In Reply to: My wife is from Ireland, and I have been there many times. Yes… posted by Fuzzy on February 22, 2025 at 11:02:56
My sister lives in Norway, my mom moved there recently, and my wife is of Norwegian heritage on both sides of her family, so we often joke about that, but I don't have any illusions about Norway accepting a bunch of past middle age Americans as refugees ... and to what end, from their point of view?
My other option is Turkey, where I have deeper personal connections, which would be jumping out of the drying pan and into the fire.
I generally pass as white until I open my mouth and I have some personal training in faking neutrality when pushed, which was a survival skill I used to have in my younger years in Turkey. So I'm planning to stay here at least in the foreseeable future, and see if my "living under autocracy" muscles have completely atrophied or if I can get back to that game and maybe pass the skill of living under the radar to my (extended) family.
Leaving an autocratic country whose regime you oppose clears the ground a little better for the autocrat to to continue their regime, if not strengthen it. That said, these are personal choices. I myself never visited Turkey after the Gezi Park crackdown in 2013, not that I had any role in that, but I know I've been softened up in the US and my ability to shut my mouth in public and not blurt out things that could invite trouble have been weakened. If this place keeps going down this path, I might have the opportunity to get that skill back though. So... Yay!?