Bailing out doesn’t help America. Neither does “running away” from issues or burying one’s head in the proverbial sand.

The well-being of America is too important to resort to such “solutions” but apparently much of that is happening, and Americans should be deeply concerned.

“In its 250th year, is America, land of immigration, becoming a country of emigration?” the Wall Street Journal asked in a Feb. 27 front-page article.

“America’s own citizens are leaving in record numbers, replanting themselves and their families in lands they find more affordable and safe,” the Journal reported. Later, the newspaper made the troubling observation that “the new American dream, for some of its citizens, is to no longer live there.”

According to the Journal, the United States experienced net negative migration — an estimated loss of approximately 150,000 people — in 2025, and “the outflow will likely increase in 2026,” based on calculations by the Brookings Institution, a public-policy think tank.

And, it is important to point out that none of what’s being discussed here now has anything to do with the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. However, the Journal made note of some commentators alleging “Donald Dash,” since the emigration numbers have spiked under America’s current president.

“But the phenomenon has been building for years,” the Journal said, “fed by the rise of remote work, mounting living costs and an appetite for foreign lifestyles that feel within reach, especially in Europe.”

A former U.S. resident who now lives overseas told the Journal that “the wages are higher in the U.S. but the quality of life is higher in Europe.”

Meanwhile, the number of Americans arriving to live and work is at a record pace — and rising — in nearly all of the European Union’s 27 member states. Back in America, the U.S. government reportedly has a monthslong backlog of Americans seeking to renounce their citizenship, either to secure a foreign passport or to avoid taxation of their earnings abroad.

A big question lurks: Do the emigrants personify a loss of faith in America’s future and way of life?

The Journal answered that question this way:

“Across dozens of interviews, U.S. expats described their motivations as a tangle of economic incentives, lifestyle preferences and disenchantment with the trajectory of America, citing violent crime, cost of living and turbulent politics. Trump’s re-election was a factor for many.”

But the Journal sees the shift running much deeper, pointing out that when Gallup asked Americans during the 2008 recession how many wanted to leave the United States, the answer was one in 10. Last year it was one in five.

Americans choosing to remain here are justified in speculating regarding what percentage of the emigrants in question are actually, directly undermining best interests of the U.S. by taking their talents elsewhere. Beyond that is a “fresh” new issue that erupted on the world stage only days ago, the war in Iran, and the impacts beyond its borders.

Are many of those Americans who left this country now fearful of their own well-being on foreign soil, not being sure of who and what opposing attitudes and loyalties might be in close proximity to them?

For them, bailing out might have been the right thing to do when they went ahead with it. But now, how many wish they had buried their heads in the sand regarding America’s problems or, better yet, committed themselves to trying to help fix what might be wrong?