UPDATE: 14 March 2004
The Reluctant Roamer
"The mind
is in its own place, and in itself can make a Heaven of Hell, a Hell of Heaven."
- Johann
Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832)
German poet and philosopher
How far would things have to go before you would be willing to go to a foreign country and start over from scratch? How hard would it be to leave behind all your material possessions and the people and places you know and love? Could you do it? Read what my friends had to say.
For most Americans, the thought of being forced from our homeland is beyond conception - we don't give it a moment's consideration. We expect to live in relative peace - to enjoy life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. And really, we are not unique in that way. Most people around the world expect to live life on their own terms - but life can be full of surprises. Sometimes I think about October 1938, when the Nazis invaded Poland. It's not like the Poles saw it coming and all had their bags packed with their tickets and passports handy. So I have to ask myself whether we, too, could be caught off guard.
Is America insurmountable? Why think about life as a refugee at all? It's not like the United States is going to topple over tomorrow. We're in a secure position - economically and politically. But for the sake of argument, let's just stop to consider a few things...
A word on Empires and Superpowers... The Roman Empire lasted 503 years. Now all that's left of the empire is Italy - great food, amazing art museums and architecture, but not exactly a superpower. The Hapsburgs (Austro-Hungarian Empire) dominated central Europe for almost 700 years! Their motto was Austria Est Imperare Orbi Universo... Austria was destined to rule the world. Well, it all ended when the murder of Franz Ferdinand kicked off World War I. The Austrians were certainly not expecting to lose their imperial status and be invaded and occupied by the Germans and the Russians - all within a mere 30 years - but that's what happened. So much for ruling the world. When World War II began, Great Britain was the largest empire the world had ever known - and had held a place of great status for hundreds of years. They occupied so many nations around the world that it was always daytime somewhere in the British Empire. The Brits expected to continue to enjoy that wealth and prominence and were no doubt quite shocked to find Nazi bombs dropping all over London. World War II marked the end of the empire, even though they won the war. When we entered World War II in 1941, the United States had the 18th strongest military in the world. In other words, we were nobody on the global scene. Following the allied victory in World War II, the United States was recognized as a superpower for the first time and has enjoyed 57 years of political dominance. The Soviet Union was allied with the US during World War II and became a rival superpower after the war. Their superpower status lasted less than 50 years.
I have friends who fled from Lebanon during the civil war and began new lives in Austria. They left behind a beautiful home, a very comfortable lifestyle, and all their family and friends to begin again in a new country, a new culture, a new language. They did it so their kids wouldn't wake up at night listening to the sound of gunfire in the street. A lot of people left Europe during World War II for the same reasons. Sometimes it meant saying goodbye to family and friends forever. It's really awful to even imagine.
Additional reading:
www.hapsburg.com
www.britishempire.co.uk
www.roman-empire.net
www.skalman.nu/soviet