled aside all too often for 'random checks' and 'pat-downs.'

Bush has been an utter embarrassment, and nearly everyone I know here is embarrassed for him and for America. It's really gone down the tubes since I left, and I sometimes feel a sense of dread re-entering the country. I think this is quite unfair to feel this way when coming home. Homecomings should be happy, don't you think?

As for your deciding about whether to leave or stay, nothing I can say will (or should) affect your decision. Australia is a great place...a beautiful place. But there is good and bad wherever you go.

I don't blame you for feeling this way, the world now makes you question your safety no matter where you are. Anytime I travel anywhere I try and weigh my options and risks without blowing everything out of proportion.

Leave for the experience and the opportunity to look upon your home with a different point of view. It's kind of like going to the Moon and looking back at Earth. You feel deep pride and sorrow simultaneously. There's a bigger picture to be seen of what's going on in the world, and you now have that opportunity - take it.

I have to agree with Solarskye on this one. Don't run because of fear, go only for your education. Only cowards die in shame

I'll second, third, fourth....(you get the point) what others have said:

Absolutely. Do it.

Actually, I say do it REGARDLESS of the reasons. If this is for a year of high school, your reason for doing it won't really matter in 5+ years. I'll give you the same advice someone once gave me when I was about your age: your ideology, motives, and reasoning will change dramatically in 5 years, and then change again 5 years after that.

You're young. Do it just because it will be new and exciting and a fresh perspective.

reply to post by rudy23


Is that a pic of Abbie Hoffman?

To answer your question...YES!

Get ot there and see the world while you can. you are young and have nothing holding you back. Go for it.

I hear Australians are great people and very welcoming.

Go and enjoy it! The best tours I had while active duty were overseas, seeing new lands and cultures. Your home will still be there when you return.

You have what equates to an open cell-door in the prison of american citizenship.

GO! Don´t look back!

Find yourself a nice aussy girl (or boy) and settle in a small town somewhere.

I have a different view then some of the others but yet still the same. If you going to go for formal education by all means take the chance. That's how its the same as the others.

Now for my slant on it. If you believe for one second that some or all of these things are going to happen, stick it out here. You cant ask for a better education then rebuilding a country.

Unless you go live in a remote rural area or a non-Western nation (like Russia or China), all attempts to move away will be futile. If the US collapses, Australia and Western-Europe will soon follow or turn into Orwellian hellholes that make Hitler's concentration camps seem like summer camp.

reply to post by rudy23


Forget all that heavy stuff, you are young and should enjoy life to the fullest while you can. Go for it. My niece spent a semester in Japan and in December she is going to Ireland as an exchange student. What an opportunity you have been given!!