What If People Start to Leave the U.S.?

The United States, we’ve been warned, has piled up a dangerous amount of public debt. The fear is that at some point, the bond market will cut us off, yields will skyrocket and the government will no longer be able to finance its deficits.

The problem with this idea is that we haven’t experienced anything close to it yet. Of course, I’m not saying it can’t or won’t happen. I’m merely pointing out that the more debt we pile on, the lower interest rates seem to go.

So at what point, exactly, will trouble start? Instead of looking for an economic stat, I think we should instead worry about a social stat. More specifically, it will truly be time to worry when we see the beginnings of emigration—if there’s a noticeable movement of young people and more entrepreneurial-minded citizens leaving the United States.

America is an exception to most countries in the world in that it has never experienced, to my knowledge, a large migration of people out of the country. When my ancestors left Ireland 170 years ago, that country was far larger than it is today. The idea of a shrinking population is nearly unthinkable to Americans. We’ve always gotten bigger. But could we one day see Americans pull up roots and move out? I’m not even speaking of a mass movement, but at least a noticeable one.

The question boils down to asking, “What are the benefits of American citizenship?” Will some people believe that the idea has been so diluted that it’s not worth the bother? The total debt works out to roughly $50,000 per head. Surely some young family must wonder why they should stay here and have a child who will be born owing so much, especially when they feel they won’t see the benefits of it.

Please understand, I’m not saying that I feel this way, nor am I advocating it. I’m just saying that at some point will enough Americans wonder what’s the point in holding American citizenship anyway? Not all of our fellow citizens are so warm-hearted. They must feel that the government does them little good by getting involved in foreign wars with ungrateful nations, wasting taxpayer money on foreign aid and welfare and allowing large-scale illegal immigration. What’s the benefit of being an American?

The U.S. has experienced large waves of internal migration. Many Okies packed up and headed for California during the Dust Bowl. Large numbers of African Americans left the rural South for the urban North. These weren’t small movements so the participants must have understood the basic math involved—the benefits of where they were headed far outweighed the negatives if they stayed. So what are the factors in play today?

Posted by on June 25th, 2012 at 11:31 am


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