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833 points Bluestein | 2 comments | | HN request time: 0.478s | source
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notresidenter ◴[] No.40716362[source]
It's a really nasty feeling to live in a society influenced by politicians in power with ideas so far away from my own, while also having little influence over their decisions, unless I give up what I like doing and go into lobbying (or politics, which seems to me like the poor man's lobbying)

I've sent an e-mail to the permanent representative in the country I live in, but I feel particularly blindsided knowing about such a decision on the same day it is voted. And angry for all the people, especially journalist friends, that are out there and unaware of what's going on.

I'm not sure this is what democracy is supposed to feel like, but if it is, it feels like shit.

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christophilus ◴[] No.40716519[source]
It’s one of the reasons I’m against the continued growth of centralized power structures. Local governments aren’t perfect and tend to be more easily dominated by a little tyrant, but in general, the more decentralized the power structures are, the easier it is for people to change their situation. Your vote has a bigger impact, it’s easier to hold local officials accountable, and of course, you can move to a different town / county / province more easily than moving to a different country / continent.

Warren Buffett said something to the effect of: “I prefer to invest in a business that could be run by a monkey, because eventually it will be.”

A similar principle holds for governments. You will eventually (possibly consistently) have a government that is led by incompetent (or corrupt) politicians. How can you structure your system in such a way that their negative effects are minimal?

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1. okasaki ◴[] No.40717150[source]
Please don't bring that old American libertarian fantasy about moving if you don't like a local law to Europe.

The amount of people who would consider selling their house, moving their family and job because they don't like some local policy or its implementation is essentially zero.

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2. christophilus ◴[] No.40737282[source]
Just following up, but I know many, many people who have moved to my state for exactly that reason: what they saw as government run amok in their home state. This trend spiked during COVID, but it continues due to various policy blunders that they are trying to leave behind.

So, yes. People do relocate when the local government becomes oppressive.

My family is in the US because my great grandparents immigrated here to get out from under the thumb of the UK government. In fact, unless you’re a Native American, you probably have a similar story in your family history.