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That first point is basically - you could do everything right on your end and there’s a good chance that a US agent within the foreign government will out you a

by smcl 5y ago

That first point is basically - you could do everything right on your end and there’s a good chance that a US agent within the foreign government will out you anyway. This is such an effective sounding deterrent I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s exaggerated, like “yeah maybe you’re smart but we are everywhere” Either way it’d take something extreme to tempt me into this world - like if my country became a fascist dictatorship or something acting against it is at least the morally correct thing to do

eru 5y ago
You could just vote with your feet (and thus also your tax dollars, unless you are an American).
- smcl 5y ago
  That is true, but I think (or hope?) that if in the unlikely event my country was under an oppressive, fascist regime that I would do my best to resist and undermine it in any way possible. Who knows whether that would transpire.
  - eru 5y ago
    These two approaches are not necessarily incompatible. Though I wonder why you would care so much about 'your' country? Once you save yourself and your family and friends, oppression and misery anywhere of any human seems about equally bad to me.
    - smcl 5y ago
      Well the country I grew up in contains not just my immediate and extended family who I care a lot about, but a pretty wide network of friends, colleagues and acquaintances. But let's leave that aside for a moment and think about whether I actually might want to live there in the future, rather than as a refugee elsewhere. There's more to it than this, but I think this is sufficient argument against "just move lol" This is all going into a hypothetical future I'd rather not spend too much time thinking about. As I said it's fairly unlikely and if I'm honest this is normally the wheelhouse of people who are a bit unhinged so I'm a bit uneasy entertaining this fantasy even though I originally raised it :)

by smcl 5y ago

eru 5y ago

You could just vote with your feet (and thus also your tax dollars, unless you are an American).

smcl 5y ago
That is true, but I think (or hope?) that if in the unlikely event my country was under an oppressive, fascist regime that I would do my best to resist and undermine it in any way possible. Who knows whether that would transpire.
- eru 5y ago
  These two approaches are not necessarily incompatible. Though I wonder why you would care so much about 'your' country? Once you save yourself and your family and friends, oppression and misery anywhere of any human seems about equally bad to me.
  - smcl 5y ago
    Well the country I grew up in contains not just my immediate and extended family who I care a lot about, but a pretty wide network of friends, colleagues and acquaintances. But let's leave that aside for a moment and think about whether I actually might want to live there in the future, rather than as a refugee elsewhere. There's more to it than this, but I think this is sufficient argument against "just move lol" This is all going into a hypothetical future I'd rather not spend too much time thinking about. As I said it's fairly unlikely and if I'm honest this is normally the wheelhouse of people who are a bit unhinged so I'm a bit uneasy entertaining this fantasy even though I originally raised it :)