

Ask HN: Is it a good idea to comment on US political issues? - cowardthrowaway

I am not a resident of US but I have been planning to move to US for work in some time. My political views on some of the international issues don't align with US.<p>For example on http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4052719 I wanted to comment something that could be marked as anti-US foreign policy. Now I don't have any strict reservations about the intentions of US government; on the other hand it doesn't often mingle well with benefit and security of the country that I belong from. I wrote this huge comment explaining my views and in parts taking a Anti-US policy stand and just before I post it, I realize something of this sort can be marked against me. From what I have known US authorities do a solid background check - and if they have a way to weed you out of the process, they will be very happy to do it.<p>Are my fears justified? Should a foreign national who wants to enter US as a tourist or as an employee of an US firm take a public stand against US? Does it compromise he/her chances of getting a VISA?<p>PS: Just to make it clear, even if it does comprise the chances, I see why that stand would be taken. And if I were running a country and had to choose between two candidates: one who absolutely loves my country and the other that doesn't do it with that much completeness - I would have had made such a filtering process. But I want to know if that is the case with US.<p>Thanks!
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tokenadult
Several of the most esteemed commenters here on Hacker News have advised, when
I have brought up the issue of what's on topic here, that posts or comments
that are strictly about politics should be ruthlessly discouraged here. There
are other places for political discussion (for example, my Facebook profile
for my Facebook friends, who have a great diversity of political opinions and
live in various countries).

To sum up, we shouldn't be bringing up political topics here on HN, even if
the political views expressed agree with my own [smile].

For your specific question about how a foreign resident of a country should
behave in regard to that country's politics, I used to do that as an American
living abroad--that is, decide how to respond to the policies of another
country, which was a dictatorship the first time I lived there and
occasionally engaged in political assassination by government agents. I kept
my American habit of speaking freely over there. I would never give up that
habit of freely speaking my political opinion for anything. Here on HN, I try
not to practice that habit out of respect for what is on topic here.

