Regarding the economic oppression inflicted on the rest of the world to serve the needs and interests of the US (and its consumers). Being a consumer and beneficiary of that system is one thing. Paying taxes into it is another. One way to look at it - if you consume $30k of government money, that will offset your contribution to the warchest for awhile, depending on how steep your tax bill is. ;)

Well I'm being a bit facitious and dropping 3 comments into a month-old conversation probably makes this a bit of a moot point anyway. :) But I found this post in your journal interesting and thought I'd respond on a few things.

Now that over a month has passed, did you make a decision? (Maybe I should go back and read older entries more closely).