“It’s not like you can just up and move”
yes, you can.
you need a few hundred bucks and a job that makes you $500 a month(there are many), or if you’re fine with teaching fundamental English a few hours a week, you don’t need any savings.
with that much, you can live at the level you’re living in the US right now or far above it, and then build off of there pursuing what you’re interested in because you don’t have any financial stressors.
“There’s also the little issue of not being a citizen wherever you go”
this is far more of a benefit than a liability.
do you mean a positive issue? I can’t really think of any liabilities of being a non-citizen.
“culture shock”
“culture shock” is an absurd debilitating elitist promise and symptom of jingoism.
it is a flimsy term with laughable connotations.
“you all ride bikes? but I’m used to a car, im so confuuused!?”
this is like saying people should never exercise because they might hurt themselves.
or that people should never eat food because they might choke.
Americans get “culture shock” because they are taught to be afraid of non-american cultures.
"oh no. chopsticks. however, will I overcome this barrier? "
“It’s no wonder people stay.”
it is truly a wonder how much Americans complain about their shitty, expensive livelihoods ( rightly so), and how much they’re getting screwed over by the education, employment, healthcare systems in the US and can’t afford to live, but absolutely refuse to engage with the simplest alternative.
in the same breath condemning their government and the systems that abuse them, they haughtily defend that abuse.
" what am I going to do, leave my abuser?"
Yes, that would be a savvy alternative to being abused.
You know what? Instead of just down voting you, imma explain. You highlighted exactly why people do not understand abuse.
Sure, leaving your abuser is the obvious answer. But the ability to leave your abuser is much more complex. If you were being savagely beat, but if you left your child starts to get beat, and they have restricted access to your child, how do you leave then?
Do you think victims want to keep being abused? No. Many times they can’t find an escape because so many things are controlled by there abuser. Money, communication, social lives, health. People dont leave countries for the exact same reasons. A lot of us know one language, and do not have enough time to learn another. What about those of us who have to take medication daily? How am I supposed to get that medication across the border and find a doctor to prescribe it. Hell, how do I even know if the medicine I take is available in that country? Research it? Can’t. Don’t have the time.
Critical thinking requires you to test aspects supporting and dissenting from your original understanding. Instead of “why x reasons won’t prevent you” in this scenario, find a single reason that could.
I can guarantee you that there is a long complex list of reasons why people are unable to leave the abuser just like they are unable to leave a country.
“Sure, leaving your abuser is the obvious answer. But the ability to leave your abuser is much more complex.”
I didn’t say it was the obvious answer, you did.
I said it was the savvy alternative.
I also didn’t say it was easy.
but I understand why you got confused, lots of people make the same assumptions you have.
as for your travel questions:
“What about those of us who have to take medication daily?”
you go to a hospital or pharmacy and get the medication.
If you are lucky enough to speak English, you’ll have no trouble with this.
“How am I supposed to get that medication across the border and find a doctor to prescribe it?”
I would get the medication locally, but if you want or need to take it with you:
to get the medication across a border, fill out a small index card stating the medication and its purpose.
If you want the doctor to prescribe it, if that is necessary, you go to a hospital or a pharmacy.
“how do I even know if the medicine I take is available in that country?”
If it is available in your country, it is available in other countries.
“Don’t have the time.”
then you don’t have this non-problem you are hoping is an issue.
people who need medication have the time to get the proper medication, which is usually much cheaper and easier to do in other countries because most countries have working health care systems.
“Critical thinking requires you to test aspects supporting and dissenting from your original understanding.”
your misunderstanding of alternative = risk is a very common fear-based symptom of hermetic monocultures.
mint ice cream is an alternative to strawberry ice cream.
that does not make mint ice cream significantly more risky or dangerous than strawberry ice cream, it is simply an alternative that functions the same way.
How would someone with zero savings move to another country? Most have every barriers of highly skilled, unfilled professions. Like who move from extremely underprivileged nations to extremely wealthy nations often end up surrendering passport and other critical documents to their employers and end up severely mentally and physically abused, sexually abused, trafficked. How would an older person even pay for required documents, let alone a living space, food, utilities, especially being monolingual?
So now we’re starting down the road of throwing out logical fallacies to support your argument? Why don’t you just go do something else. Arguing with people here with long winded responses isn’t going to sway anybody anyway.
If you want the doctor to prescribe it, if that is necessary, you go to a hospital or a pharmacy.
You can just walk into any hospital and a doctor will have time to see you and prescribe a medication for you? Or you can just walk into any pharmacy and get a medication without a prescription? Forgive me if I’m skeptical. What country are you describing?
If it is available in your country, it is available in other countries.
While this is generally true, it is not universally true for all medications. Where a specific medication is not available there generally will be similar/suitable alternatives (at least, in a country with a developed healthcare system), but a lay person won’t know what those are and will require professional guidance, meaning finding a doctor and waiting for an appointment. During which time you may well run out of your medication.
people who need medication have the time to get the proper medication, […]
This take suggests a lack of perspective on chronic/debilitating illnesses as well as poverty. I hope you never have to experience either. I don’t know about wherever you’re from, but in the US it is not uncommon for people to have to work 2-3 jobs just to survive and taking time off for going to a doctor and pharmacy could mean the difference on making enough to pay rent this month. Even if taking time off is a real option, for people struggling to secure basic survival needs (i.e. food/shelter), it leaves little cognitive space for more abstract/complex concerns. It may be conceptually simple to obtain healthcare, but in practice it can be anything but simple even if the healthcare system itself isn’t broken. I am fortunate enough to make a living with only one job but I work the same hours that most doctors’ offices are open, which means taking time off work every time I or my offspring require care, which can quickly eat through paid leave time and isn’t exactly conducive to success in America’s abusive work culture.
Healthcare in whereever you are from may well be more functional than in the US, but I really can’t fathom that it’s as trivial as you imply for someone who requires medications or other ongoing treatment to simply arrive and get the care they need without potentially problematic delay.
