Soon I fear Portuguese women will have more rights than 100% of American women. It is definitely one of the reasons I left the USA. I lived in Texas and it is so corrupt and misogynistic, I was not paying $14,000 a year in property taxes to a bunch of men who took women’s’ rights. If I don’t have rights I’m not paying taxes. Also in Texas, the gun laws don’t exist. And people who say if you take away big cities there isn’t that much are delusional. Gun deaths happen every single day in Texas, and when children were murdered so that they were unrecognizable, the governor said, “it could have been worse.” Not one single law officer has been removed from their job for the botched debacle in Uvalde, Texas, a very small town. And I hate to say this, but in America, 2025 is going to see more grifting and graft and turning back the clock on progress than probably in my lifetime of almost 70 years. Those Project 2025 dudes didn’t write that crap just as a literary exercise. I feel for American citizens and innocent people who will be impacted by the evil and greed and corruption of the incoming administration, but I’m damn glad I had the foresight to see what was coming.
Good post Nancy. I moved to Portugal mainly because I felt an intangible sense of liberation during several vacations here. The feeling was palpable coming from the USA to here. The atmosphere of contentment and gentleness was and still is something I treasure. Your piece about the Portuguese constitution helps explain it.
I was impressed by the "longest unamendable" clause and the long list of classes protected by the Portuguese Constitution, and yet having lived here about the same period as you, and having come here for much the same reasons, I realize that the "paper" aspect of a country's constitution is only half the picture. Maybe even less than half. And after Nov 5, perhaps even less than that. Once the bickering and back stabbing reaches a certain point, anything written on paper begins to take on the weight and significance of old romantic marriage vows.
What matters most at any given point in time is the collective will and spirit of a people. Despite having such a modern constitution, Portugal seems to me to be extremely "tradition bound," by nature, which is a good thing, but also has its drawbacks. By contrast, America seems to have an endless appetite to reinvent everything, over and over, and where the fact something is "tradition" is just another reason to toss it aside. Witness the current MAGA zeal to overturn almost every political and social norm existing. In fact, I would not be surprised if there is an attempt to hold a Constitutional Convention during the next two years. The GOP is only 6 states shy of the 34 state threshold needed to convene it.
Thank you for crystallizing three major reasons for my moving here. I see them as an approach to life that make me able to freely enjoy all the others - culture, people, weather, food, beauty, proximity etc etc.
Thank you for sharing about the constitution of Portugal. There are corrupt politicians here too, but they don't stoke anger, fear, and violence in the name of "Christianity." They also do not control vast fortunes and the force of a superpower, so their grift is less iniquitous than in the US. Thanks for your writing.
As always, muito obrigado Nancy. First arriving in Portugal in August 2021, a week ago returned from my longest stay (five months) in the US since then. Struck by how sleep the nation seems to be to what is presently unfolding. It appears to be swiftly moving away from love, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, not that this was ever a truism :-). Grateful for having lived there for sixty years, and now grateful for living in Portugal. And yet, what put Portugal on the map for my family leaving the US three year ago was that it ranked 3rd in the GPI in 2021. Since then, as you noted, has dropped to 7th. And Chega secured 18% of the vote in this year's election: https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/europpblog/2024/07/08/what-the-rise-of-chega-means-for-portuguese-democracy/. As my Guru Lily Tomlin once said: "Maybe if people started to listen, history would stop repeating itself". Obrigado novamente e amor para Onyx!
I'm currently volunteering at an albergue on the Camino Frances and last night the peregrinos and I were sitting around talking. A young man from Italy asked me essentially if it was safe to come to the US because he's interested in possibly working at a National Park. I found it difficult to articulate how I feel about the current situation in the US. I told him that I thought guns were illegal at National Parks and although I'm in disagreement with most of the current gun laws, I didn't feel unsafe. But I also admit that I find it unnerving when I have had people open carry their guns in front of me. What the discussion reinforced for me is what a totally abhorrent situation we are currently facing in the US.
Thank you for a really good view of Portugal as it may have many problems but it is a generous country. As a sideline to your comments on gun laws, I investigated the rules for gun ownership and they are very strict and very much like those for the UK, i.e. over 18, no criminal record and a reason for having them which would be hunting, pest control or competition. Weapons must be secured within the home. In other words, they seem sensible to me.
Thank you for sharing this information. I’m about to do a scouting trip to Portugal and this adds to my reasons for wanting to leave the US and head elsewhere. No place is perfect but as a woman I am feeling like my rights and those of my children, female especially, are being taken away like candy from a baby. It’s terribly disheartening.
DC, if we don't talk about what is happening in the US by using the excuse "no politics', the place of my birth will cease to be a democratic union. You can bet that the incoming President is going to attempt to silence the media, nighttime talk hosts, pundits and eventually the common citizen. US citizens have the right to free expression and people SHOULD be talking and paying attention.
What timing as the US has just had another school shooting. I'm in the process of figuring out all of the logistics of a move to Portugal from the US. Thank you for your writings.
Again the people who make the STUPID comment that most gun deaths are from five big cities, yet another extermination in a small community has occurred in America. Guns KILL children and Americans don’t care!
Madison school shooting live updates: 5 dead, including suspected shooter, at Abundant Life Christian School in Wisconsin, police say
And don't forget. The CEO of United Healthcare. Funny (not) how many were cheering and raising the killer to celebrity status for killing someone who was minding his own business walking down a random street. And he shot him in the back. We are a country who has taken a deep dive down into an abyss of mental illness. I simply can't comprehend what the solution is. I'm not even sure there is one. Most of us mind our own business, work, sometimes have fun, and do our best. Note is indicated "most of us" - i might be delusional in sharing this, I guess time will tell... they say evil overcomes good, karma is a thing... but I don't know, one of the great mysteries of life ehrn there are more questions than answers.
great read, as always. Spot on about how even though it's a very traditional country in some ways, it is evolved in others. I wish we could be so committed to preserving the rights of our fellow countrymen and women. sigh.
Soon I fear Portuguese women will have more rights than 100% of American women. It is definitely one of the reasons I left the USA. I lived in Texas and it is so corrupt and misogynistic, I was not paying $14,000 a year in property taxes to a bunch of men who took women’s’ rights. If I don’t have rights I’m not paying taxes. Also in Texas, the gun laws don’t exist. And people who say if you take away big cities there isn’t that much are delusional. Gun deaths happen every single day in Texas, and when children were murdered so that they were unrecognizable, the governor said, “it could have been worse.” Not one single law officer has been removed from their job for the botched debacle in Uvalde, Texas, a very small town. And I hate to say this, but in America, 2025 is going to see more grifting and graft and turning back the clock on progress than probably in my lifetime of almost 70 years. Those Project 2025 dudes didn’t write that crap just as a literary exercise. I feel for American citizens and innocent people who will be impacted by the evil and greed and corruption of the incoming administration, but I’m damn glad I had the foresight to see what was coming.
Good post Nancy. I moved to Portugal mainly because I felt an intangible sense of liberation during several vacations here. The feeling was palpable coming from the USA to here. The atmosphere of contentment and gentleness was and still is something I treasure. Your piece about the Portuguese constitution helps explain it.
I was impressed by the "longest unamendable" clause and the long list of classes protected by the Portuguese Constitution, and yet having lived here about the same period as you, and having come here for much the same reasons, I realize that the "paper" aspect of a country's constitution is only half the picture. Maybe even less than half. And after Nov 5, perhaps even less than that. Once the bickering and back stabbing reaches a certain point, anything written on paper begins to take on the weight and significance of old romantic marriage vows.
What matters most at any given point in time is the collective will and spirit of a people. Despite having such a modern constitution, Portugal seems to me to be extremely "tradition bound," by nature, which is a good thing, but also has its drawbacks. By contrast, America seems to have an endless appetite to reinvent everything, over and over, and where the fact something is "tradition" is just another reason to toss it aside. Witness the current MAGA zeal to overturn almost every political and social norm existing. In fact, I would not be surprised if there is an attempt to hold a Constitutional Convention during the next two years. The GOP is only 6 states shy of the 34 state threshold needed to convene it.
Thank you for crystallizing three major reasons for my moving here. I see them as an approach to life that make me able to freely enjoy all the others - culture, people, weather, food, beauty, proximity etc etc.
Thank you for sharing about the constitution of Portugal. There are corrupt politicians here too, but they don't stoke anger, fear, and violence in the name of "Christianity." They also do not control vast fortunes and the force of a superpower, so their grift is less iniquitous than in the US. Thanks for your writing.
As always, muito obrigado Nancy. First arriving in Portugal in August 2021, a week ago returned from my longest stay (five months) in the US since then. Struck by how sleep the nation seems to be to what is presently unfolding. It appears to be swiftly moving away from love, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, not that this was ever a truism :-). Grateful for having lived there for sixty years, and now grateful for living in Portugal. And yet, what put Portugal on the map for my family leaving the US three year ago was that it ranked 3rd in the GPI in 2021. Since then, as you noted, has dropped to 7th. And Chega secured 18% of the vote in this year's election: https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/europpblog/2024/07/08/what-the-rise-of-chega-means-for-portuguese-democracy/. As my Guru Lily Tomlin once said: "Maybe if people started to listen, history would stop repeating itself". Obrigado novamente e amor para Onyx!
I'm currently volunteering at an albergue on the Camino Frances and last night the peregrinos and I were sitting around talking. A young man from Italy asked me essentially if it was safe to come to the US because he's interested in possibly working at a National Park. I found it difficult to articulate how I feel about the current situation in the US. I told him that I thought guns were illegal at National Parks and although I'm in disagreement with most of the current gun laws, I didn't feel unsafe. But I also admit that I find it unnerving when I have had people open carry their guns in front of me. What the discussion reinforced for me is what a totally abhorrent situation we are currently facing in the US.
Thank you for a really good view of Portugal as it may have many problems but it is a generous country. As a sideline to your comments on gun laws, I investigated the rules for gun ownership and they are very strict and very much like those for the UK, i.e. over 18, no criminal record and a reason for having them which would be hunting, pest control or competition. Weapons must be secured within the home. In other words, they seem sensible to me.
Thank you for sharing this information. I’m about to do a scouting trip to Portugal and this adds to my reasons for wanting to leave the US and head elsewhere. No place is perfect but as a woman I am feeling like my rights and those of my children, female especially, are being taken away like candy from a baby. It’s terribly disheartening.
DC, if we don't talk about what is happening in the US by using the excuse "no politics', the place of my birth will cease to be a democratic union. You can bet that the incoming President is going to attempt to silence the media, nighttime talk hosts, pundits and eventually the common citizen. US citizens have the right to free expression and people SHOULD be talking and paying attention.
What timing as the US has just had another school shooting. I'm in the process of figuring out all of the logistics of a move to Portugal from the US. Thank you for your writings.
Again the people who make the STUPID comment that most gun deaths are from five big cities, yet another extermination in a small community has occurred in America. Guns KILL children and Americans don’t care!
Madison school shooting live updates: 5 dead, including suspected shooter, at Abundant Life Christian School in Wisconsin, police say
And don't forget. The CEO of United Healthcare. Funny (not) how many were cheering and raising the killer to celebrity status for killing someone who was minding his own business walking down a random street. And he shot him in the back. We are a country who has taken a deep dive down into an abyss of mental illness. I simply can't comprehend what the solution is. I'm not even sure there is one. Most of us mind our own business, work, sometimes have fun, and do our best. Note is indicated "most of us" - i might be delusional in sharing this, I guess time will tell... they say evil overcomes good, karma is a thing... but I don't know, one of the great mysteries of life ehrn there are more questions than answers.
great read, as always. Spot on about how even though it's a very traditional country in some ways, it is evolved in others. I wish we could be so committed to preserving the rights of our fellow countrymen and women. sigh.
Another thoughtful post with a great mix of good information, sound reasoning, and measured endorsement. Thanks, Nancy. See you soon!
Please, no politics. I left the US to get away from American politics.
Politics is everywhere. Other people are very interested in the differences. If I’m not interested in a topic I just move on.
It is her blog and she can write about anything she wishes. You can just scroll by. I find this post informative.
You might want to get away from politics, but politics never let you get away, so your request sounds impossible
Sounds good.