Enterprising young Americans should prepare to leave.

Definitions In this debate, by "prepare to leave" I mean take positive steps that would support temporary emigration to another country. These might include learning a foreign language, studying the customs and laws of another country, spending a year or s summer in another country, following foreign blogs and online news sources, and in general contemplating the ramifications of a move. By "enterprising" I mean, "desirous of substantial accomplishment." That includes making a fortune, but it also includes having an impact by, say, teaching By "young" I mean, for the sake of the debate, "under age 35." Moreover, "prepare to leave" does not me "should leave." whether or not one should leave depends upon personal circumstances that are unpredictable. A fortuitous opportunity or some family circumstances may emerge as paramount. I am arguing that significant effort should be put into activities that would facilitate leaving. 1. There is a substantial threat of creeping mediocrity At one time, until relatively recently, someone who wanted to take risks in the hope of making a mark on the world would come to the United States. There was a strong flow of Europeans to the United States, for example, of entrepreneurs who wanted to start companies or prosper in business. That was not mainly a consequence of their home countries being terrible places; it was a consequence of the creeping ossification of the nanny state, in which "unsafe" choices were systematically removed from society in favor of consensus mediocrity. Some years ago, a young Frenchman was interviewed upon the occasion of his having become a U.S. citizen. He made a number of comments about the general lack of sophistication and maturity of his new county. "So why did you become a citizen?" "I first came here n vacation and was hitchhiking across Texas. An Army tank appeared out of the hills and stopped by me. The National Guard guys asked me where I was going. When I told them, they said, 'Jump on, we'll give you a ride.' I rode across Texas on the front of the tank. That was why I decided to come here." A German general was interviewed by an American historian. "In WWII, the Germans have much better soldiers. So why did the Americans win?" The general replies, "War is chaos. Americans practice this every day." I an not worried that the U.S. is going to collapse into an authoritarian socialist state. The pendulum will probably swing back towards capitalism. My concern is the seemingly inevitable advance of the nanny state, with every problem being a government problem that must have a consensus solution. The specter is mediocrity, not disaster. 2. There is some threat of disaster That said, disaster cannot be entirely ruled out. We could plunge into the financial ruin of unbounded spending on government benefits, while killing the enterprises that generate all the wealth. In that less likely event, having prepared to bail would have been very wise. 3. There is historical precedent When the British Empire was going strong, the enterprising left Britain for the risks and rewards of the Colonies. Many returned in later life to live out their days in the quiet of the mother country. That is the pattern I am advocating as something worth preparing for. The places with opportunities include China, India, Brazil, and some of the newly-freed countries of Eastern Europe, for example. Maybe Australia, Taiwan, or South Korea. In places that are not so ripe with opportunity, say Japan, at least one can live in the society with the detachment of a foreigner. That's better than being punished with ever-embracing grip of the collective as one's own country bogs down. 4. The downside is minimal Preparing to leave is investing effort to cover a bet on the future. It's work, but the downside is that the person learns a lot about alternatives to American society. That's not a bad thing in itself. For these reasons the resolution is affirmed. Young people should start preparing now.