

Ask HN: Should I move? If so, where?   - butwhere

[throwaway account]<p>I'm Indian. I've been pursuing the dream of finding a great job and a good life. I've considered myself a hacker of sorts, but most of what I do is simply to satisfy my own personal desires - tiny rails webapps, cool js animations whenever I feel like proving to someone that you don't need flash, and blinding desire to have the cleanest code :) I'd love to have a startup someday, and I spend hours reading and thinking obsessively about what kind of business I'd like to run, what kind of experience a user should be presented with, etc.<p>So I'm doing what I consider a decent, normal plan. I'm current on an L1 visa in the bay area, and I'll look for a job that'll give me an H1. I'm getting married soon, and will bring the wife back here. All's well-ish.<p>But The US is scaring the pants off me. On a daily basis I read about how the government is going more into debt, about rabid tea-party fans, internet kill-switches, racism, police brutality, California's financial misery. It's enough to make me reconsider moving back to India, but I'd REALLY like to work with some of the companies I admire so much.<p>So I have 2 questions - 
1. Am I simply being paranoid? Is it just because I read too much reddit, etc that I feel this way and I just need to relax? Is it worth paying so much to rent in the bay area, and stuff will work itself out?<p>2. If I had to move somewhere, where should I go to? How easy is it to find a great web developer job in Europe/Australia/NZ/wherever? A place that'll ideally help me migrate, and would be a good place to raise  family?<p>I'd love pointers, discussions, anything. Thanks HN.
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SRSimko
I hate to say it but yes you have too much time on your hands if you are
getting all spooled up over news articles. Most of what you mentioned is
headline grabbing which panders to the extreme left and right. My advice for
peace in life don't get involved in politics.

As far as where to live, I would list the 10 companies / people you admire and
see where the majority live. Then focus on your web presence so that when you
try get a job at company X that when they search you online they find good
stuff. If the CEO has a blog comment on occasion when you have something
interesting to say and if you get an interview be sure to showcase your
comments and web presence.

Best of luck

~~~
butwhere
re: too much time on my hands, I guess it just comes out of being an
information junkie :| I try though, I've been blocking those sites on my
machine, and it does fee la little better.

I do have a minor web-presence, I guess it's time to step it up a notch. Thank
you for your words!

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iamelgringo
I grew up in Central America in the 70's - 80's. If you only read the news,
back then, you would have read about right wing assassination squads,
communist guerrillas fighting US supported dictatorships and a revolving door
of military juntas and coups d'etats.

But fact of the matter was that it was lovely. Sure, you had to be careful,
but there were more murders in DC, Detroit, Chicago or NYC on a weekend than
there was in an entire week of "guerrilla warfare" in Central America. I spent
a great deal of time on amazing beaches. I rode a sea turtle, and got peed on
by a howler monkey.

Murders, crime, internet kill-switches, tea partiers, debt doom and gloom all
make for great headlines. "It's good TV" as they say in the media business.

But, really, how much does California's debt crisis affect you from day to
day? How often do you see police brutality on a regular basis?

I've actually worked as an ER nurse in the ghetto of Chicago for 9 years, and
I've seen cops beat the shit out of people. The police that I've worked with
on the Bay Area peninsula are some of the nicest, most professional police
I've seen in year. Granted, I haven't spent much time in Berkley or Oakland.

I'd suggest fasting reddit for a few months. Either that, or limit yourself to
a select group of programming subreddits for a while. Really, things are just
getting going again in the Bay Area. Tons of cool startups are crying out for
engineering talent, and there's going to be a lot of great exits once larger
corporations feel like it's okay to start spending the $1.6 Trillion in cash
reserves they have on hand.

~~~
butwhere
This is very heartening. Gracias, el gringo!

[And, personally every cop I've met has been really nice to me. And the debt
crisis doesn't really affect me yet. I'm just paranoid, I suppose.]

~~~
iamelgringo
If the Bay area isn't working out for you, it isn't working out for you, and
god speed if you want to try something else out.

Media companies don't make money unless people come to visit their site. Few
things attract repeat readers and viewers like shock, awe and titillation--
things that incite strong emotions like fear, anger or arousal.

Shock, awe and titillation have been Rupert Murdock's m.o since he started
putting porn/glamour girls in his tabloid newspapers in the 70's (ref
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Page_Three> ). He uses the same formula with
many of his Fox franchises, including Fox News. As much as I love the site,
shock, awe and titillation are also Reddit's staples. So, take both Reddit and
Fox news with a huge grain of salt.

Hang in there. Please, don't give up on this country yet, we need people like
you to turn our economy around.

------
Scott_MacGregor
I am a US citizen and I share some of your same concerns. Who knows what will
happen in this pressure cooker we are all in right now. Sometimes it seems
some things come down to a risk/benefit equation of sorts, when in the past
that was not true.

If you decide to stay for business reasons, I would say be sure to keep a
finger on the pulse of the issues that concern you. Continue to weigh them,
and if you believe one of these issues is getting too uncomfortable for you or
for a member of your family be sure to have a predefined backup plan or two in
place. Just keep watching for the kettle to boil so to speak, and have some
cash set aside for you and your family in case of any type of emergency
situation.

One nice thing is, no matter where someone lives or works we can all still
communicate easily via the net. We moved our business from Las Vegas to Austin
to take advantage of the superior business climate here, and aside from
leaving some familiar restaurants, it doesn't feel that far away because of
the communication abilities of the internet.

~~~
butwhere
Having a a backup plan is a good idea, I hadn't thought of that. Thanks!

------
coryl
Haha, I'm sure you're actually very paranoid. Ignore the news stories. Don't
forget there are millions, probably billions of people who would KILL to be in
your position, to have the opportunity that you have.

Don't forget that once you leave the US, it might be significantly harder to
get back in.

~~~
butwhere
I've been told this by family and friends. And you're very probably right.

But sometimes I got to bed thinking that it could be wrong, and I could do
better.

It seems like.. well, it seems like there's a lot more struggle than is
necessary. I wish I could explain this a little more clearly. I'll get back to
this comment in a while. Thank you!

~~~
atiw
I sense from this comment that you are trying to do what a lot of my Indian
friends seem to do. They try to weigh work vs. benefits scenario.

That's not the right way to live life. You need to find your passion in work.
It's a lot like finding love. You might fall a lot of times, but remember,
when you find about what you are most passionate about, and what you really
want to be and do, you will have much more fun and lead a much satisfying
life, than worrying about the news, and quiestioning some of your best
decisions. Also, hate to repeat it, but you probably need to really hear
these:

Grass always looks greener on the other side.

All in all you just need some focus. You say you do some Js hacking. Why not
buy this book, Jquery in action, second edition. Hack some cool shit, and real
soon you will be able to see a new world, a world where you control a lot of
the browser through very little code. A world, where you can make whatever you
want using awesome jquery ui interactions, and make those web apps you always
wanted to.

If you are devoid of ideas (which I doubt), shoot me an email.

------
falien
There are two reasons those things make headlines: 1.They are uncommon and
thus newsworthy. 2.They are sensationalist trash having only some vague
relationship with reality.

Things could obviously be better, but there are trade-offs with living
anywhere.

------
nzmsv
Try reading Indian news every day for a month or two. I think you'll find many
headlines quite similar. The media in any country goes for sensationalism, and
disasters fit the bill perfectly.

~~~
butwhere
I used to read The Hindu, which wasn't really too bad. Indian Express wasn't
bad either. You're probably thinking Times of India, which is quite horrid and
panders to a lot of page3 crowd, but not really scary :)

And when it comes to TV news, most of them are so ludicrous, it's difficult to
take them seriously. If you can read hindi, this will be the funniest thing
you'll read this week - [http://stupidindiatv.blogspot.com/2008/09/save-your-
cows-the...](http://stupidindiatv.blogspot.com/2008/09/save-your-cows-they-
are-coming-help.html)

