AW1Steve
Posts: 14507
Joined: 3/10/2007
From: Mordor Illlinois
Status: offline
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ORIGINAL: Chickenboy
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ORIGINAL: Historiker
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ORIGINAL: AW1Steve
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ORIGINAL: Historiker
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Moving around a lot has always been a by-product of economics. Americans have a long tradition of "going where the jobs are". After you (our immigrant ancestors) cross the ocean's to come here , a move of a couple of states or a thousand miles or so isn't a big thing. Being "rooted" to the land , while great for a sense of history or family ("my family has been in this town for XXX generations!") it's often a sure fire route to poverty. There are lots of Ghost towns across the west USA that are a testement to this. (What do you move for work when..."the mine plays out", "the mill closes down" , etc). Which REALLY complicates researching the anscestors.
Germany prefers to pay social welfare to those who don't want to move, even if jobs for them are available somewhere else. It would be inhumane to take someone out of his social enviroment... 
Oh that's true in many places. But look at yourself. Your not just willing to move from one end of your country , you are willing to even move out of the country for a while if necessary. We have the same problems in many parts of our country. But then again, I've never heard of anyone being lauded because they are "on the dole".
I deep loved the scenery and climate of the small town I grew up in. But opportunity was not there at the time, and it was elsewhere. But I have a great many relatives who stayed , because it was easy, comfortable and familiar. They are the one that our decendants will have an easy time tracking down (my brother for example , only left for a hitch in the Navy , then returned and never left again. My cousins have never been more than 25 miles from the site of their birth. But then again, they never went to college ,joined the service, or owned a passport). 
Nobody should be forced to move. But forcing those who do to pay for the living of those who stayed at a place with no jobs is... well, propably "european"... 
Agreed on all counts...
I'm always asked what the heck a guy doing in Southern California is doing in Minnesota, our nation's CONUS perennial icebox. My answer is "that's where the jobs are in my specialty".
I miss my family, which is a diaspora and lives in Arizona and California and wish that we could all live in a compound on the West Coast, away from the workaday responsibilities of...you know...providing for ourselves and building a new life. If only I had a couple hundred million $, I could set up a family compound a la the Kennedys in Massachusetts. I'll have to talk to Steve about a teeny tiny loan...
So, our family's choice has always been-go where your jobs take you or cling to family shirt tails and 'get by' on odds and ends. We've always chosen the former, and it has meant extensive familial mobility, possibly too much. I'd be hard pressed to say where 'home' really is anymore.
I know this trade off is anathema to many Europeans who (comparatively) rarely move out of their homeland for jobs. But my family is doing what Americans have done for generations.
Sorry dude....if I had the kind of loot you need , I'd already be building a compound 7 miles north of Walkers point, KennebunkPort. How does "Slacker's joint" sound? 
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RE: THE THREAD!!! - 
) you asked if I was heading your way due to "witness protection". (Actually in my case that would be "witless protection). No , I've just been trying to explore as much of the west as I can while I'm living out there. And I noticed that I can stay on the same road, cross one and a half states (OK...one and two half states) I'm in your neck of the woods. So If I pass by (probably going some where else) I'll buy you a beer or three. I have agoal of meeting as many thread brothers as possible. 
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