

Ask HN: Given that SOPA or a similar legislation passes, would you leave the US? - 8bitpal

I live in Europe and when I was in school we learned about the "American job mobility" as a driving factor for the economical success of the US. 
I understand this applies to mobility within the US but it does indicate a certain mindset.<p>Given the scenario that<p><pre><code>  - a bill like SOPA passes 

  - it is being enforced, creates a controlled internet and thus substantially threatens your business model as well as free speech. 
 
  - the current status quo (or "better") of the internet is being maintained in most of the world.
</code></pre>
Would you leave the US?<p><pre><code>  - If not, how would you adapt? 

  - If yes, where would you go and why?</code></pre>
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bartonfink
I was already planning on leaving the US for similar reasons, and SOPA isn't
doing the US's case any favors. The fact of the matter is that the US can no
longer claim it holds a monopoly on a first-world quality of life the way it
could in the past. The US hasn't taken itself seriously as a country for a
while, and I don't see any reason to stick around and subject my family to
whatever comes down the pipeline.

I'm planning to head to Australia for a number of reasons, some personal, some
political. I've decided to effectively vote with my feet. I'm an intelligent,
successful person and I see no reason to put up with a government that seems
to take me for granted while it can't even do its most basic job. The world is
getting smaller every day, and things like Skype mean that a move like this
doesn't entail cutting all ties with family in the way it used to. Why put up
with a country that acts like it doesn't want you?

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tobylane
Is there a specific timeframe where you think the US had that monopoly?

~~~
bartonfink
Post-WW2 comes to mind immediately, largely because the rest of the world was
either in the grips of colonialism or trying to rebuild after the war.

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robdoherty2
Interesting question.

As I've been reading the developments of the SOPA legislation, the very
thought occurred to me of what would happen if it passes, and whether I would
consider leaving in the near or long term.

The problem is that once it gets to the point where it makes sense for
intelligent people to think about leaving, it will become very difficult to do
so. The trick is to leave before it gets really bad-- but how to know when
that is.

And then there is the question of where can we go?

Canada is the first thought, but it's not easy to emigrate there from what I
understand. And Europe? Without an EU passport forget, about it unless you
have very exceptional skills.

I lived in Japan for some years and would also consider there or another East
Asian country, but even for those who know Japanese, for example, it is not
easy to secure employment except in very specific industries.

I'm curious to hear what others have to say about this question.

~~~
edelweiss
It made sense for intelligent people to leave the U.S. since 2003 (when I
moved my family of 5 to Vienna Austria), so it's already too late (not so easy
to renounce US Citizenship now, new draconian financial reporting laws for
expats and new laws which prevent taking assets out of the country kick in
2013).

In 2013 I will renounce my US Citizenship to gain Austrian Citizenship. I have
thought long and hard about this. I am proud of the principles the US was
founded on, which are trampled on each and every day in Congress, by the
President, and in the Supreme Court. I am proud of those who sacrificed for
the good of our country, who sacrificed to preserve those rights and to bestow
them on me upon my birth. Those sacrifices are dishonored and spit upon daily
by our politicians, and their kleptocrat corporate owners.

I will always love the United States, and the majority of it's honorable,
kind, and caring people. However I have no love of this totalitarian nightmare
which is our government.

Our government is illegitimate, despicable, and dishonorable.

"But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same
object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their
right, it is their duty to throw off such government and provide new guards
for their future security."

People don't talk that way anymore.

Beautiful, huh?

\- No idea what you said. - It means, if there's something wrong, those who
have the ability to take action have the responsibility to take action. "

National Treasure - 2004

"Because you are the president of USA, sir. Whether it is to your character
... Of the oath that you have taken To the Constitution to protect. Of the
weight of history That rests on your shoulders. I believe you Are an honorable
man, sir.

Gates, that sort of thing People do not believe anymore.

They want to believe in it."

National Treasure Book of Secrets - 2007

Getting a VISA in Austria is straightforward, and Vienna is the best city in
the world for quality of life (Mercer 2010, 2011).

[http://www.migration.gv.at/en/types-of-
immigration/permanent...](http://www.migration.gv.at/en/types-of-
immigration/permanent-immigration-red-white-red-card.html)

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daimyoyo
If I had the resources, yes.(I'd either go to Norway or Australia, I'm not
sure which) Unfortunately, I can't afford to leave the city I live in now, let
alone the entire country.

