It's a common conversation among certain circles of my friends: She said, "We're trying to decide where to move, because things just keep getting worse in this country. We lived in Canada for a while, but their citizenship requires are so stringent. And New Zealand is even worse . . ."
I replied, as I usually do, "Have you thought about South Africa?"
"Oh, I wouldn't want to live there," she said. "It has too many problems."
Here's the thing I don't understand: If you've decided to leave one of the oldest and strongest democracies in the world, simply because it's been headed in the wrong direction for five years, then why not choose a young democracy that's headed in the right direction?
South Africa isn't nearly perfect, but it's certainly making positive headway. It's Truth and Reconciliation Commission is a model for how to move beyond ethnic divisions and hatred. It was the first country to write protections for gay people into it's constitution. When South Africa's president tried to claim AIDS was caused by antiretroviral drugs and not by HIV, the free press jumped all over him without fear of retribution. The South African economy has a long way to go — having been devastated by a low-level civil war and the onslaught of AIDS — but it gets stronger every year. This is the perfect place for an idealistic believer in democracy to live and make a difference!
I say, if you're going to give up the freedoms and privileges of the United States (freedoms and privileges most countries can only dream of achieving) in order to make a political statement about King George, then make a real statement. Don't wimp out and move to Canada or New Zealand. Move to South Africa, instead.