A barbaric broken country

Even though I love America, it is a brutal place

I immigrated to America in 1993. I had a great job, working for a Silicon Valley company in its European hub in Neuchatel, Switzerland. Early in my career I was flexible and willing to go on adventures. I left the greatest country in the world (Switzerland) to go live in California’s San Francisco Bay Area, the greatest place on earth.

Since moving to America I have paid $3.9M in taxes. I have had a lovely career and am still working, trying to do something awesome because I am toxically allergic to the idea of doing something mediocre. I have founded three companies, invented several products, and have helped several startups grow from humble beginnings to become successful and valuable companies. I have always been active in volunteering and charitable work, and have donated hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars to organizations helping underserved communities in my area.

In October 2019 my beautiful wife survived (barely) a hemorrhagic stroke. She had to have emergency cranial surgery to relieve the swelling, was in a coma for a few weeks, and was paralyzed when she finally regained some awareness and opened her eyes. I became her primary caregiver and struggled to balance running my Salesforce systems integrator business while ferrying her to medical appointments, fetching things, cooking for her and bathing her. Eventually I lost my business. After a long struggle I found a full time job at a company doing similar business…