Why I left Europe and moved to America
I moved to Miami, one of the most optimistic places in the world right now
I have been pessimistic about Europe for a while. I wrote a very long post on why, then realized it would probably violate the DSA (EU’s censorship law). That says it all.
Europeans have lost freedom of speech, which is the first freedom to fall before the rest follow.
The continent is, frankly, quite depressing now. Apart from being an incredible vacation and retirement place, there isn’t much going on. It’s hard to find a place where you can feel true optimism about the future.
It’s no wonder that no one is optimistic anymore. Few new things are built, crime rates are going parabolic and the local population is being replaced at a record rate.
My unpublished long post on Europe can be summarized by Thiel’s remark on the matter. Europe has three futures: Sharia Law, CCP-style surveillance state, or Greta Thunberg with a bike (see Ayn Rand’s The Return of the Primitive).
I’m not big on any of those outcomes. At CitizenX, we have also been warning for years that Europe will get increasingly confiscatory.
I have been thinking for years about where to move. There are many factors to balance, and there’s no perfect place for everyone.
But I had a few very telling moments.
A couple years ago I tried to launch a remote-first, European-focused fellowship for teenage entrepreneurs. My first finding? Europe’s schools have crushed teenagers’ souls so much that there aren’t many of these anymore. My second finding? Every one of those extraordinary teens wants to move to the US.
Another realization is how much the US has given me. As a teenager, I tried for months and months to raise for my startup. I chased Spanish VCs, who would always be busy yachting. In the US, we raised in a week from none other than Tim Draper, who invested in companies like Tesla and SpaceX. The US is the only country in the world in which a billionaire takes the time to meet a boy from a small Spanish town and hear from his crazy startup. It truly is the land of opportunity.
I’m not a teenager anymore, and I don’t need to raise money. But I want to live in a place where talented teenagers can build, for they are the future of our civilization.
And the US happens to be the last bastion of Western Civilization. With Europe increasingly turning East, the US is the only one with the power to change the course of our weakening civilization.
Within the US, Miami seems like such a vibrant optimistic place. People are outdoors getting fit, being healthy, walking their kids and dogs. Or indoors building, investing, etc. Even Patrick Collison is Miamiposting.
Even though I am reminded (by both some Americans and most Europeans) about how polarized things are in the US right now, I cannot help but feel incredibly optimistic about its future. Maybe it is in my contrarian nature to feel the opposite to the mainstream narrative, but I really believe the country is on the right track.
Just forget politics for a second and focus on the three things that will define the world for the next century: space, AI and crypto. Those three are overwhelmingly happening in the US, and the current administration is taking all three very seriously.
“Easy decisions, hard life. Hard decisions, easy life” is a great saying. The US is now going through very hard decisions, which I believe will yield great results in the decades to come. Strong men are finally at the helm of Earth’s greatest country.
Even though I deeply despised the US for its crypto crackdown, I realized such crackdown was incredibly anti-American. Upon reading more about the US and understanding its past, I realize more and more how much I sympathize with American values.
I don’t know what will happen in the next years. Maybe there’s a Civil War. Maybe there’s an overnight exodus of all talented people to a bunch of other hubs. Maybe this was a “bull trap” after all.
I sincerely hope not. The current AI race and space race require for America to give its all. If America doesn’t win both, Western Civilization is done for.
I don’t want to see a world where America fractures and China wins both races. That would be an extremely unfree world.
You should always have a plan B, but you should live your plan A, for otherwise you will have never lived life.
I’m beginning a new chapter of my life in Miami, focusing my work on space technologies so the West can win the upcoming space race. If you are into space and live nearby, hit me up and let’s grab coffee!
Great read, agree with your thoughts on the US. I was born and raised in Miami but spent 16 years living abroad, which gave me a deep appreciation for what we have here. I even read this to my wife and son. Proud to call this country home.