On Nov. 3rd, 2004, we all heard that hackneyed phrase, and many of us even said it: “That's it; I'm moving to Canada.” Even I made the threat, though without any intention of following through.  Still, with this administration in office, you gotta admit that hanging in the great white north, where same-sex marriage is legal and health care is universal, seems pretty damn appealing (and don’t you just love the Mounties and their red uniforms?). 

But in all serious, it seems more Americans have been following through on that claim than ever before.  According to an ABC News report,

The number of U.S. citizens who moved to Canada last year hit a 30-year high, with a 20 percent increase over the previous year and almost double the number who moved in 2000. In 2006, 10,942 Americans went to Canada, compared with 9,262 in 2005 and 5,828 in 2000, according to a survey by the Association for Canadian Studies.

Funny how those dates coincide with the years Bush has been in office…

Now in all fairness, the number of Canadians moving to the U.S. is still greater, but these numbers are still telling.  The reasons behind most Americans’ decision to cross the border are pretty predictable, and it’s disheartening to know that we’re losing some of our brightest citizens.  As Jack Jedwab, the association's executive director told ABC News,

"Those who are coming have the highest level of education — these aren't people who can't get a job in the states," he explains. "They're coming because many of them don't like the politics, the Iraq War and the security situation in the U.S. By comparison, Canada is a tension-free place. People feel safer."

Does this mean that these ex-patriates don’t love their country?  Quite the contrary, says Tom Kertes, who moved to Toronto from Seattle in April.  In fact, he told ABC that the voluntary change of location has made him “a nationalist,” and that he keeps an American flag on the wall at home.  

Right.

At the risk of not sounding like a progressive, I’m gonna go out there and say that leaving the country because you believe the government is headed in the wrong direction is one of the most unpatriotic things you can do.  I’m not talking about draft-dodging or anything where your quality of life is suffering because of your continued presence in the U.S.  But if you bounce for purely ideological reasons, like disagreeing with the Iraq war, or the administration’s policy on torture or abortion or domestic spying or whatever, you are as poor a citizen as those who you think are taking this country in the wrong direction.  And here’s why. 

If the people who most fervently disagree with this administration aren’t willing to stay here and metaphorically fight the good fight by making their voices heard, supporting the politicians who share their views, and otherwise civically engaging themselves in our political system, who on earth is supposed to balance the government out?  Dissent is the most important element of a democracy, but you must be present in order to take part in it.

I’m thoroughly aware that 11,000 people don’t make up the entire progressive movement.  However, that’s 11,000 votes that aren’t going to be cast, 11,000 constituent letters that might’ve but now will never be written, 11,000…you get the idea. 

Feel free to disagree, but extenuating circumstances notwithstanding, if you really love your country you should stick around and do what you can to make it the country you believe it should be as opposed to throwing up your hands and leaving.