Interesting to note that James Lovelock, who coined the “Gaia Theory” urges everyone to move NORTH in the next couple of decades, not for economic prosperity, but for the simple availability of enough resources to sustain human life. We’re considering Norway, due to my heritage, but who knows…

Heh. This reminds me of something utterly hilarious/intriguing/sad I heard 2 months ago. A few of my old college buddies have actually emigrated from the United States and now live, and are raising their children in, Continental Europe, depending on their language skills. Nobody wants to go to the crowded, equally debt-ridden UK, though Germany, France, Italy are hugely popular destinations for skilled professionals– getting essentially a 50% boost in your income working a reasonable 50-ish hour week in Berlin, with that deliciously valuable Euro in your paycheck, rather than a 90+ hour week in New York, getting a paycheck in a lousy dollar currency and still losing your job when it’s outsourced to India, well, that explains a lot. (Seems like German is a feather in the cap anywhere in the continent, even outside of a German-speaking country.)

Anyhoo, one of my old buddies is Italian-American and he was able to secure a work permit and eventually immigrate to Italy, since Italy (apparently like Germany and the Netherlands) gives expedited naturalization to its overseas Diasporas in the United States and some other countries. He’s a highly skilled engineer with computer skills and planning to start a company. While I can understand the appeal of earning money in Euros, I never really thought of Italy as a high-tech hotspot (though apparently I’m wrong, Milan rocks).

But he gave me another reason why he, his wife and his 2 kids have moved outside of Cremona, to paraphrase: “You know that $9 trillion debt the USA is carrying? Soon to balloon to over $20 trillion as the baby-boomers retire? Guess who’s gonna be paying for it– you are buddy, and even more so, your kids will, if they’re still staying in the USA 10 years from now.” I can see where he’s going with that, and I can’t help but agree.

I have a Dutch ancestor from the early 19th century (which apparently gives me an edge in immigrating not only to the Netherlands but also to Germany, which takes people who have any kind of Low German/High German ancestry). The problem is, I’m a total idiot with languages, so I wonder what my options are. Though I’m guessing my daughter would thank me if I made the move.