31 ms·

Can you share your experience with pulling out of US?

sneak 15y ago
I miss my friends and family a lot - all the time. It's not something to be undertaken lightly. I frequently worry about my annual visa renewal, knowing that I'm not a citizen in the place that I live and keep all my stuff. Should they ever decide to say no, I have to pick up and leave. I live in a rather wonderful place (Berlin), but I frequently miss my home and native culture. I wish I could go back, but I have a general personal policy now of not visiting countries that keep political prisoners. Being a hacker and relative weirdo, I've seen too many cases of harassment of those who make a point of themselves (within the confines of the law). Examples include everyone from Sklyarov to Appelbaum. I'm writing a rather lengthy paper about my reasons for leaving. It covers the data points that spell out, in my opinion, why it's now lunacy for reasonable people to continue living in the United States when they have the option of getting on a plane and going somewhere else. Unfortunately my current project workload means I probably won't have it edited down until at least winter, but stay tuned.
- calloc 15y ago
  Just don't develop hacking tools while on German soil ...
  - Roritharr 15y ago
    Or for that matter sing the first sentences of the older version of german national anthem, or denying the holocaust or anything like that. Although it would be silly to do so, it can get you in jail.
- pstack 15y ago
  Germany sounds delightful, but I enjoy playing video games. Including violent ones. Which, of course, goes to show the whole problem. Simply saying you're taking your ball and going somewhere else doesn't really deal with the problem that everywhere is pretty much under the same sort of absurd situations, in one form or another.
  - sneak 15y ago
    The problems with the USA are the cops coming and killing or imprisoning you, or harassing you or your employers, or stealing from you. The rule of law no longer exists. The problems with Germany are readily avoided by using strong crypto and privacy software - it's a simple matter of "don't get caught". Free speech is easy. The rest is pretty straightforward in a civilized society.

sneak 15y ago

I miss my friends and family a lot - all the time. It's not something to be undertaken lightly. I frequently worry about my annual visa renewal, knowing that I'm not a citizen in the place that I live and keep all my stuff. Should they ever decide to say no, I have to pick up and leave. I live in a rather wonderful place (Berlin), but I frequently miss my home and native culture. I wish I could go back, but I have a general personal policy now of not visiting countries that keep political prisoners. Being a hacker and relative weirdo, I've seen too many cases of harassment of those who make a point of themselves (within the confines of the law). Examples include everyone from Sklyarov to Appelbaum. I'm writing a rather lengthy paper about my reasons for leaving. It covers the data points that spell out, in my opinion, why it's now lunacy for reasonable people to continue living in the United States when they have the option of getting on a plane and going somewhere else. Unfortunately my current project workload means I probably won't have it edited down until at least winter, but stay tuned.

calloc 15y ago
Just don't develop hacking tools while on German soil ...
- Roritharr 15y ago
  Or for that matter sing the first sentences of the older version of german national anthem, or denying the holocaust or anything like that. Although it would be silly to do so, it can get you in jail.
pstack 15y ago
Germany sounds delightful, but I enjoy playing video games. Including violent ones. Which, of course, goes to show the whole problem. Simply saying you're taking your ball and going somewhere else doesn't really deal with the problem that everywhere is pretty much under the same sort of absurd situations, in one form or another.
- sneak 15y ago
  The problems with the USA are the cops coming and killing or imprisoning you, or harassing you or your employers, or stealing from you. The rule of law no longer exists. The problems with Germany are readily avoided by using strong crypto and privacy software - it's a simple matter of "don't get caught". Free speech is easy. The rest is pretty straightforward in a civilized society.