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Comment by GuiA | Hacker News Reader

A lot of "tech kids", myself included, are immigrants and can't vote.

And, on a separate note, it's ridiculous that I have lived here for over 4 years and paid hundreds of thousands in taxes but do not have any way to influence the democratic process (it is equally ridiculous that I can still vote in my home country despite not setting foot there for more than 2 weeks per year for the past 6 years and not contributing to its economy at all. The current definition of citizenship is completely outdated in the globalized world)

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Also, a lot of "tech kids" like myself aren't in SF proper and thus can't vote on things like SF rent control. It's amazing how privilege acts to protect itself.

I'm sorry, what? Why should you be able to vote on a government that doesn't have jurisdiction over you?

Remember that SF is an anomaly. Generally it's the wealthy in the suburbs and the underprivileged in the city. Suburbanites voting on urban policy (in general) is the last thing you should support if you are concerned about privilege.

We can't afford to live and vote in the city where we work because those with privilege have used it to push us out.

> * Remember that SF is an anomaly. Generally it's the wealthy in the suburbs and the underprivileged in the city. *

It's not an anomaly, it's a trend.

>Generally it's the wealthy in the suburbs and the underprivileged in the city.

That's why rent in Manhattan is so cheap.

SF, New York, maybe parts of Chicago.

Consider the entire middle of the country.

So vote in your community. Every municipality in the Bay Area has its own problems, mostly various forms of NIMBYism. You can make a difference where you live.

"it's ridiculous that I have lived here for over 4 years and paid hundreds of thousands in taxes but do not have any way to influence the democratic process" really? what about the reverse? Can I easily become a citizen of your country if I moved and worked there for 4 years? Most countries don't even have options for immigrants to become true naturalized citizens of that country, in this regard, America is actually pretty progressive.

Off the top of my head, Australia, new zealand, Canada, uk & Germany are all shorter(# years) and far easier(difficulty of visas, crap you have to put up with) to naturalize/obtain citizenship. The US is one of the least progressive western countries immigration-wise.

Agreed -- and 4 years isn't considered "that bad" by many of my immigrant friends. I have several who have been in the US nearly a decade and are still waiting.

Okay but I didn't say western countries. I just said most countries (as in of the world).

How is the reverse process relevant?

That kind of mentality is just like "its ok to break the law because everyone else does it!!1"

There are more responsibilities of citizenship than just paying taxes.

I actually tell my H1B friends that getting a green card but not naturalizing is likely their best ROI.

The upside of citizenship is you can travel outside the US for more than six months without losing it. Green cards can be quite easily lost if your company wants to move you overseas for a while.

You can file for exemptions.

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