I enjoy these type of comments. They mostly come from Americans who have never looked into the requirements to "leave" legally. It turns out the rest of the world has immigration laws that are just as strict or more strict than America's so unless you're young and you're filthy rich, in a very specialized field that country needs, or ridiculously good looking you're probably not welcome in country X.
I emigrated five years ago. It's tough, no fuckin' foolin'.
The alternative is to go to bed every night knowing that a double-digit percentage of your value and productivity that day went to fund building bombs and buying and installing fiber splitters.
I just couldn't do it any longer.
FWIW, I have none of those circumstances you describe, and it was relatively easy, practically speaking— and I moved to Germany, one of the best places on Earth to live. The hard part was leaving my job, family, friends, and girlfriend behind on a different hemisphere.
The national ID card is only for citizens; I am not a German citizen.
Registering with the police when you move is standard practice with all countries, USA included - you are required to give your SSN to every single DMV now to receive your state ID card/driver's license. They are available in every police cruiser. Are we going to split hairs over which agency runs the server the laptops in the police cars get to query?
I've never registered anywhere and I have moved a lot. In the states we have at least 20 million undocumented. In Germany you legally have to report someone that doesn't have an ID card.
You don't have a social security card or drivers license? You don't file taxes? You don't have to register anywhere because they don't need that. They update all that kind of information when you file taxes.
Convenience. The reason you have to register is because you moving somewhere puts some level of strain on that community. This registration gives them a chance to get a handle on city migrations. They do the same thing in Switzerland. I don't remember who, but a very rich man was denied the ability to move to some low population city because they couldn't figure out what they would do with his tax money (warning, I've not verified this actually happened but I imagine it could).
Harper's magazine gave a detailed and amusing guide on "Electing to Leave" the US after Bush's reelection. It covers everything from emigrating to Canada to founding your own micronation.
I grew up in Canada and the amount of political apathy there is astounding. The US might have a lot of crappy laws and politicians, but Americans seem much more politically involved than.
Exactly this. If you think it's so simple to emigrate from the US, go ahead and try. I'm sure it wouldn't be too onerous for the types that frequent HN, but for the 99.9% of the population that's less affluent and less technically skilled, you're stuck here.
I did it five years ago, to Germany. No problem, you just need a job offer. It has to be mildly specialized to justify hiring you over a local, but this is a very loose requirement that's easy to bend if your employer so desires.
Germany also has no shortage of relatively unskilled Turkish immigrants who are simply working at restaurants.
Please keep your comments relevant and productive. A snarky "this" doesn't add a lot to the discussion, especially when your silly claim is exactly at odds with reality.
