The US is one of the few countries in the world that requires its citizens to pay income tax no matter where they are actually living. I’m beginning to wonder why I bother. I am dubious that the Social Security system will be worth much by the time I retire, and I won’t be in the US to "benefit" from Medicare.
Until recently, I saw my citizenship (and the taxes I pay for it) as a kind of insurance: if things were to go really rotten in some foreign country where I happened to be, the US Marines would come and rescue me.
I have now learned that, while they might come and rescue me, they’ll make me pay for the privilege, as they are doing with American citizens in Lebanon. (I’ve been unable to find out how much they’re charging.)
Hmm. Maybe I should just give up US citizenship. Then I might be less likely to ever NEED rescuing.
