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Comment by dkdbejwi383 | Hacker News Reader

> If any UKites have made it to this thread, is be curious to hear why so few people leave for countries with a stronger and higher paying tech sector?

Where do you suggest?

I only speak English to any decent level, German to a barely conversational degree, and given brexit, the right to work in a German speaking country is not a given.

I sure as hell am not ever going to live in the (no offence) right-wing dystopia of the USA.

That leaves me with what? Canada or Australia? Both far away, with equally “bad” salaries and far away from my roots?

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Meanwhile, in the UK you can be arrested for insulting someone on Twitter.

What do you think they're referring to by "right wing dystopia"? Do you think your reply was an effective counterpoint?

Restricting speech is a hallmark of authoritarianism. That is what I meant to imply.

I think you're incorrectly conflating right wing ideology with authoritarianism.

I did mean the USA, but now see that it was implicit (sorry. I probably enforced a bunch of stereotypes right there).

I'm very curious if "it's a right-wing dystopia" is a common viewpoint, and whether it comes from direct experience, or just reading about the US. (Not disagreeing at all).

I'd say "right-wing dystopia" is putting it too strongly. The USA is definitely further right than the UK, but the main perception I'd say is that the politics in the USA are toxic, highly polarised and all-consuming (very easy to get sucked into it and hard to get out).

But I don't think that's a surprising perception given that for the last 6 years, the news we get about the USA across the pond is almost exclusively politically-orientated.

As an outsider what I don't like about the US is less the politics of particular candidates (I guess that's the point of politics and having multiple competing parties - people vote for those with whom they align with) but the "dynamics" and people's approach to politics. Everything seems politicized to a much higher extent than in the UK or European countries. As a recent example, masks and vaccines are seen as political messages by (seemingly) a lot of people.

I'm a European living in the US. It's not (yet) a right-wing dystopia, but the political system is clearly teetering at a point of collapse.

The last presidential election was barely certified. Several people were killed in the national parliament building during an insurrection stoked by a candidate. Lies about election security are being spread to undermine public trust.

Those are things that you'd expect to read about elections in some African country, not a Western democracy. Will they be able to certify the next election with only a handful of people killed? I don't know, but I'm planning to get out of here before that.

I think it is. Whenever I suggested I’d like to move out to the US one day to work on a start up or in the healthy tech scenes, most recoil as if I’m out of my mind.

After seeing the number of massacres/shoot outs, losing an online friend to gun crime, healthcare bankruptcy and seeing Trump get voted in after he mocked a disabled journalist, I too decided I was out of my mind.

I’m not sure if I’m welcome anyway - I’d fair better being a white male but that shouldn’t matter. It just doesn’t look good.

I guess Boris was voted in over here but still… it’s bad but not quite the same level.

I do okay on what I get, I guess.

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