It’s become an article of faith among American leftists that Europe is straight-up superior to the United States of Trump.
Not even the unqualified success of this past summer’s World Cup — whose hallmark was an unbridled fondness for the American spirit and an endless outpouring of affection for these United States from visitors from all across the globe — could convince these America Lasters that their native land is anything more than a cold, cruel, and intolerant place.
Man, it must suck to hate Donald Trump so much that you actively root for your country’s failure, but that’s the reality of the American Left. Indeed, many of those on the Left went one step further than loathing: leaving.
But for these American expats, a funny thing happened on their way to European socialist paradise. The headline of the Wired article gives it away: “They Fled Trump’s America. Now They Regret It.”
First, let’s consider how tough it must’ve been for the reliably left Wired to report such a thing. But there it is. As Sarah Manavis, an American writer based in the UK, writes, one embittered and anonymous young couple skedaddled to the UK and found it rather lacking:
They moved before the end of the year. But the reality of life in the UK was dramatically different to what she’d imagined. “There are huge misconceptions about access to quality health care, standard of living … the quality of life is significantly lower than in the US,” she says, citing the challenges she experienced with the National Health Service’s maternity care — having moved while pregnant with her first child — as well as the lack of disposable income in Britain, thanks to lower salaries. “Things in the UK that are considered luxury items are very common” in America, like a dishwasher and dryer, she adds.
Then there was Josh, who also understandably wanted to remain anonymous, largely due to the leftist backlash he knew he’d get on rabid Reddit:
“Finding work was so hard, and the endless bureaucracy had grown worse since I’d left,” he tells WIRED. “I missed the friendlier people, freedom of speech, and ease of daily life” in the US. He adds, “If you aren’t born and raised there, and don’t look German, you’ll never be fully accepted.”
Alas, these aren’t isolated incidents. As Manavis continues: “They’re not alone. Thousands of Americans have, like Annie, relocated to Europe in the last few years. Some left seeking adventure; others, the promise of a ‘slower’ lifestyle outside the American grind. But, for many, these reasons were just bonuses to another kind of escape: political refuge in the wake of Trump’s second term.”
Still, Manavis couldn’t resist taking a swipe at her homeland: “But while Trump 2.0 has more than fulfilled the worst nightmares of many Americans who left, online posts reflect a growing number of them are quietly — and at times apologetically — plotting a move back home, if they haven’t already returned.”
“The irony,” writes Manavis without a hint of irony, as if a lightbulb just came on in her head, “is that Europe is not a left-wing paradise.”
Au contraire, mon frere. Europe absolutely is a left-wing paradise. I mean, what’s not to love about the continent’s unbridled leftism? The moribund economies? The lower standard of living? The atrocious public healthcare system? The lack of free speech? The death-spiral birth rate? The empty cathedrals? The rampant Jew-hatred? The Islamized no-go zones? The fingernails-across-the-chalkboard calls to prayer? The mostly peaceful student protests widespread Muslim riots? The Pakistani rape gangs?
C’mon, folks. Europe reeks of left-wing paradise. Europe has left-wing paradise oozing from its open sores.
Manavis, though, seems to think that Europe’s problems could all be fixed with more abortions and more gay marriage and more unchecked Muslim immigration.
See here: “Italy’s prime minister, Giorgia Meloni — who has been a Trump ally — is anti-abortion, anti same-sex marriage, and anti-migrant. Hard-right groups are on the rise in Britain, while Greece, Germany, and Portugal all have right-wing governments pursuing conservative, anti-immigration agendas.”
As for those “hard-right groups” being “on the rise” across Europe, can anyone blame them? This, they believe, is likely their “Gates of Vienna” moment, their last chance to save their sovereignty and their cultural identity and their once-glorious history from being trampled underfoot by burgeoning Muslim hordes in their midst.
As for these disillusioned American expats, this is a great grass-isn’t-always-greener moment, and we on the Right are only human for feeling a bit freudy at their double shot of schaden.
We conservatives, though, are a compassionate lot, and we’re inclined to welcome them back with open arms. Still, I can’t help but want to ask them the same simple question my dad used to put on me as a child whenever I suffered the consequences — a smashed thumb, a scraped knee, a bloody nose — for my stupidity or recklessness:
Well, did ya learn somethin’?
