Will Voting With Their TV Remotes Eventually Become Voting With Their Feet?

I'm a big fan of HGTV. I used to watch it with my mom on occassion. It was her favorite network. I hadn't watched it in a while, but put it on a few times over the last week or so and noticed programming had changed a bit.

No more string episodes of Flip This House and far fewer high end appliances and granite countertops in dream kitchens wherein which folks can heat up their Chinese takeout. The network now reflects new housing austerity with shows such as Holmes on Homes (a serious home repair show that deals with the nuts and bolts rather than cosmetic changes), Property Virgins (a show about first time homebuyers taking advantage of the lower cost market), The Block (they fix up the exterior of the ugliest house on the block, get the entire block involved and chose a neighboring home for an additional project).

Interestingly, the back to back to back showings of House Hunters (prospective purchasers choosing from among 3 new homes in a new city) have become back to back to back showings of House Hunters International (same thing, but featuring Americans seeking homes outside the US). Not only are the HHI guests looking for new national digs, but viewers are too--apparently. The Scribbs Network which owns HGTV recognizes that reporting on the international market as key to its expansion.

Of the network's international division expansion, Scripps Networks President John Lansing said, "We have a window of opportunity driven not only by this media expansion, but also by the millions of people who are rising out of poverty into the middle class every year?"

So, what happens when that goes in reverse? When a people fall back into poverty as the middle class disappears?

It seems to me the popularity of HHI is an indication of what might be to come. The episode guests may be just a handful of people and many of them looking only for a vacation home, but the millions of viewers are newly interested in seeing what it might be like to live in places like Chile, Costa Rica, Belize, Argentina and Nicaragua in addition to the European destinations people have dreamt about over the years.

Futureyears.com has reported that top retirement locations for senior Americans are Ecuador, Costa Rica and Mexico. In 2008, I met a real estate developer who was moving much of his business down to Mexico to serve the American retiree community. Panama is also reported as a top retirement destination.

But it's not just retirees. Many Americans make an international move. Canada is the top moving destination. A lot of them are seeking the national health care we're supposed to despise, but really one despise when someone other than ourselves gets it.

Belgium got HSBC's top honors for being the best expat destination for raising children. The U.S. was ranked 13. China was ranked 9 and Qatar was 12. A 2008 USA Today Article estimated that about 3 million Americans a year move away each year, many between the ages of 24 and 34. They go for jobs, cultural immersion, adventure. Once concern is that those who are leaving are among the best and brightest.

I don't think Americans are leaving the country in droves. It's still pretty unusual. However, people are interested and are paying attention to what it's like to live in other countries. Who talked about that in the '60s and '70s? No one, apart from the occasional artist dreaming of living in Paris (and only temporarily).

If your interested, or just curious, there's an entire website devoted to helping people from all over the world find a new country.

While a few people move out of the country for political reasons. I think the majority are likely seeking a job and/or lifestyle they cannot get at home, but in some sense that is political too. It's the result of this country no longer providing what people want, a secure job that they like working at, a good education for their children, a nice home and later seeing their children find secure jobs they enjoy and a secure and pleasant retirement. Expat moving will probably happen more as jobs remain scarce and education and other local services go downhill for lack of funding.

Then, there's the old reason, religious freedom. As the Pilgrims were not allowed to freely practice their religion in old England, those Americans who are not fundamentalist Christians are finding it harder to live the lives they want to live in this country. Just last night the entire federal budget was held up so a few could make a religious point about abortion, to enforce the rule of a religion not everyone here practices or believes in, that a fetus is more important than the woman carrying it.