It is no secret that the ole Captain is putting together a "Plan B" for when enough of the US population turns parasitic and implements a fully socialist economy (or at least tax system). This has prompted Cappy to dust off his ole economist skills wherein he's gone out and researched a ton of candidate countries in which he may set up future stakes.
The variables I've used so far are ones you might suspect. Debt to GDP. Government spending as a % GDP. Crime rates per 100,000. Kilometers of road per person. Etc. etc. But as my research and data compilation progressed, I started realizing my main concern wasn't so much financial, as much as it was stability, security, and ultimately happiness. Naturally, you would want lower taxes, but given how the US is now more prone to riots, looting, tent cities, adults shitting in the streets, and is supporting nearly two full generations of adult-children who are incapable of being functional adults, I'm more concerned about the overall functional integrity of the US than I am a 45% tax rate. Additionally, (and mark my words as this will increasingly become the case for most productive Americans) I am placing more and more value on my mental health as I see psychopathic behavior not only be tolerated, but celebrated in America, largely by the left. The US IS becoming Idiocracy, but not the funny type of Idiocracy. The evil, psychopathic, kill-those-people-because-I-blame-them-for-my-mistakes type.
This has moved the emphasis in my research from economics to cultural stability. I no longer am too concerned about tax rates as much as I am things like the age of the country, the stability of it's culture, racial homogeneity, even if said racial homogeneity would be bigoted against me as (for example) in Japan. I may be considered a "Gaijin" in Japan, but the Japanese people will at least keep the lights on, continue as an industrialized 1st world country, leave me alone, and not allow full-grown adults to defecate in their streets.
However, there was an accidental third variable I came across while shopping at Wal-Mart. And I hadn't realized just how much this variable affected my mental state and overall standard of living. Because as I dealt with slow driving morons not knowing where they were going to park, or seeing the bloated single mom park her ass in the middle of an aisle I needed to get through, or the obese older man with sweat seeping through his shirt as he chose which XXXXL large shirt he'd buy for $5, I realized...
"Ugly people piss me off."
At first this may sound mean or offensive, but what we are talking about is an economic concept called "negative externalities."
For example, if you ever visit the University of Minnesota's "west bank campus" prepare to have your eyes raped with some of the world's most horrific and ugly 1970's architecture. Sure there is a specific financial and economic cost/value associated with the construction of those buildings. Sure, there are specific rent values associated with those buildings. But unaccounted for in all the debits and credits that went into those buildings, they are an eye sore and lower the standard of living of anybody that has to see them.
Another example, noise in bars or restaurants.
Today, you cannot simply go to a restaurant or a bar and not have your ears assaulted by a cacophony of noise. Modern pop music HAS to be played. 40 television screens showing all the sportsball games MUST be shown. And just as you're about to take a bite out of a bacon cheeseburger because it's your cheat day, some fuckwit announces over the PA that "BINGO is about to start!!! Everybody get your cards ready!!!" None of these noises have an financial effect on the cost of the diner. But these "negative externalities" do.
And this is the epiphany I had while standing in the middle of Wal-Mart. The fat people. The ugly people. The people paying with an EBT card. And the tatted up 20 something girl wearing sweatpants in public. All these people are ugly. And their physical revulsion was putting me in an incredibly foul mood.
So I went home. And upon getting home I went online and looked up "Countries by Obesity." And sure enough Wikipedia had the data I was looking for. It even allowed for you to sort by sex in case you were looking to find a svelte woman. But whereas my primary concern was to find a country where the people didn't dress like the fat, bloated pieces of shit Americans are, and instead comported themselves appropriately in public, my economic spidey senses started tingling because there was more to the obesity rate. Specifically, female obesity. And then I realized...
"It's the mark of a mentally healthy society."
Revisit how mental health plays a significant role in your happiness and standard of living. And then compare it to the psychological shit show the US has become. Everyday you are accused of some political sin because of your race or gender. Everyday productive, sane people are being blamed for mistakes of the stupid, idiotic, even criminal. We're so pampered you got Millennials and Gen Z'ers blaming their problems on (largely) made-up mental illnesses like "social anxiety disorder" and "ADHD." And those same generations are so delusional they create "designer-genders" they can choose from so they can feel special. But the real psychological tax, the real mental toll is the one we all pay when we've lied to the genders about themselves, resulting in the very real sex war we have going on. And while blaming people X for people Y's problems, pitting the sexes against each other in a borderline-hot war has done the most (I'd argue anyway) to destroy the mental health of American society.
Women are now being forced to choose between rushing into a marriage or getting their eggs frozen because we've lied to them and told them their career was of ultimate importance.
Women (and men) are crippled with unacceptable levels of debts for degrees that are completely worthless, which unfortunately ruins the rest of their financial lives.
Men are being told that leftist politics are more important than hitting the gym, becoming a man, getting a good career, and keeping good finances in order to get women.
And it is so psychotic, so wrong, so far removed from reality, that women actually think big is beautiful (or at least think they're going to shame men into overriding 2 million years of genetic hard-wiring to all of the sudden like Amy Schumer).
And this says NOTHING about the resentment, anger, frustration, even outright hatred BOTH sexes have for one another, nor the fact it's PERFECTLY LEGAL TO DISCRIMINATE AGAINST SEX (that would be men).
There are certainly many, many, MANY other society-wide mental issues the American people have, but no society in the history of the world can survive where one sex is so adversarial or hating of the other.
And thus why "Female Obesity Rates" was moved to the top position of my variable list.
Though it doesn't address everything, women who are thin are an incredible sign of cultural stability and sanity.
First, it shows half the population is not warring with the other half. They are working together and (unlike most of the western world) it shows both sexes understand and acknowledge there is another sex with requirements, demands, etc.
Second, familial stability. It is a laughable lie that families do not need their fathers. And while the American horse is out of the barn on this one, there are countries out there where the nuclear family is still intact. And since the nuclear family is intact, so is the rest of society. You may not agree with the theocratic laws set forth by the theocracy in Dubai or Bahrain, but they don't have full grown adults shitting in the streets. You may not like the "patriarchical culture" of Korea, but crime is very low. When women like men, or at least are willing to work together instead of against each other, not only are people happier, but better families are formed, and thus better societies.
Third, economic growth. Though admittedly I have not done a study on this, I'm going to bet my left nut that if you did, countries with thinner women tend to grow faster than fatter ones. The reason is very simple - female youth and beauty is what drives men to produce. And though lower taxes is incentive enough for everybody to work more, a nice pair of T&A is going to prompt men more than a 2% tax cut (no matter how "distasteful" that may sound).
And last, but not least, better mental health due to a POSITIVE externality.
A friend of mine visited Slovenia and could not believe not only how thin women were, but how they dressed in public. They were all in dresses (or so he told me), all in heels, presented themselves in a very feminine manner, and obesity was the exception, not the rule. I asked him about the guys (which he admitted to not paying too much attention too), but he did recall they were equally well dressed and well-groomed, making for an overall much more attractive population. And while no doubt I would have a preferential interest in Slovenian women over the men, I can guarantee you I'd be in a lot better mood (and thus enjoying a much higher standard of living) being surrounded by Slovenians than the slovenly slobs in America.
No doubt, many of you are looking to move overseas as well. And no doubt, your primary concern would be that of economics and politics. But as you're pouring over spreadsheets and data and OECD reports and the like, may I recommend you add Female Obesity to your analysis? It may increase your standards of living more than a 5% tax rate.
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27 comments:
I'd definitely pay for a copy if you publish your findings in another book.
I once dated an anorexic woman. Thin, but the craziest woman I ever met. So thin isn’t always good. To remark on obesity rates, Mexico has plenty of overweight people, but they tend to be 15-40 pounds overweight. You see somebody 100 lbs overweight maybe once or twice a month. Self respect is sadly lacking in the US, so you see lots of badly dressed people everywhere. You can see plenty of thin, well dressed women more in E Europe, SE Asia, and parts of Latin Am. E Europe has had the shortest exposure to post modern garbage culture, so it may have degenerated the least. Outside the US and Canada and Western Europe you just see people who dress better. I go to WalMart in Mexico and people always dress well. In the US Walmart is like going to a circus freak show , “see the bearded 400 pound lady! See the man dressed in heels and a skirt! Hurry, hurry, free admission, seeing is believing!”
Thank you Cappy!
You said what I was subconsciously thinking for quite a while now. Just could not put my finger on it.
"And then I realized..."It's the mark of a mentally healthy society.""
Right there. The US is not a mentally healthy society. We are deranged, broken, not taking care of ourselves. We are forced to believe everything is worthy of celebration and promotion, even if it is harmful to continuation of the species.
We are suffering a mental breakdown as a society, and for whatever reason, there are people who want more of it. Those people are gaining traction every day.
Thanks for putting it so succinctly
For those of you considering expatriation i suggest that you do your research now. There could be changes coming that might make it harder. You need at least a few months in a country to know if it’s suitable, two weeks isn’t enough. Also consider the local language- can you pick it up easily? You need to know at least the basics, you can’t expect everyone to speak English. Languages like Vietnamese and Thai are hard, Spanish easy. Look for residency where you don’t have to invest, where you can just show income or assets. Don’t expect to get by on tourist visas, you need formal residency if you want an easy life. Exotic places like Cambodia or Turkey or Georgia
might sound great on paper, but really aren’t practical for 98% of people. Don’t trust YouTube experts, do your own homework. Don’t pay anybody for “services” like Nomad Capitalist, you can do it yourself, the info is freely available on the internet.
Cappy, just gotta say about U-Minn west bank...
Things have gotten a lot worse. That 70's "red brick and bare concrete" look has aged a lot better than the stuff they're churning out now will. It's merely banal and depressing. But it stays reasonably clean looking as it ages.
The new metal panels and glass look is so much worse because you can see the decay within a couple years if it's not being cleaned (which it never is).
Walking through a fucking Walmart, what an experience ...
Normally I'll walk at London sidewalk speeds, and so I'm faster than 99% of the people at Walmart.
Recently I injured my hip and one of my calf muscles, meaning that I have to walk half as fast, and so I'm now faster than only 95% of the people at Walmart.
WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?
Walk like you have some fucking purpose in your lives and that your goal is to get somewhere involving that purpose.
It's not even about fat chicks, fat bastards, any of that.
It's about the normal environment being so brain-addling that it affects even thin people.
You over-compensate by eating too much food and consuming too much stuff in general because the environments you live in make any escape from the boredom, even in the hands of the Wendy's ginger bitch and the Mackey D's creepy clown, seem like a temporary salvation.
And how many of you guys out there get that thin chick only to discover it's really I Can't Believe It's Blow-Up Fat Girlfriend?
Oh, she cooks for you, that's fantastic ... if you can manage getting one that awesome.
More likely you discover she has even worse convenience and takeaway food habits than you do.
Most of the guys would actually be better off eating fried chicken and consuming energy gel vitamin drinks most the time like that British presenter guy in Japan.
That is if your gut can handle the fact that in the US, most of the fryer oil has been treated with anti-foaming agents that aren't too different from what you can expect to find in exercise mats.
That's how utterly fucked this situation is.
I moved to the US six years ago and I've lost 9 kg just by having to walk more in sprawled out places than I ever did in London or Bristol, and that's also with owning several vehicles.
The food is more full of crap and less full of food than what I'd been used to in the UK.
So I just don't eat as fucking much of it!
Most of this weight I lost after moving away from city centres, so don't think I'm making driving instead of walking my go-to excuse.
How hard can this be, people?
Are you really this fucking lazy or helpless by your own manufacturing of conditions?
[turns the dimmer down on Angry Brit Mode now]
BY FUCKING GOD HOW FECKLESS ARE YOU?
[oh, wait, I just turned it up to Gordon Fucking Ramsay, so sorry not sorry] :-)
Medical freedom is another issue. Do you have access to vitamins as supplements? Will they force you to be vaccinated, with unknown long term health consequences (and there WILL be health consequences) for a disease that non-obese people have a 99.8% chance of surviving with no long term effects? Does the country have mandatory track and trace (like Singapore)? Can you import the compounds to try DIY anti-aging therapies such as the following?
https://www.longecity.org/forum/topic/100363-stem-cell-self-renewal-with-c60/page-49#entry900714
So, it would appear that there are three criterion for selecting a plan B. One is financial and taxes (Henderson at Nomad Capitalist has this one covered). Two is the cultural factors that the Cappy mentions here. Third is medical liberty and the ability to pursue anti-aging as the technology roles out. I'm looking into this third criteria and will probably have more to say in another 6 months to a year.
In other news, man ho of the year should go to:
https://www.rt.com/news/521906-man-35-girlfriends-arrested-fraud-japan/
its a repeating phenomena:
Hosea 4:10
For they shall eat, and not have enough: they shall commit whoredom, and shall not increase: because they have left off to take heed to the LORD.
Referencing the MEME. I chatted with a sweet cute from Saint Petersburg about 5 years ago on Skype. It was fun chatting with her and she responded positively to my Russian "Очень Красивая." But I wanted to illustrate how bad it was for guys in my city so I showed her a picture of a girl and her b/f. The girl did bear a resemblance to a pig and the guy she was dating was several points above her on the ratings scale. The Russian girl was afraid I was making fun of her. Apparently she had been bullied in Russia and people told her she looked like a pig. I assured her, she was beautiful, but she disappeared on me not much after that.
Great article! Although I would suggest (at least in the interim) that if you don't mind paying a little more of your income to avoid fat people, maybe just stop shopping at Walmart as a solid first step?
I'd absolutely love "The Second Book of Numbers" with all of this data in it.
Good analysis, but I'll keep America in my list. There's something worse than woke culture and obesity: woke culture, obesity, low purchasing power, political instability and the highest crime and violence rates in the world. This is South America in a nutshell.
Takes a lot of discipline to keep your weight at a healthy level. I look forward to only needing that much, once I've lost the rest.
"People with enduring mental health problems are two to three times more likely to develop obesity and related disorders such as diabetes and heart disease."
The source is a body positive activist site: https://www.obesityaction.org/community/article-library/obesity-and-mental-health-is-there-a-link/
"Women with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) gain weight more rapidly and are more likely to be overweight or obese than women without the disorder, find researchers at Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) and Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health."
Source: https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/press-releases/ptsd-raises-risk-for-obesity-in-women/
"I see psychopathic behavior not only be tolerated, but celebrated in America, largely by the left" - really? Why is the Left the only group willing to address mental health?
Another question regarding women in the workforce (which is nothing new) why haven't we evolved our society where a woman doesn't have to choose between the two? Why can't we set up a society where a woman can have both? Also your data is missing the fact this generation is the most engaged group of fathers in history.
It sounds perfectly reasonable to have some way of generally screening fat people out of your life. Obesity and gauntness both tend to be obvious indicators of an otherwise healthy person being a possible psychotic. We perceive them as a threat on an instinctive level. Sort of like how we know to avoid people with neon colored hair, excessive tattoos, excessive piercings, bizarre haircut styles, drug abuse, and the like. We just know that they're unhealthy.
Thing is, in the countries you're going to be looking at the signs can be both more subtle in public and only more obvious in private. As an American, they might not draw your immediate attention due to you having to develop such a robust tolerance of more extreme psychotic behavior in the more advanced western countries.
In the past, when this blog featured much charty goodness, Cappy would have made a chart to illustrate the correlation between obesity and economic growth, rather than just speculating about it.
"I may be considered a 'Gaijin' in Japan"
You're a blue-eyed white man, you'd be more than fine there.
Hi Cap,
I've lived in Japan for over 30 years. I may be a gaijin, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Gaijin are forgiven for small transgressions of social rules. Japan is an easy, pleasant place to live. The people are reserved but polite around strangers, and a great deal of importance is put on good public behavior. It's a very stable society. Violent crime is almost non-existent. Finally, most of the people are thin and good looking.
Anon: Henderson at Nomad Capitalist is charging people for restructuring their business affairs to lower their tax liability to the legal minimum. That is what he charges thousands of dollars for. Moving your business overseas and keeping Uncle Sugar's hand out of the till without breaking IRS reqs.
If you just want a tax free retirement, and your retirement uncome is below the $110k individual exemption, just do a web search for retirement visas, and pick one you like.
If doing the international thing is Plan B, then cryonic suspension must be Plan C.
At least thats how I look at it.
Hello Cappy! Enjoyed this post. Come check out South Africa :), Garden Route specifically.
I have been an expat since around 1997, currently living in the Central Highlands of Mexico. I have written extensively on the Web about expatting.
The biggest problem with moving to another nation is income. I played coward and waited until I retired at age 55.
Many expats do not stay in their original location. So your original location should be a place where adapting is easiest, and when you have adapted, you can look for a permanent location.
In Mexico, more North Americans find Guadalajara a good place to start.
You won't have a problem finding a woman. In fact, she will find you. So, you have to be careful not to surrender too easily to the first attractive woman who makes it clear she wants you.
Tip: Nice guys, who get rocks thrown at them in the USA, are HOT in Mexico.
I went to the beach along the Texas Gulf Coast last week on a Friday afternoon.
This article really hit home. The number of disgustingly fat women and men was amazing. I'm not a ten by any means, but the women and men were no less than 1.5 to 2 of me. None of the women were even pleasantly cute fat. And crappy ass tattoos on top of that. I hate tattoos, but if you are going to have one, don't be an obese bastard.
I hate this fucking generation I have to be a part of. I want my reprieve. Unfortunately, expatriating isn't practical for me because of circumstances. I hate this dystopia, please fix it.
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