Why not retire to a cruise ship?

Bermuda

A few years ago I took a cruise to Bermuda (lots of pics!) with a bunch of friends and had a blast (as an interesting bit of trivia, a documentary was made of that cruise and I'm briefly in one scene). If you've never been on board a cruise ship, you'll be astonished at modern ones. Imagine an expensive, upscale, shopping mall designed by someone with very poor taste. And instead of mall rats, you're rubbing elbows with a bunch of senior citizens and families. And sometimes, you're rubbing elbows with someone who's retired and lives there.

As ridiculous as this might sound, it's a very viable option. Many people have heard of Beatrice Muller, a woman who retired and lived for years on the Queen Elizabeth II before it was decommissioned (in doing research, it appears that she is now too old to do this and is in an assisted care facility). However, it turns out that many others have "retired" to cruise ships. It's become popular enough that in 2004, a study was published entitled Cruise ship care: a proposed alternative to assisted living facilities. The study found that for many retirees, not only was living on a cruise ship as cost effective as a retirement home, it's also more effective at providing for quality of life for many people (though there comes a point where you can't physically do it any more).

For many retirees, they might be able to retired abroad to save money, but if you do that, you may not be able to have the constant travel you enjoy ... unless your retirement is constant travel.

If you don't mind a small bunk, with a tiny porthole, and making few, if any, long-lasting friends, and not being able to easily pop over and visit friends and family, perhaps a cruise ship is for you? Right now, prices for cruise ships are lower than ever (largely due to a lackluster economy and bad press for some cruises) and cruises offer frequent traveler discounts, so if sailing the high seas for the rest of your life sounds exciting and you have an adventurous spirit, this might be a bit more fun than sitting in a retirement home.

The Public Hearing That Wasn't Public

I'm just a little creeped
out by what's going on.

Over on her blog, Victoria Ferauge has an interesting account of her attendance at an EU Parliamentary meeting on FATCA. The meeting's exciting title was:

The fight against tax evasion - FATCA as a 

step towards international automatic 

exchange of information?

And it was described as a public hearing. I heard about it on short notice and wasn't able to attend, but Victoria and others around Europe took the trouble to head to Brussels to ensure their voices would be heard. The meeting was public, but you weren't allowed in the building.

Here's how Victoria described it:

When we presented ourselves at the front desk of the Altiero Spinelli building they said we couldn't go in because we had to be "invited." When I replied that it was a public meeting, they told me that the meeting was public but getting into the building required that someone vouch for us.

Evidently this meeting was held at the Ministry of Truth, though I suspect this is more bureaucratic incompetence than something Winston Smith would need to explain away (if you missed that, it's a reference to 1984, a book I highly recommend, though I still think Brave New World more accurately describes the world today).

That being said, Victoria and the others managed to contact MEP Sophie in 't Veld's office and her staff got the problem sorted out by sending people down to escort the group. Victoria's brief description of the meeting sounds like it didn't go as well as one might hope (though she promises to write more later).

Seeing the title of the meeting, noting the speakers, and reading what others had to say, it appears that this "hearing" was one in name only. I suspect it was merely a necessary formality and many of the major players have already made up their minds. What we may be witnessing is the birth of a global system of inter-governmental sharing of information about the whereabouts and finances of their citizens. Somehow, I don't feel terribly comfortable with this idea and I feel like a conspiracy nut for even saying this, but the US government is finding that other countries aren't agreeing to FATCA unless it's packaged as a reciprocal exchange of information. Read that title again:

The fight against tax evasion - FATCA as a 

step towards international automatic 

exchange of information?

Yeah, this gives me the creeps.

For those coming late to the party, here's my original writeup on FATCA. It's pretty damned scary.

Why You Should See the World

Wouldn't seeing it firsthand be better?
Photo by Carsten Ullrich

There's a very thought-provoking article at Why Young Americans Should Work Overseas. As is clear from the title, it's very much aimed at Americans but the main points are this:

1. University education in the US is not worth the return on investment.
2. The quality of life you get for your money is much better elsewhere.
3. US jobs aren't going to return.
4. It's time for everyone to explore the world.

While clearly not everyone is going to agree with the above reasons, I'm rather partial to the last one, if for no other reason than to see firsthand that the world is a much different place than what you see in the media. Still, I'll touch on all of these points as I have a front-row seat for the expat life.

A Green Card for Africa?

Africa. Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1890
Public Domain Image

I've long wanted to post more information about jobs in Africa, but it's been hard to get solid information. Aside from a couple of classmates from the US who now live in Lilongwe, Malawi (who have a great blog, by the way), most people I know who are associated with Africa have come out of the continent, not gone to it.

Today, aside from some opportunities in Nigeria and South Africa, there doesn't appear to be much of a way to find permanent work in Africa aside from limited opportunities with NGOs. Believe it or not, some people would like to immigrate to Africa but African countries make this very hard to do.

For Europe, the European Blue Card is designed to be a single immigration device for those EEA countries which have signed on, but many lesser-developed nations, particularly in Africa, have complained bitterly about "brain drain" to Europe. This is not a spurious complaint. As I've written before, more than a quarter of highly skilled workers from many African nations have left for more developed nations. If the US ever fixes their immigration system, it's going to get even worse. If China eases up on their immigration restrictions, more Africans will continue to immigrate to China.

It seems to be largely a one-way street, but while Africa rightly frets about brain drain, they're not doing much to encourage people to come to Africa. The global economic downturn has led to some "brain gain" for Kenya, but largely for returning Africans (as far as I can tell). For others hoping to try a new life in Africa, corruption in the immigration process is quite common. Others have told me stories of African officials simply not knowing the law or not responding. Africa, in short, is letting people out, but not letting people in. Even if they did, the political uncertainties of many countries would be daunting.

Kigali, the capital of Rwanda
Photo by Dylan Walters

There's a way to solve this. If the 54 member African Union would put forward a proposal to create an African Green Card, modeled after the European Blue Card, the brain drain trend might be mitigated or reversed. Instead of trying to fight through the bureaucracy of a country which, quite frankly, may not have immigration as their highest priority, you could know that there's a standardized process by which your application could be reviewed and you could bring needed skills to the African continent.

Imagine moving to Rwanda. Stay there for a couple of years and earn "African residency". From there, if the economy floundered or it became politically unstable, you could then move to another participating country, such as Namibia.

Not only could this potentially bring much needed skills to Africa, the potential economic benefits could help to stabilize countries that have seen much upheaval over the past couple of centuries. It would be an exciting experiment, though clearly there would be many challenges and it would take years to see the benefits. However, instead of the rest of the world traveling to Africa to exploit it, it could be a partnership to help Africa.

Best Country for Retirement?

Quito, Ecuador
Photo by Marcio Ramalho

Thinking about retiring abroad? I've previously written about Ecuador being voted the best place in the world to retire and recently International Living readers again voted Ecuador to be the number one retirement spot in the world. With a three-bedroom apartment in a major city center costing $200 a month, you can imagine why it might be attractive to some. But maybe Ecuador's not your cup of tea? Here's a list of the top 22 retirement havens around the world, taking into consideration lifestyle, real estate costs, climate, and so on.

1. Ecuador
2. Panama
3. Malaysia
4. Mexico
5. Costa Rica
6. Uruguay
7. Colombia
8. Spain
9. Thailand
10. Malta
11. Portugal
12. Nicaragua
13. Ireland
14. France
15. Philippines
16. New Zealand
17. Italy
18. Brazil
19. Chile
20. Honduras
21. Belize
22. Dominican Republic

I'm pleased to note that France, my current country, has made the list, though that's more a factor of the amenities and health care than the cost of living.

Note that fully half of the above list is in Central or South America. It's disappointing to me that more people don't consider South America as a emigration target. Though there are still issues, Latin America has largely ignored the world's financial crisis. Their economies are growing healthily and this isn't because they're isolated from the world economy: it's because they're experiencing rapid growth and have, in many ways, managed their economies better the Europe or the US.

If I had to start my expat life all over again, I probably would have headed south of the border. It's really a land of opportunity. Your money will go farther, you'll have access to great health care, and with the rapid growth, if you're not yet retired there are plenty of chances to do very well for yourself.

Move to the UK on a "start up" visa

Photo by Conor Ogle

For those of you who have thought about starting your own business, why not do it in the UK? Trying to become an expat and move to the UK is getting to be difficult (for non-EU citizens) as the UK is sharply curtailing immigration, but since June of 2011 they've had a Prospective Entrepreneur program, more commonly referred to as the Start Up Visa. It's surprisingly straight-forward.

Teach English at a French University

Château du Haut-Koenigsbourg, France
Photo by Francisco Antunes

You do not need to have a university degree to live and work in other countries. However, having a university degree does make life so much easier for those planning on becoming expats, as I saw again with my latest research. While doing my usual work trying to find new opportunities for you to live abroad, I stumbled across a very interesting article about applying for a job as a lecteur d'anglais in a French university.

For those who are considering teaching English abroad, it's sometimes disappointing to discover that most positions aren't in Europe. Frankly, I think it would be very exciting to take a job in South Korea, Guatemala or some other country that you don't know much about, but perhaps some of the adventure of living in Europe has abated after living here for years (though I'm very, very happy to be here).

Be that as it may, most jobs teaching English aren't in Europe and those that are are often in Eastern Europe. If you're diligent and try, however, you can get a job teaching English at a French University. The English assistant programs in France are very poorly paid, hard to get and suitable mostly for students, but if you want to teach at a university, you can be better paid, have a longer visa, and be working with people closer to your own age instead of children.

The lecteur d'anglais needs to have at least a Bachelor's degree, but should be preferably working towards a Masters. The article mentions three things you'll need to do:

1. Sign up for the Société des Anglicistes de l'Enseignement Supérieur mailing list
2. Contact the universities directly
3. Write a CV and cover letter focusing on your teaching experience

Did you catch point 3 above? Yes, it helps if you already have teaching experience. The universities want native speakers, but they want native speakers who know how to teach. Sign up for a TEFL course and get some experience. Reputable courses will help to arrange real teaching experience and you can gain that experience in your home town. Heck, even if it's not enough experience to get you a job in France, teaching English in Thailand isn't so bad, it it?

Violent Crime In the US

Photo by Chang Liu

Pardon today's divergence; I'm still in shock. Today I started with the news and saw that 19 people were injured in a Mother's Day parade shooting in the US. Described by the FBI as "strictly an act of street violence", as if somehow that is more reassuring than terrorism. You have to wonder just how bad things have to get in the US before someone does anything. Sadly, due to overwhelming evidence that gun crime in the US has plummeted sharply in the past two decades, many in the US are using this as an excuse for inaction.

What they're ignoring is that gun murders in the US are far higher than the rest of the industrialized world. Just because we've improved this statistic doesn't mean that it's suddenly "acceptable." There's also another little statistic that many would rather you didn't know.

When the media is talking about how US gun crime has dropped sharply since 1993, you might ask the question "why did they pick 1993 as the year to measure from?" On one hand, this makes arbitrary sense as we can say "we looked at gun crime in the past 20 years". On the other hand, it turns out that this is a convenient year for those who would rather see nothing change: 1993 is the year that gun crime peaked in the US. Yes, you can say that "gun murders have dropped sharply in the past two decades", but you can also say "gun murders have dropped from their peak and have now returned to the levels see in the early 1960s." Let's go back a little bit further and look at another graph:

Source: US Department of Justice Statistics

Well, that changes the picture quite a bit, doesn't it? However, even that graph is misleading because it uses absolute rather than relative numbers, indicating that maybe the gun homicide rate is dropping a bit.  So let's look at the Pew Research Report that everyone is talking about but not linking to (emphasis mine):

Looking back 50 years, the U.S. gun homicide rate began rising in the 1960s, surged in the 1970s, and hit peaks in 1980 and the early 1990s. (The number of homicides peaked in the early 1990s.) The plunge in homicides after that meant that firearm homicide rates in the late 2000s were equal to those not seen since the early 1960s.

Even the most casual student of history can guess what major change was happening in the US starting in the 1960s.

The Pew report mentions that 1993 was a peak, but every single graph used throughout the entire report shows numbers dropping from a peak, so if you don't read the information carefully, you can easily be mislead. As for their "looking back 50 years", they found that information at this US Department of Justice report (pdf) which states:

In the last decade (since 2000) the homicide rate declined to levels last seen in the mid-1960s [and] the homicide rate doubled from the early 1960s to the late 1970s, increasing from 4.6 per 100,000 U.S. residents in 1962 to 9.7 per 100,000 by 1979.

And guess what? They have graphs, too.

Source: FBI Uniform Crime reports, 1950-2010
Graph reproduced from US Department of Justice report

Note that these numbers are relative and clearly show that there was a peak, but this does not include guns. However, it does tend to show the ridiculously high homicide levels in the US and I've already pointed out that the US has a much higher murder rate than most of the industrialized world, and this interactive world gun homicide map will merely drive the point home.

Why does the US accept this? We know that simply throwing people in prison doesn't make crime go away. If it did, we'd have a paradise:

Source

There's so much more which can be said about the sad state of affairs in the US. We can easily look at US history or at other nations to see multiple approaches to the problems we face, but instead the US turns to bellicose rhetoric and finger pointing, politicians jockeying for position and the American people being overlooked in the scuffle. No one seems particularly interested in information any more.

So what's going to happen after this latest shooting?

Nothing. There will be talk. There will be wailing. There might even be a cosmetic change or two, but there will be no attempt to address the underlying causes of crime in the US. There will be no serious attempt to ensure that only responsible adults have guns. There will be no national introspection regarding what is going wrong in the US.

Forget about taking away people's guns. Not only is that simply not going to happen and it won't solve the underlying problems. The US needs to wake up and start behaving like adults willing to learn and to face hard choices. Of all the strengths of the US, learning and facing hard choices aren't amongst them.

The End of FATCA?

Rand Paul, US Senator for Kentucky

For those outside the US who do not know who Rand Paul is, he's the son of Ron Paul, a US politician who's perennial quest for the presidency was at first met with mockery but eventually garnered enough support that it's widely believed that the Republican party deliberately locked him out of contention for the Presidency.

So why would I talk about Rand Paul in an expat blog?

Senator Paul has introduced a bill to repeal FATCA. Here are two different takes on it:

• In lieu of journalism, the Wall Street Journal has posted a poorly written press release about it.
• In lieu of journalism, Mother Jones has posted a hysterical rant about it.

This just kills me. As I wrote near the end of Stateless Americans and Renunciants, nobody seems to give a damn about the actual facts regarding expats. Of the two stories above, the Wall Street Journal article strongly praises Paul's bill and Mother Jones strongly opposes it. Of those two publications, I would lean more towards Mother Jones than Wall Street Journal (particularly after Rupert Murdoch's yellow journalism "News Corporation" bought it), but in this case, the enemy of my enemy is my friend.

The Mother Jones article completely gets it wrong, implying that the six million plus Americans living abroad are mostly wealthy tax dodgers. We're not. We're taxi drivers, teachers, software engineers, retirees, accountants, waiters, spouses, and so on. There might be a higher percentage of rich Americans amongst expats, but no one will ever know since the Census Bureau refuses to count us and Congress repeatedly rejects bills whose aim is get information about expats upon which they can base their laws.

In the case of Rand Paul, a man I don't particularly like but who I'm beginning to at least respect (ironically, I used to feel that way about his racist father), the Wall Street Journal article avoids pointing out that Rand Paul isn't necessarily driven by compassion for expats, but perhaps is acting more in line with his virulent anti-tax beliefs driven by that starry-eyed conviction that Libertarianism is the path to nirvana.

Of course, Paul's beliefs do cause him all sorts of problems. He's backtracked on his civil rights views, for example, such as his beliefs that government laws to end private discrimination are wrong and that public pressure, which had already failed repeatedly, is the tool of choice. You don't want to hire black people or serve gay people? Paul thinks that's your right.

So I can't say I'm excited to have this man as an advocate of such an important issue, but nonetheless, he's articulate and he does appear to be following his beliefs. And given that Rand Paul will be running for the presidency in 2016, he's getting a fair amount of political traction and maybe, just maybe, we can have the mess that is FATCA ended.

Stateless Americans and Renunciants

So close ...
Photo by وسام زقوت

On the subject of renouncing one's citizenship, I previously reported that I only knew of two individuals who've renounced US citizenship without having another citizenship, making them "stateless". Being stateless, in this context, means "not having a legal nationality." There are many ways in which one can become stateless, with Palestinians being the most prominent example. Other examples stem from people being forced out of their country due to war, or being denied recognition by their home country. Sadly, the problem of statelessness is widespread, with an estimated 12 million people stateless around the world.

A Class for Integrating into France

Liberty Leading the People by Eugène Delacroix

"A government of the people, by the people and for the people." Does that sound familiar to anyone? That's actually the fundamental principle of the French republic, as enshrined in their constitution. In fact, as an American reading about French history and culture, I note how strong the parallels are between the two. Freedom of speech, freedom of religion, separation of church and state, freedom of association, and so on. Despite superficial differences, the US and France have more in common than than either side seems to think and this was reinforced last Saturday when I attended the convocation à la formation civique, or my "call to civic education".

I didn't experience a similar class in the UK or the Netherlands (and wouldn't have experienced in Japan as I was a military brat), but here in France they take cultural integration very seriously and require you to take free classes in it. In fact, if you have the right to settle in France but don't speak the language well enough, you'll get free French courses. You'll also be required to understand the rights and responsibilities that you will have as a resident or citizen of France, hence the class I attended.

My métro stop in Bobigny
Image courtesy Clicsouris

The class lasted eight hours and was a bit boring at times because I learned most of this material in studying for the visa tests I needed to pass to get my first visa for France. Because we live about stone's throw outside the Parisian border, I had to travel to Bobigny for the class, an hour long trip by métro (because I have to travel into the center of Paris and back out again to get to Bobigny). Bobigny is not a very picturesque area and has one of the highest crime rates in France, so it's not high on my list of places to visit, but if I want permanent residency or citizenship, I can't skip this class.

The class itself was standard: start with the history of France and then discuss the structure of the government, culture of France, and move on to rights and responsibilities. About halfway through the class we broke for lunch. Our class of about 45 students was taken to a restaurant where I was served fish which tasted like it died of dehydration. The pasta, curiously, tasted like the fish and was even slathered in the same watery sauce. We had stale baguette to accompany it, but the water was excellent (cough). As a means of scoring a free meal, I would suggest dumpster diving as a preferable alternative.

Interestingly, the class focused very heavily on women's freedoms, how polygamy was illegal, and how the "right of revenge" is outlawed. I've seen these issues stressed repeatedly in the French "cultural integration" materials and I suspect that this is largely due to many immigrants coming from Africa and the Middle East (other than the instructor, I was the only caucasian in the room and the instructor was shocked to find out that I was from the US). There was actually some very lively discussion when it was explained that the wife does not need her husband's permission to take a job, at which point some men objected, arguing that there might be children at home and the woman simply can't up and take a job just because she feels like it. Our instructor (a female) shut them down pretty quickly.

I would love to find out if these classes have had any noticeable impact on assimilation of others. I'd also be curious to know if others from strongly different cultural backgrounds move here but reject the local culture (I know of at least one individual who has two wives). All things considered, I think the classes are a good thing, though I'd feel better about them if immigrants were tested on the material presented. Instead, many of them were texting their friends and a couple were sleeping, though several were very engaged in the class. Perhaps said testing is done at a later date? Are there any immigrants to France who are reading this who could comment?

Belgian Blue Card

Bruge, Belgium
Photo by Wolfgang Staudt

In September of 2012, Belgium finally introduced their version of the European Blue Card. As with every country in the EU, the Belgian implementation of the Blue Card is unique and many Web sites appear to be reporting incorrect information. I've gone out to the French language Belgian government web site for Service public fédéral Emploi, Travail, et Concertation sociale, or their "Employment, Labor, and Social Services" web site and found the Belgian government's detailed explanation of their Blue Card laws.

The basic qualifications for the Blue Card are fairly normal. You must have:

• a higher education degree lasting which took at least three years to obtain.
• an indefinite employment contract.
• a salary of €49,995 per year (adjusted annually)
• a valid travel document (presumably a passport, but this is unclear)
• health insurance other than what your employer provides

You must also not be considered a threat to the public or to national security.

Interestingly, there are several ways in which you can be denied the Blue Card. First, the Belgian government imposes a labor test: you can't take the job if they feel there are qualified Belgians available (similar to the Austrian Blue Card). Second, the employer must not have been previously penalized for hiring illegal workers. Third, and most interestingly, if your position is considered in a sector in short supply in your home country, you can be denied.

The last provision is fascinating. African countries were extremely upset with the European Blue Card because they are worried about the "brain drain" of their highly skilled workers fleeing to Europe. This is not entirely unreasonable. From the fairpolitics.nl Web site (emphasis mine):

For developing countries, the most important negative effect of voluntary migration to developed countries (e.g. in Europe) is the brain drain caused by the loss of highly skilled workers. Currently, more than 25% of highly skilled workers from African countries such as Mozambique, Ghana, Kenya and Uganda live in developed countries. Figures for the Caribbean and Pacific are as high as 70%. This brain drain has severe repercussions on the labour market in the migrants countries of origin, where it impacts negatively on vital sectors such as education and health, and reduces those countries capacity to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) one of the priorities of the EUs development policy.

Belgium has cut through a dilemma that many countries have been facing: how to appease locals who are worried about immigration (because this provision largely impacts many African and Asian immigrants), keep the developing nations happy because Belgium can say "we're listening to your concerns", but still import skilled workers. Belgium now has a very effective throttle if Blue Card immigration becomes politically problematic.

The Face of Islam in Europe

Kahina Zed: The terrifying face of Islam

A friend of ours here in Paris, Kahina Zed, was recently in Canada with her partner and she met a bunch of Americans. After getting to know her for a couple of days, they were shocked to discover the horrifying truth: she's Muslim. They were incredulous, first assuming she was pulling their leg. With a drink in one hand and a cigarette in another, Kahina, who speaks French, English, Spanish and Arabic, is very proud of being a Muslim and, more importantly, she's practically the poster child for Islam in Europe, but you'd never know it from the news reports.