Leaving America - By Any Means Necessary

Elizabeth Grieco, chief of immigration statistics at the U.S. Census Bureau, puts it bluntly: "We don't count U.S. citizens living abroad."  but while the U.S may not keep track others are -- a modest estimate finds at least 3 million U.S. citizens a year are venturing abroad.

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Just why are Americans leaving this land of freedom and opportunity in record numbers, with no end in sight?

First and foremost, Americans no longer live in the highest salary paying country in the world. In fact, the United States only ranks 20th in terms of overall gross pay!

An unprecedented number of citizens, fed up with failed politics and a souring economy, have already departed for other countries, with even larger numbers planning to do so soon.

According to a new study, millions of older Americans are turning to charity for food as they face unemployment, housing shortages and poor health.

The baby boomer generation was supposed to be the one that slid into its twilight years with everything sorted out - health, financial stability and long life expectancy. But that may not be the case. According to a new study, boomers - defined by the authors as people between the ages of 50 and 64 - are facing a host of health and economic challenges.

A new study has found 67% of some 60,000 US adults aged 50 to 64 live in a household with an annual income of less than $20,000.

Europe still draws many of these American emigrants, but even more have relocated in Canada and Mexico. Others are trying out Australia, New Zealand, or one of the new economies of Asia, while a growing stream flows southward to Central and South America.

6 million U.S. households had already determined to relocate abroad; an additional 1.8 million households were seriously considering such a move, while 7.7 million more were "somewhat seriously" contemplating it.

While we can all be proud of being Americans surely we don't have to be proud of the broken American social safety net.

The new economic reality is forcing working class people to make a choice between leaving America and medical bankruptcy and other types of economic devastation.