The Dystopian Times, 9. No More Promised Land.
The U.S. is no longer paradise on earth. Americans who live abroad, around nine million, have had to send to the IRS details of their financial movements ever since 2010, when the FATCA law was enacted. This stands for Foreign Account Tax Compliant Act. The purpose of this law was to make sure that the rich paid their fair share of taxes. But, the ones caught up in all the bureaucracy are simple Americans living abroad for a myriad of different reasons, and most of them simply middle class, or even lower. Aside from having to send details to the IRS, the banks dealing with American citizens also have to send documentation to the American tax man. Rather than deal with the paperwork (banks may be banned from doing business with American companies otherwise), banks simply tell American customers to move their money elsewhere. So, aside from having to send the details, and pay U.S. taxes on earnings abroad, many Americans also have to look for banks willing to take them on as clients...