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Half the time when Western people say they want to move to a different country for economic or political reasons, what they really wish for is to expand their c
by solatic 2y ago
Half the time when Western people say they want to move to a different country for economic or political reasons, what they really wish for is to expand their country's borders, take the newly acquired land for themselves (for free or at best a pittance), pay token tribute / taxes to the country they're already in (because taxes are inevitable), and then have their government leave them alone. The problem, of course, is that there's other people who were already on the land that the borders were expanded onto.
Nobody really prefers to move to a country whose common language they do not speak, where they don't know anybody, and where they will forevermore be treated as second-class (due to being an outsider/immigrant) for the rest of their lives.
- 01HNNWZ0MV43FF 2y agoI don't want to expand the US' borders. The US might be killing me this cycle
- blitzar 2y agoWhen westerners move to a different country for economic or political reasons they are "expats". When other people move to western countries they are immigrants.
- seanmcdirmid 2y agoI think you are looking for the term migrants. Expats and migrants are both considered immigrants, although migrant workers are generally considered more harshly than expats. It used to be determined by whether you had a package or not. No package, you are a migrant worker, otherwise you are an expat. They called highly skilled foreigners in China without package “half-pats” though, although I think we typically qualified as just highly paid migrant workers.
- Dracophoenix 2y ago> what they really wish for is to expand their country's borders If they're leaving, then this is precisely the opposite of what they wish for. They will as matter of course carry with them the habits and preferences of their previous life wherever they go. No matter the distance traveled, no man can escape himself. But they want as little to do with their own nation's government . > take the newly acquired land for themselves (for free or at best a pittance), >pay token tribute / taxes to the country they're already in (because taxes are inevitable), Who on this planet doesn't like cheap land or paying fewer taxes ? > and then have their government leave them alone. This contradicts the first point. Just like natives who we ould like to be left to their own devices almost as if they're normal adults.