Dear Reader,

This may anger some of you – especially if you consider yourself a patriot.

But today I’m going to argue that the most American – and perhaps the most patriotic – thing you can do…

May be to someday LEAVE America.

I realize how “unpatriotic” that sounds.

Especially after spending the last decade listening to people on the left threaten to move to Canada every time Donald Trump wins an election.

In fact, when Trump was first elected in 2016, so many Americans visited Canada’s immigration website that they crashed it.

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Then Trump won again in 2024.

Within 24 hours, Google searches for “move to Canada” jumped 1,270%.

Of course, researching a move is a far cry from making one.

Anybody can type “How do I move to Canada?” into Google.

Actually leaving your home, your job, your friends, your family, and everything familiar is far more difficult.

You have to decide that whatever lies on the other side is worth the cost.

But political theater aside, I believe that decision is actually deeply American. Because:

America Was Built by People Who Left

The American population has many different histories.

Native American tribes were here long before the United States existed. Millions of others were brought here against their will.

But for an enormous share of American families, someone somewhere back in their lineage made a choice.

They looked at the place where they were born and decided:

My life is not what I want it to be…

So I am going to DO something about it.

Some wanted land.

Others were trying to escape religious persecution, political oppression, poverty, or a social structure that left very little room to improve their circumstances.

But regardless of their motivation…

The cost of their decision was still enormous.

They gave up their existing lives and crossed an ocean toward a place they had never seen.

There was no guarantee that it would work.

Travel was dangerous. Communication with home was slow or nonexistent. If they failed, nobody was flying in to rescue them.

Take the Mayflower.

Its 102 passengers spent 66 days crossing the Atlantic inside a cramped cargo ship.

One died before they reached land.

By spring, roughly half of the original passengers were dead. Of the 19 women who boarded, only five survived the first winter.

Yet they went anyway because they felt the trade-offs were worth it.

My own ancestors once made that difficult choice.

When I trace the family lines back, I find little slivers from Ukraine, Sweden, Scotland, England, France, Germany, Russia, Ireland, and Canada (I sometimes jokingly call myself a “European mutt”).

The only reason I am here is because, somewhere along those family lines, people decided they would give up what they knew for the possibility of something better.

I believe that is the heart of the American dream.

It is doing what it takes to get what you want.

Throughout most of American history, that often meant leaving the place where you were born.

So I’d argue that those who gave up everything to come here may be more patriotic than many people who were simply born here.

Because remember…

Your Birthplace Was Not a Choice

God and the universe assigned you a location.

In my case, that just happened to be America.

Now, there is nothing wrong with loving that place.

You may be grateful for its culture, attached to its people, or proud of what your country has accomplished.

But simply remaining somewhere because you happened to be born there is not much of an endorsement.

Patriotism means more when staying is voluntary.

If you have nowhere else to go, your continued presence says very little.

But suppose you have acquired the ability to leave…

And after all of that, you still choose America…

Now your decision carries weight.

Economists call this stated versus revealed preferences.

What people say they prefer is not nearly as revealing as what they choose when real alternatives are available.

Threatening to move to Canada is a stated preference.

Giving up your current life and actually moving there would reveal how strongly you felt.

The United States once recognized the right to make that choice in unusually direct terms.

In 1868, Congress declared expatriation to be a “natural and inherent right of all people” tied to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

It even said government attempts to deny or impair that right were inconsistent with the Republic’s fundamental principles.

Think about what that means.

The American government formally recognized that you do not belong to your country simply because you were born under its authority.

You have the right to leave.

That right is not hostile to the American idea.

It Is Part Of The American Idea

Now, that does not mean you should leave the first time an election goes against you.

Countries are not hotels.

You have family, friends, communities, history, and roots.

There may be very good reasons to stay and fight for a place you care about.

But loyalty only means something when it is voluntary.

The right to leave is what turns staying into an endorsement.

Without that option, you are not loyal.

You are trapped.

And governments understand how powerful exit can be.

They can ignore your complaints.

It is much harder to ignore people who take their labor, capital, and businesses somewhere else.

You may cast a ballot every few years…

But you also vote with your feet through the country where you choose to live, work, invest, and build.

That choice forces governments to compete for productive people.

Of course, leaving one country does not mean you will find paradise somewhere else.

There Is No Perfect Country

Every place comes with trade-offs.

One country may offer lower taxes but less political stability.

Another might have an excellent quality of life, yet provide fewer opportunities to build a large business.

You could find cheap housing somewhere, then discover that the legal system does a poor job protecting property rights.

A generous welfare state sounds great until you see the tax bill – or wait six months for a service you need.

Even family changes the calculation.

A location that looks superior on a spreadsheet may feel far less attractive when it puts an ocean between you and aging parents.

So this is not about finding paradise.

Paradise does not exist.

It is about deciding which collection of costs and benefits best matches what you value.

And those trade-offs are not fixed.

They can change slowly over decades – or very quickly after an election, a court ruling, or a new law.

And right now…

The Political Ratchet Is Tightening

Political power has been concentrating in the executive branch for generations.

This is not just about the current administration.

Every president inherits the powers accumulated by the last one.

Then he finds a reason to add more.

His supporters explain why this time is different.

The opposing party screams about tyranny.

Four or eight years later, the parties switch places and suddenly everybody has a completely different view of executive power.

That is how the ratchet works.

It has only turned in one direction.

The Supreme Court recently expanded the president’s authority to remove the leaders of independent regulatory agencies, overturning a precedent that had stood since 1935.

Now, there is a constitutional argument for that decision.

Article II places executive power in the president – not in some vague, unelected collection of agencies.

But the deeper problem is that Congress has handed away enormous amounts of its legislative authority…

While presidents from both parties have expanded what they can accomplish through executive action.

Now combine that delegated power with greater presidential control over the people running those agencies…

And you end up concentrating a tremendous amount of authority in one person.

Maybe you trust the current president with it. Maybe you don’t.

That’s irrelevant.

Because we should never judge executive power by the politician you like today.

Judge it by the worst politician who may inherit it tomorrow.

Because somebody else will inherit it.

And it will use them – probably more aggressively.

There is always retaliation…

And the ratchet turns again.

This is how the trade-offs can quickly change.

Taxes rise.

Business becomes harder.

Property rights weaken.

Political retaliation becomes normal.

Eventually, you may look around and realize that the place treating you best is no longer the United States.

You do not have to feel guilty about reaching that conclusion.

Because if that day comes…

Leaving May Be the Most American Choice

The most patriotic thing you can do is not stay somewhere blindly because that is where you were born.

It is to take responsibility for your life…

To embody the American spirit and seek out the best opportunity you can find – even if it lies somewhere else.

Look around the world.

Consider the cost of living, taxes, business opportunities, regulation, personal freedom, safety, culture, and whatever else you value most.

Then compare the trade-offs honestly.

You may decide to stay.

You may conclude that somewhere else offers you a better life.

Either answer can be legitimate.

The important thing is that it is a real choice – not a reflex inherited from the accident of where you were born.

My ancestors made that choice.

They sought the best opportunity they could find and accepted the enormous cost required to pursue it.

If America ever stops rewarding that spirit, preserving the American ethos may require leaving American soil.

Optionality is not betrayal.