[bartonfink]

I was already planning on leaving the US for similar reasons, and SOPA isn't doing the US's case any favors. The fact of the matter is that the US can no longer claim it holds a monopoly on a first-world quality of life the way it could in the past. The US hasn't taken itself seriously as a country for a while, and I don't see any reason to stick around and subject my family to whatever comes down the pipeline.

I'm planning to head to Australia for a number of reasons, some personal, some political. I've decided to effectively vote with my feet. I'm an intelligent, successful person and I see no reason to put up with a government that seems to take me for granted while it can't even do its most basic job. The world is getting smaller every day, and things like Skype mean that a move like this doesn't entail cutting all ties with family in the way it used to. Why put up with a country that acts like it doesn't want you?

[tobylane]

Is there a specific timeframe where you think the US had that monopoly?

[bartonfink]

Post-WW2 comes to mind immediately, largely because the rest of the world was either in the grips of colonialism or trying to rebuild after the war.