Last November, some of you may remember hearing from people you know who were so distraught by the outcome of the election that they were thinking about expatriating to a country with a more progressive population, like say New Zealand.
The Seattle P-I ran this story in November 2004. Excerpt:
Lori, who lives in Tacoma and wishes to be anonymous, said she and her husband and child plan to move to New Zealand and are 50 percent motivated by politics here.
“The current administration heightened our feelings, and the erosion of civil rights and the capitalistic, consumerist culture, which is difficult not to participate in,” she said.
The couple applied to become permanent residents of New Zealand in 2002 and received approval five months ago. Now, they’re taking the steps to immigrate to a place they believe offers a slower pace, is less divisive, and a has greater social net.
New Zealand was one of the countries on my short list too, but according to this report by Barry Lynn, of Americans United for the Separation of Church & State, they are starting to have some of the same problems we have here.
Having now returned from the South Pacific, I can say that New Zealand appears to be just about as deeply politically divided as the United States. The national election was held the last full day we were visiting and it appeared that the more liberal parties had garnered just about 51 percent of the seats in parliament.
What is also interesting is that religious influence on politics seems to be growing there, reflecting some of the same unhealthy tendencies of the United States. Imagine my surprise one morning to see the following headline in the The Dominion Post, the major paper in the capital of Wellington: “WE’RE DOING GOD’S WORK: Christian Sect Tells of Role in Smears Against Labour and the Greens.”
The story was disturbingly familiar. Religion and politics were mixed in a partisan political campaign, with misinformation being spread about progressive politicians. Could Jerry Falwell have relocated? As it turns out, the aforementioned “sect” is called the Exclusive Brethren, and seven of its top leaders had formed a front group that paid for $500,000 worth of fliers claiming that the current government was responsible for radical moral decline, including support for “euthanasia” and laws that would put pastors “in prison for reading the Bible.”
Hmmm… I wonder how Lori is doing now…
Sweden anyone?
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