Citizenship

Discussion in 'Political Discussions' started by Charles Fout, Jun 27, 2022.

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  1. Charles Fout

    Charles Fout Active Member

    So, some California neo-punk rocker says he's renouncing his U.S. Citizenship and moving to the UK because he's angry over a Supreme Court Opinion. 'F&*$ America' said he. Boggles the mind. I can think of not a single thing that would cause me to say 'F#@$ America'then rant about moving to a nation with no Bill of Rights.
     
  2. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    This man can. Yep. The guy is Billie Joe Armstrong, frontman and lead guitarist of Green Day. The band has a 30 year history and my grandson (21) is a huge fan. He plays all their songs. not that it's important here.

    Armstrong is an angry middle-aged man. (50) He's angry about a lot of things. My goodness, he even said "f*** Ted Cruz" at one point. (Who hasn't?) :)

    This time, he's angry, as many are, about the US Supreme Court decision on abortion. Heck, I'm angry about it too - and I don't even live in the US. I don't know how he's going to reconcile going to the UK with his 2021 reported decision to run for US President on the Republican ticket. My guess - he won't run or reconcile. I think he'll likely do as he said - move. This is an awful, awful thing.

    More about him and his anger here. https://www.rt.com/pop-culture/557877-green-day-armstrong-relocates-abortion/
     
    Last edited: Jun 27, 2022
  3. Lerner

    Lerner Well-Known Member

    How many people die at US border to become a US Citizen. People dream to come here.
    The artist with such following could have written a protest song.
    But if he insults the country then adios good riddance he should fly first flight to UK.
     
    Last edited: Jun 27, 2022
  4. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    And the ramifications being dreamed up by people at the state level are truly horrifying. e.g. criminal charges against women who have miscarried. Right - shame and criminalize women, at what is likely the lowest point in their lives -- for a misfortune they cannot control and wish had not happened. Shame and punishment on top of suffering. And don't get me started on what's been said about ectopic pregnancies...

    If Mr. Armstrong leaves - I wish him continued success in his musical career and life in the UK. I know he has a lot of fans there.
     
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  5. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    Sure - and in this climate it would be easy for those in power to have it banned. Maybe it would be better to write it from UK. Incidentally, his folks have been US citizens going back about 150 years.
     
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  6. Lerner

    Lerner Well-Known Member

    He insulted his ancestors and his moderland by cursing the country.
     
  7. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    A lot of protest songs were written about the Vietnam war. Many were good - and eloquent - but did they stop anything?
     
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  8. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    No he didn't insult his ancestors. Never mentioned them. He insulted the country by swearing, maybe. So what. People get angry and do that everywhere, every day. They're usually angry with their Government. Sometimes they're angry enough to leave. Americans value free speech, I'm told. He can say anything he likes. First Amendment, right?
     
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  9. Maniac Craniac

    Maniac Craniac Moderator Staff Member

     
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  10. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    I'm going to leave this for others to hash around. I've said my piece. That's all from me on this one.
     
  11. Rachel83az

    Rachel83az Well-Known Member

    The US has an amazing PR department. It exports so many TV shows and movies showing (both directly and indirectly) that the US is a land of wonder, where your dreams can come true. Then you arrive in the US and eventually find that it's only slightly better than home. But it does at least allow you to send money back home to the family. So you stay. That doesn't mean that the US is good, only that it's better.

    You're at a friends house and you suddenly get violent food poisoning. You puke and poop all over yourself. Your friend says that you can borrow an outfit, but the only pants that fit also have poop stains (maybe they have been laundered).

    Your own clean clothes without poop stains are hours away.

    Of course you're going to take your friend up on their offer. It's better than the puke and poop covered clothes that you're currently wearing. But it's not a good solution. It is only a slightly better solution than wearing clothes full of fresh puke and poop.

    It's that attitude that has allowed American Exceptionalism to become the toxic cesspit that it is.

    Sometimes there are things that are deeply wrong and need to be fixed.

    But there is no incentive to fix things when the ones who are upset are only making polite requests.

    As far as I'm aware, peaceful protests only worked once ever in history. When the USSR was already weak and on the verge of breaking up.

    But I think that some protests at the time still turned violent because Russia did not want to give up the Soviet territories.
     
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  12. LevelUP

    LevelUP Active Member

    I like Greenday's music, and I'm not worried about what musicians say. However, I would be for a one trillion dollar bill to pass congress that gives anyone $100,000 cash to leave the U.S.A. and renounce their citizenship giving up the right to enter the country ever again. (Note: only a small # peeps will take this offer) Some companies get rid of toxic people by offering them 3-6 months salary to quit their jobs.

    As far as who is to blame for the abortion thing. Well, people tend to forget that Obama said that passing a law to guarantee abortion rights was not his top priority. “I believe that women should have the right to choose, but I think that the most important thing we can do to tamp down some of the anger surrounding this issue is to focus on those areas that we can agree on.” They had a super majority in the Senate to get an abortion bill set into law back then.

    What about now? Currently, 2 Republicans are willing to cross sides to vote on an abortion bill though the bill that was proposed was more liberal than Roe vs. Wade. So they have the power to pass a modest abortion bill, but I suspect the abortion bill, like immigration, like the national debt, will be the can that gets kicked down the road for some time to come.
     
  13. Charles Fout

    Charles Fout Active Member

    Oh my! Please explain what makes the U.S. a 'toxic cesspit. Do you not think the civil rights/noncooperation campaigns led by Gandhi and Martin Luther King achieved anything.
    Communism always fails. Thank God we had the Leadership of Saint John Paul the Great,Ronald Reagan, and Margaret Thatcher to hasten the fall of the Evil Empire.
    Praying you discovered and realize your life's dreams. Curiosity: Do you still reside in the U.S. I stated - I cannot see myself cursing the U.S. and renouncing my U.S. Citizenship. Do you think there is another nation that even comes close to the rights and opportunities enjoyed by people living in the U.S?
     
  14. SteveFoerster

    SteveFoerster Resident Gadfly Staff Member

    Citation needed.
     
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  15. SteveFoerster

    SteveFoerster Resident Gadfly Staff Member

    In a time when the number one movie is Top Gun, the number one song is by Kate Bush, and saber rattling with Russia dominates the news, I kind of wonder whether anything has changed.

    [​IMG]
     
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  16. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    Lots of 'em. Here's one. https://www.thethings.com/heres-why-these-10-songs-were-banned-in-the-u-s/

    Billie Holiday - "Love for Sale"
    "Who would like to sample my supply." ABC radio banned the song in 1956. The number dates all the way back to 1930, when it debuted on Broadway in the musical The New Yorkers. It was immediately banned, but nevertheless Libby Holman's version hit No. 5 on the charts in 1931.

    And here's another. Just for Lerner: The Protest Song of all time - "Strange Fruit," another Billie Holiday song. I'm a fan and i think this is her very best. It was already an "oldie" when I first heard it around 1963. In this case, racists conspired to ban the performer - the song itself eluded them.
    https://www.biography.com/news/billie-holiday-strange-fruit

    Steve, I could go on all day--- honest.
     
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  17. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    Rachel83az said: "It's that attitude that has allowed American Exceptionalism to become the toxic cesspit that it is."

    Rachel didn't say US was a toxic cesspit. She said "American Exceptionalism" has become one.

    That's an old trick, Charles. Doesn't work here. People can read. Cite them accurately, please.
     
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  18. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    There's some donk on Wikipedia who maintains a page of people who have voluntarily given up US citizenship. It looks like he's compiling a Book for some sort of Judgment Day he thinks will occur. Is it anybody here?
     
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  19. Lerner

    Lerner Well-Known Member

    Try to curse people they may do
    While it depends on lyrics, but for most of the protest songs they are not banned.
    I would say there are exceptions.
     
  20. Lerner

    Lerner Well-Known Member

    Indeed US movie, music and TV shows, News media, fation and etc are strong embasadors for the US but also the Good US does in the world by helping other countries.
    Another PR for the US is the Americans including migrants who have family and friends overseas. Many work and help their relatives overseas. Many communicate back about how they are living, this is mostly positive and improved over what they left behind.
    While no country is without issues that need improvements I will say its the shining hill and God bless America. I have Muslim, Buddhist, Jewish Catholic and Hindu, etc friends and neighbors. All free to worship and freely practice their faith.
    I thank the USA that allowed us immigrate and build our lives here. Our kids born here and all became contributing members of the Society.
     
    Last edited: Jun 27, 2022

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