If I were rich — where would I want to live?

I am half Jewish and half Christian from my heritage and painfully aware that Europe is slipping again into the nationalistic, anti-Semitic, and inhumane trap. This development makes Europe increasingly hostile for, well, a lot of people, including me. I am almost certain that we will not have another Shoah but the nationalistic and anti-Semitic tendencies are obvious.

Take Soros for example; Every time his name or any organization connected to him comes up, nationalists as well as anti-Semites start to froth at their mouth acting like Soros is a criminal. At the end of the day they accuse him of supporting migration. For whatever reason everybody has an opinion about migration and some (actually very few) actively do something for or against migration. Either way is perfectly ok as long as you keep it civil. In the case of Soros, the boundaries of civility have long been overstepped. Even if there was proof of him actively promoting migration in any direction (as far as I know, no proof exists), it is not a criminal activity. In reality he is a Hungarian Jew who migrated to the Untied States ages ago and is one of the biggest philantropists worldwide, promoting democracy especially in Hungary. Bad move, because Orban, the right-wing chancellor of Hungary, wants to build an illiberal democracy in Hungary; sounds very much like a dictatorship to me.

In France and in parts of Germany, Jews are at risk of being attacked physically.

In Austria nationalistic fraternity members are sitting in leading positions. Now many would say; why, they are not necessarily anti-Semitic? True, I even know one personally and I am certain that he is not anti-Semitic but he admitted himself that in his nationalistic fraternity a lot of the members are anti-Semitic. He sits with members at the table and drinks a beer or two who are anti-Semitics. I would never do that because drinking a beer with them suggests an acceptance of their believes. These guys are sitting in the Austrian parliament, not funny.

In several other countries in Europe right-wing parties are gaining a foothold or even participate in the government.

As a consequence of this development I have asked myself several times the past five years; if I were rich, where would I want to live?

Being from Austria, a rich and well-developed country in the middle of Europe, I prefer countries and cities with a similar development. As a humanist — not necessarily politically left-ish oriented — but certainly neither nationalistic nor downright anti-Semitic, the choice gets difficult.

Okay, let’s see what’s on the table.

In Europe due to weaknesses of our current political leaders, rightwing populists have way too much room to maneuver. As long as nationalists kiss Putin’s *** and Jews are beaten because of their religious believe or simply because they are Jews, Europe turns into yet another pogrom, not attractiv.

The United States moves politically steadily to the right and turns extremely religious, making the country, even without daily shootings, very unattractive for a European mentality and cultural understanding. Droughts and fires on the West coast and hurricanes on the East coast add to the cons. Economically the US is at least in the long run declining due to their shortsighted foreign policy imho. There is also the health issue. Health care in the States is prohibitively expensive. On the pro-side there are good offers for old people, especially in the South — oh wait — lots of hurricanes and rising sea levels — so not good.

Canada, from a climate point of view would be interesting but then it is in a too close relationship with the US where a political crisis would swap over the border in no time. So, no, not Canada.

South Africa disqualifies due to their political and social instability, not to mention other African countries which are economically under-developed.

Let’s not forget the Arabian Peninsula. Unfortunately, neither politically nor from a climate point of view they strike me as a future potential.

Next stop, Asia; there is one huge and very oppressive sword hanging above the whole region, which is called China. All Asian countries will probably submit to China’s influence in the long run. Maybe the United States as the last guardian of the region is able to step up, but I don’t feel too optimistic about the outcome of this power struggle. Human rights, admittedly losing on almost all fronts currently, are definitely not a strong suit of China.

Australia, economically already a Chinese suburb — not good.

New Zealand, is the most attractive country in the region, but honestly it is simply too far away from any country.

We are left with Polynesia which is going to drown in a not so far future.

Last but not least there is South America, well, there is that. Northern parts in the chokehold of criminals and corruption while southern parts are in the chokehold of corruption and criminals. Where was the difference again?

No, I did not forget about Russia.

I try very hard to see the glass half full but right now everything is moving in the wrong direction. If I were rich, I would probably stay put in the country I live now, since here I know the devil first hand and hopefully, we as a nation will keep him at bay. If not, I am hard pressed to find a good alternative. A bit depressing if you ask me.

PS: All of the above is my personal opinion, not intended to insult anybody or a state in particular and I certainly do not represent the opinion of any country. …err, just to be on the save side ;-)