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Americans Are Heading for the Exits
- Trasmatta 2y agoI want to leave but I have no idea where to go or how to make it work. For now, I think sticking it out in a blue state is a compromise. inb4 Trump starts deploying military against peaceful protestors. He's already cleaning house in the military, he wanted to do exactly that in 2020, and he's talked about his desire for generals that do whatever he says without question, like "Hitler's generals" (his words). I'm continually shocked by the Trump apologists on this forum. We can debate right vs left all we want (and there's a ton I hate about both Democrats and progressives), but embracing an authoritarian like Trump makes no sense to me.
- slekker 2y agoIf you are a SWE, there are a bunch of jobs that offer visa sponsorship in the EU. You can check the countries that allow double nationality and usually takes 5-6 years to get it, but that probably means learning another language, unless you go to Ireland, where the housing crisis is one of the worst in Europe. The salary is going to be lower, taxes will be higher, but you'll probably have a better quality of life in general. It's all about trade-offs.
- Trasmatta 2y agoI've considered it, but I'm fairly concerned and the situation in Europe as well. Especially with increasing aggression from Russia, the US aligning with Russia, and a weakened NATO. In some ways I wonder if I'm better off in a strong blue US state (especially when my family is still in the states). I just don't know though, which is what makes this so hard.
- tehjoker 2y agoThis is a phenomenon that can only apply to people with money and usually connections to other countries. Most people are fucking stuck here. However, you will see brain drain.
- WillPostForFood 2y agoThe Guardian reported that Canadian police apprehended more than a dozen people from Venezuela, the Middle East, and Africa trying to cross the border in dangerously cold temperatures without proper clothing, as the Trump administration revoked humanitarian parole for Venezuelans, Haitians, and others You don't have to be rich to leave.
- toomuchtodo 2y agoThis is not entirely accurate (although sufficient wealth, income or ancestry to obtain residency is easier). If you have skills, you can also expat, as many countries have job boards to help folks who intend to immigrant for work. A list of links to these job boards can be found in my comment here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42943292 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42943292.
- Freedom2 2y agoIt's a bit humorous to see so many Americans simply say with hubris "yeah I'm moving to Europe / Asia / NZ / Australia" as if those countries don't have their own immigration requirements and laws.
- readyplayernull 2y agoThe only exit is a digital exit, and using Linux won't be enough to avoid surveilance from the last 3 Earth Kingdoms after 2025, that will control all consumer electronics. We were able to do a lot with 90's technology, each village should have its own electronics manufacturing.
- kylehotchkiss 2y agoWhere are they headed to that’s doing substantially better government-wise than USA?
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- rokkamokka 2y agoYou are right that all of the first world is under attack by destabilizing forces. But in many European countries these foreign backed extremists are thankfully still the majority, not the elected government.
- Bostonian 2y agoDid you mean "minority" rather than "majority"?
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- spacemadness 2y agoThey probably don’t throw nazi salutes out at their inaugurations either.
- blargthorwars 2y agoIf Europe can escape becoming Socialist/Nazi, they'll soon be a Muslim Caliphate if demographic trends continue.
- slater 2y ago> Socialist/Nazi What?
- margalabargala 2y agoSee the other half of their comment re: Muslims, considering that among not-formerly-Ottoman European countries the one with the highest % Muslim population is France at 7.5%, the person you replied to is clearly being hyperbolic and not making a serious point.
- m0llusk 2y ago[flagged]
- variedpanels 2y agoMy family is waiting for our EU (German) citizenship by descent applications to be processed. We started the process about a year ago specifically because of the prospect of a second Trump presidency. I’m an experienced software engineer who already works remotely for a company with employees in Europe. Of course that puts us in a rare and fortunate category among those who want to leave.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- jkowall 2y agoGermany is in major trouble, wait for the election tomorrow. The economy is extremely depressed. As someone who spends 30-40% of my time there it's really not good. The immigration is very concerning to many if not most Germans. Energy costs are 4-6x what they are here. Manufacturing is significantly down since COVID (chinese EVs anyone) and with high energy prices they are in deep trouble.
- computerthings 2y agoYet we're out protesting fascists, not immigrants. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024%E2%80%932025_German_anti-extremism_protests https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024%E2%80%932025_German_anti-... > By the last week of January 2024, the protests had become the biggest in Germany since the protests against the Iraq War in 2003. Soon after, according to some researchers, they had become the biggest in the history of post-war Germany.
- 650REDHAIR 2y agoGerman passport grants access to the entire EU. Infinitely better than not having it.
- variedpanels 2y agoAs someone else mentioned, citizens of any EU member country are entitled to live in any other EU (actually EEA) member state.
- JKCalhoun 2y ago[flagged]
- AlecSchueler 2y agoToo many people could be inclined to share their feelings of discontent
- jmclnx 2y agoTrump and his boss Musk is cutting Science Research, so people will leave if they are axed. Plus these days your research needs to agree with stories written thousand of years ago, thus another reason to leave the US.
- pphysch 2y agoI was seriously considering moving to Western Europe during Trump 1. Dodged a bullet there.
- readthenotes1 2y agoWith an estimated budget deficit of $1.6T, the USA can hardly be considered an example of good governance. People should leave to places that can afford thrm
- jauntywundrkind 2y agoAnd alas everything happening right now is pretext, building cover for massive tax cuts for billionaires. None of these "savings" are going to go to paying down debt or balancing the budget. Debt interest just passed defense spending. The debt we have is absolutely wildly high. But certainly the GOP has zero interest in changing that, in improving things. https://www.cfr.org/blog/first-time-us-spending-more-debt-interest-defense https://www.cfr.org/blog/first-time-us-spending-more-debt-in...
- toomuchtodo 2y agoThe bond market will eventually force their hand to live within their means. https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2024-12-30/bond-vigilantes-are-putting-governments-on-notice https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2024-12-30/bond-v... | https://archive.today/SrEy4 https://archive.today/SrEy4
- tim333 2y agoI remember a lot of talk of Americans leaving for Trump's first term. Not many did. We got Ellen DeGeneres over to the Cotswolds this time so that's one at least.
- ojhughes 2y agoSame thing with Brexit, although a lot wish they really did leave now
- tim333 2y agoA lot of the Europeans left although that's a bit of a different thing really - them going home rather than Brits leaving. I know a few Brits who have left although it's not especially down to Brexit, more it just being a bit dreary here these days. Though Brexit has contributed to the dreariness.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- 650REDHAIR 2y agoFrom the Bay Area I know 3 families that have left to the EU since Trump’s first term. I know another 2 that are planning to join our friends in the EU before the end of the year and are just waiting for consulate appointments that are being booked the instant they are being made available. The consulate appointments drying up immediately lead me to believe that people are in-fact trying to leave…
- jemmyw 2y agoIt's not super easy to emigrate and the systems countries have set up won't be capable of handling x times what they currently process. So it's fair to say many more people could be trying to leave but people leaving doesn't actually rise much.
- voisin 2y agoNow Trump needs to follow through on his election promise to eliminate citizenship based taxation. The US has the ignominy of joining only Eritrea on taxing its citizens no matter where they live, even in those countries that choose higher VAT or other forms of taxation than income based. It leads to truly absurd outcomes and reduces American competitiveness.
- sumuyuda 2y agoDid he actually claim that? Would be a big win for American’s living aboard.
- voisin 2y agoI guess it depends on what he meant by ending “double taxation” of Americans abroad. https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/donald-trump-tax-plan-americans-abroad-a74bfbdd https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/donald-trump-tax-plan-am...
- sebazzz 2y agoI wonder if we will see actual refugees from the US in Europe this term. People who aren't safe in the US anymore, like ones from the LHIBTQ community, government employees, Democrats. Things have already been crazier than most would have expected.