Tony writes:

You have thoughtful and valid observations. Yet, I suspect, you'd
agree in spite of these issues and other problems we still live in a
great country.

It used to be better. After a while, the "great country" rhetoric
starts to ring a bit hollow. In the land of the blind, the one-eyed
man is king, but that doesn't mean that having one eye is great
vision.

Some of us could live nearly anywhere we'd like, but
there just hasn't been much migration from the United States.

It's very difficult to emigrate, actually. And one must be strongly
motivated, which most people aren't. Many people are like the
proverbial frog in a pot of water that is slowly brought to a boil.

I do know a fair number of well educated foreign nationals living and
working here (legally), but very few of my friends have gone abroad
for a serious length of time to advance their careers.

Most people who have gone abroad are ... abroad, so you aren't likely
to meet them.

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