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I've heard several Americans, many of which I consider smarter and more intelligent than myself, are getting passports, are learning new languages and claim that they'll leave the United States for a new country after the next election. What are they afraid of? Should I be looking into this myself?

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    At a guess - I'd say that they're terrified the Trump might actually win and want to get out of Dodge before the trouble starts. The only downside is, where exactly is a safe haven?
    – user7754
    Jun 13, 2016 at 2:19
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    It's pretty simple really. It's because they believe that one one of the candidates will be so bad, that it will benefit them to not be a citizen of the US if that candidate becomes president. Jun 13, 2016 at 4:27
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    @SamIam: Be fair, some of them might dread both candidates. And many are not planning to give up citizenship, just (claiming to be) planning to live elsewhere for the 4 or 8 years. Jun 13, 2016 at 9:11
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    The simple answer is "Because it's one of many ways that Americans like to express their displeasure of politics in general." Complaining about politics is a hobby. This is just one of the ways we do it.
    – user1530
    Jun 13, 2016 at 15:04
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    You might find this helpful Jun 15, 2016 at 7:47

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It depends who you're describing. For some elitists it's more talk that action—we went through this with, for example, the election of President George W. Bush. I think there's also an unfortunate attitude of declaring that the country wouldn't be good enough for them, so they'd rather wash their hands of it, or that losing them would harm the country. Maybe it's just a bit of fantasy escape. They might have second thoughts after the election. On the other hand, if one is a member of one the dozen or so groups that Trump and his followers have directly threatened, including Hispanics, Muslims, and women, the fear of discrimination and violence is quite real. Either way, Trump appears to be an extremely divisive figure.

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    Hillary Clinton also got her haters who might make such statements. But anyway, when you look at other countries, you practically never see a significant voluntary mass-exodus after a change in government. The "vote with your feet" idea is a myth which practically never happens in practice. The cost of starting a new life in a foreign country (and I am not just talking about money) is usually far higher than that of just living with the new government.
    – Philipp
    Jun 13, 2016 at 8:18
  • "Practically never see"...not sure about that. Plenty of countries have governments that get overthrown where leaving becomes a life-or-death situation. That, of course, is highly unlikely in the US, but it certainly happens in many countries.
    – user1530
    Jun 13, 2016 at 15:02
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    Trump supporters already get violently assaulted in public. Jun 13, 2016 at 17:05

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