You know, from time to time, I’ve entertained leaving the US, but I’ve never seriously considered it until I read this.
Right out of the Soviet Union.
Problem is, where do I go??
Thailand?
Considering that the USA has the highest corporate tax in the world, if you are a business owner then you can pick any country and be better off.
Individual taxes vary, of course. Some people don't need to pay taxes - if they are "officially" poor. That means that they avoid banks and pay with cash. I know at least one such person.
There are other criteria, naturally - stability, safety, acceptance, availability of jobs, cost of living. You could go to Canada, or to Central/South America (modulo Mexico.) Perhaps New Zealand is peaceful enough, though I heard weather there is not always pleasant. Australia is a possibility, though you need to have high tolerance for snakes and spiders. Europe is a bad destination now, except maybe a few northern countries. Russia or China are a possibility if you are willing to pay bribes. East Asia has a few decent countries. Chances of getting into Japan are, I'd think, pretty low. In any of these cases you'd need a work permit, which is not a guaranteed affair short of marrying a local.
If I were to theorize, I'd say that Russia and China, and perhaps India, are today the most attractive destinations for a young, aggressive capitalist. This is because these countries recently shifted out of socialism (a very mild form of it in case of India,) and they are not likely to go back any time soon. The memories of empty shelves in Soviet stores are still too vivid. These countries are on the leading edge of the cycle, just like the USA was a hundred years ago. Everything is possible, everything is permitted - if you pay the right people. It's not a Wild West, but pretty close. The mature society of the USA is currently on the trailing edge of the cycle, encumbered with red tape, stifled by a huge and ineffective government, tangled in a web of laws that nobody can possibly know, and mired in internal conflicts that are tearing the country apart on racial and political grounds.
In general, more and more people start thinking about such things. The government needs more money, and this trend will never stop on its own. If you are willing to give 1/3 of your earnings to the government, in 5 or 10 years it will be 1/2, and then 2/3 ... in the end you will be working for the government 100% of your time, and the government will be paying you subsistence money to buy food at government-owned stores. Just like it was in USSR.
If that happens then there will be an exodus of people from the USA - and the USA will immediately put a stop to it, one way or another. Those who manage to escape will be competing for a limited number of jobs in foreign countries. Early escapees will have it easier. If you wait longer you only lose more money to IRS, and you become older too (and less competitive on the labor market.)
Some people say they will stay and fight. It is a possibility only if there is anything tangible to fight. However as things are, the only enemy that needs to be fought resides in minds of people. People need to embrace certain qualities of a free man - skills, knowledge, intelligence, abilities, willingness to do hard work, and pride. People need to say "no" to the oppressive government. But here lies the problem. At least half of the US population doesn't want to work (or cannot work) and instead prefers to rob the other half of their monies. The government offers itself to be the robber by creating taxes on those who work and paying the loot to those who do not. If you were to fight, you'd have to educate these 50% against their will and against their own interests. This is not going to work. Fighting is relatively straightforward only if there is a clearly defined enemy to be defeated. It is not enough to defeat the robber, you also need to defeat his masters - and their name is legion.
I can only see one obvious solution here, and it lies in splitting the country into two or more, each with its own set of laws and its own government, and with means to enforce those laws. There are many hypothesized scenarios of violence, caused by any one out of several possible causes. But they all arrive at the same configuration in the end - at several enclaves, each living under its own laws. The USA will fragment because it has already fragmented; it's just the aging glue that still holds the pieces together. The country hasn't fallen apart so far only because the people haven't yet suffered enough.