Brit Expats In The USA Facing Ethical Choices

Is now the time for UK expats living and working in the USA to depart in disgust?

British expatriate professionals living and working in the USA are facing a dilemma – staying in their jobs and ignoring the creeping totalitarianism or obeying their consciences and getting out before things get even worse.For decades, Britons have headed for the USA’s massive cities for work opportunities or to start businesses, comfortable with the fact that America and the UK work along the same lines and are long-term allies. Nowadays, it’s very different due to the Trump presidency, and fair-minded expats are feeling unethical at best for funding the present government via their tax dollars. Voting with their feet is becoming the correct but somewhat unpopular reaction as Brits are also incomers along with those suffering from the excesses of the present regime.

New York’s British expat community is huge, with the vast majority loving the lifestyle, the culture, the food and the business opportunities, but it’s the word ‘expat’ which defines them. Double standards are always applied to human migration by those looking to profit from it, with the dehumanising words ‘migrant’ and ‘immigrant’ applied solely to new arrivals not blessed with the choice of living where they please or chasing opportunities in a way common in the USA many decades ago. Those who arrived in America before WWII brought their families along and contributed to America’s proud boast of being the home of the free. Tell that to the parents of 2,000 children incarcerated just this side of the Mexican border and they’d likely not believe it.

It’s true that British expats in the States are regarded as the ‘right kind’ of immigrants, hence the label ‘expat’. But, if truth be told, America isn’t the destination it used to be, ethical considerations aside. If you’re very rich or very desperate, it’s an acceptable choice, but for the rest it’s a shadow of its former self. Being poor or sick can be a death sentence due to the inequitable healthcare system and, especially if you’ve kids at school, the inalienable right of every single citizen to bear as many guns as he or she wants keeps many Brits on the edge of nervous breakdowns. Years ago, the USA was lauded as the land of opportunity but, sad to say, the American dream is now dead and rotting, especially for British expats with more than a shred of concern for humanity.