Are you willing to give your life fighting for American Democracy?

[róisín_dubh]

80. Sorry, but no.

My expertise is in Latin America.
We supported a government that ethnically cleansed its people (or tried to anyway): Guatemala, 1954-1996.
We supported, nay, fomented, a horrific military coup in Chile in 1973.
We supported military dictatorships in Argentina and Brazil in the 1970s and 1980s.
We supported violent counter-revolutions in El Salvador and Nicaragua.
We did most of this under the guise of stopping Communism. It was also almost always done with plausible deniability.
I know what the US government is capable of and I have no interest in experiencing it first hand.

I've never been particularly patriotic. My parents wouldn't let me study abroad in college because they were afraid I'd stay in Europe. So I waited until I was in my 40s to move and I have no real urge to come back. I miss my family and I'd help them escape if I could, but I have very little money or space.

I vote and donate. I assist immigration lawyers with my expertise on a freelance, pro bono basis. But I do my "good trouble" from abroad.