People Want to Move Where There’s More Opportunity? How <i>Dare</i> They

German men of conscription age will no longer be able to leave the country, according to an item posted on the Daily Romania X account. Since I have never heard of the Daily Romania — I’m more of a Weekly Romania guy — I decided to see if this was true. The truth is a bit more complex.

In Germany, men between the ages of 17 and 45 have to tell the military if they plan to leave the country for more than three months. Really? Forty-five? That suggests Germany, in the event of war, would cut right to the end-stage “conscript the shopkeepers and office managers, and send them into combat with sharpened sticks.” But will it really affect anyone? The Guardian:

The [defense] ministry said it remained largely without consequence for the men in question.

“The regulation already applied during the cold war and had no practical relevance; in particular, it is not subject to sanctions,” the [ministry] spokesperson said.

Well, okay then. But the news was still upsetting to the younger cohort, which protested by placing 150 pairs of empty boots on the Reichstag with a note saying they would not fill them. Kremlin bosses must have smiled a little at that. Ah, it’ll be easier this time.

Can you blame the youth? After all, what have they been told? Our country is steeped in sin and error; our culture is outmoded and chauvinistic; our prosperity is killing the world; we must import foreign cultures to live on the dole and run around yelling about Gaza. Also, here is a rifle; please defend it.

In Canada, a similar situation: A tech executive speaking at a Liberal Party convention floated the idea of a tax on young people seeking to flee the Great White North. A mere half-million loons to exit the country. Patrick Pichette, the former Google exec, said $500,000 is what the government spent to educate the youths, so it’s only fair. (He left Canada years ago and currently lives in London, but he has a Canadian passport.) Great idea! As Reagan would have never put it: Mr. Trudeau, put up this wall! You wonder if dropouts would be pro-rated, and you also have to wonder at the price of education in Canada. Do parental contributions in the form of taxes count? No? More to the point, what young person has a half-mil sitting around to buy their freedom? None. That’s the point.

It’ll probably never happen. Canada already has exit taxes, but nothing that punitive. But like the German story, it’s a sign: Many nations believe they’re doing everything right, and they’re offended that their youth long for fertile green pastures where the opportunities are greater and the state does not extract half your income for welfare, windmills, and bike lanes.

Which brings us to the blue states of the U.S. Not content with passing a 9.9 percent tax on income over $1 million, Washington State is “considering” an exit tax on the filthy, despicable rich people who leave. California is considering a tax — 5 percent, one time — on billionaires who leave. It would affect about 200 people, but it is ABSOLUTELY NOT a bill of attainder, no sir. Just fairness! Those people made their money in California, and now they want to . . . move? Like, pack up and go where they want? Whoa there, pilgrim. It’s only a matter of time before the Highway Patrol stops cars at the border to extract your gold fillings and making sure you didn’t sew your jewels into your clothing, or just throws spike strips in front of any U-Haul barreling to the border.

Note: Calmatters.org notes that “Progressive lawmakers have introduced at least two proposals to tax corporations, including one that would direct funds toward Medi-Cal.” Tax businesses? Gosh, it’s a wonder they didn’t think of that before.