Quote:
Originally Posted by Cynthetiq
And see you're willing to make that concious choice. You've stated there are drawbacks to living in Iceland. Would you stay there because the healthcare is what it is?
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No, I am *able* to make that choice, by virtue of our economic circumstances. Honestly, no, we wouldn't stay in Iceland... but I'm not seriously ill or pregnant, nor do we have kids yet. If any of those things were different, I think we might consider staying at least long enough to have the state take care of us--but we have the luxury of that choice, with several passports between us. If I were an immigrant from a poor region in Thailand, with a choice between my home nation that completely ignored my health care needs (Thailand) compared to living in a cold, unfriendly nation who took care of all of them (Iceland), you'd better believe that I'd make the sacrifice to move to Iceland and stay as long as I could, no matter how hard it was.
On the other hand, because I have a European passport, if I felt more at home living in Norway, Sweden, or another of the countries that take the best care of their citizens (unconditionally)--yes, I would want to live there instead of Iceland, because their people and weather are infinitely better than here. The reason why we don't feel obligated to live in Europe for the rest of our lives, however, is because ktspktsp and I are lucky enough to not have to worry too much about those things--health care and all the rest. We can move back to the US because we'll be in a position to not have to worry about those things in the future. We're lucky, and we are very aware of that fact. If we were to become not so lucky in the future, and we were in dire need of health care--you better believe I would take advantage of my Icelandic passport and come back here. I am a citizen, and no questions are asked.
I don't blame anyone who immigrates away from a poor country because it doesn't take care of them, and wants to come to a country that will care for them--it's human nature, if you have no other choices open to you. We all want to maximize our portfolios to avoid risk. For many people, the only way they can do that is by immigrating, since their social capital is much more substantial than their financial capital.