As long as I have any choice, I will only stay in a country where political liberty, tolerance, and equality of all citizens before the law prevail.
The statement sets out three conditions attached to residence in a country: freedom to hold and express political views, tolerance of difference, and equal treatment of all citizens under the law. Loyalty is presented as conditional on these, rather than owed to a state by birth or nationality.
The opening qualification is significant. Emigration is only possible for those with the means, documents and destination to leave, and the phrase acknowledges that many people facing the same conditions have no such option. It frames the choice as one available at that moment, not as a right anyone can exercise.
Taken together, the three conditions describe a constitutional minimum rather than a full political programme. They say nothing about the form of government, wealth or welfare, but identify the protections without which, on this view, ordinary life cannot be conducted.
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Albert Einstein
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