I recently found a netflix documentary on minimalism. Interesting. I am not sure I could live in an empty room like some of them do, but I can certainly cut back on about 50% of what I have to slave to pay for. Why work only to give half to the government ?

Then, and I speak as one of that rare class of persons called "natural born citizens of the United States" (meaning a citizen born and bred on both sides of my family), those people are better gone.

But it IS different here in the USA from when I was in college in the 70's. All bets are off as to what powers the government has now. There seems to be no limit.
There is a TV series Lilyhammer on netflix, and assuming they accurately portray life in Norway, I couldnt handle the social control there along with the regulations and restrictions imposed on citizens. I suspect there are other countries that would offer better advantages than the USA at this point.

"I was with 3 months of discharge"
When I first saw this I thought this was slang for having 3 months of light or no duty to offset the always-on nature of work at sea, but now I get it. My dad was on the Kennedy, but I don't know much about the Navy beyond the few stories he tells. He got to see some sights of the world at a young age, but it seems like the job was a stressful kind of boredom. His friends got sent to Vietnam, and he went to the Mediterranean for the Jordanian Crisis. His job involved prepping (the 7 Ps), drilling, and then waiting for a fight that never came while his friends by sheer luck did have to fight.

A few years ago, I read They Marched into Sunlight about those years about a battle in Vietnam that happened at the same time as a protest in Madison. It is so weird to read because my parents and extended family remember those days. Aspects of the 60s university officials, some whom my family knows, are oddly reminiscent of people I know today. It's odd to read about Paul Saglin using his winter coat to protect himself from being beaten. Eight years later he became mayor, and is mayor right now. My grandmother said the Sterling Hall Bombing shook their house, and she immediately. It seems like it was a different world because I was born in '75, but it some ways oddly familiar.

You had 3 months off from the US Navy, and a foreign beautiful foreign woman who owned a restaurant invited you live with her? It sounds like a spy movie.

I was in the Navy also (1980-2001) but what I experienced was on the other side of the world and I ran into similar experiences. I was stationed in the Philippines and met a very nice Filipina who was a schoolteacher. Similar offer to stay when I got out, again close to discharge but reenlisted and returned to the US.

There is a solution to this. First of all, spend the money you have only on things which really benefit your life (and not the bottom lines of big companies like Walmart). That means you dont have to work as much, and therefore pay less tax. US Citizenship is not that great a thing. Once you get it, you are indeed a slave to our government even if you try to leave. I think there are a lot of "virtual expats" that just move to places like Costa Rica and have a great life. I do think it takes a lot of planning and wealth building to do that, however.

... but rapidly increasing Gov's self-importance!

Please post more about Belize when you get there. We have only been there once for a very short (cruise ship) visit and only saw poverty or very wealthy. I've heard about it being such a wonderful place to retire to from people selling property there, but that makes me cautious - no one tells you that you should buy something in a slum, they always make it sound like paradise.

Check out MINIMALISM on Netflix. Shows how we spend a lot of money and accumulate things that wont ever benefit our lives.

Just to let everyone know, I am not leaving the US because of Trump. I am going to Belize because my mom and stepdad moved there 3 years ago and I am going to be with them. I really don't care who is in office, well, except Hillary, whoever becomes the Commander-in-Chief. President Trump seems to love the military and they seem to love him. I cannot say the same about the former President, just look at how many Generals and Admirals he fired because they would not toe to his mantra on foreign relations. Not all military is seek and destroy, that is what we were good at but there is also the down time and getting to know people, local people in many places and different cultures. I still have many friends in many places around the world and will continue that in the future, including many on this forum. You can soon add that you know someone in Belize.

Best of luck to you.