Jiro comments on Post ridiculous munchkin ideas! - LessWrong

55 Post author: D_Malik 15 May 2013 10:27PM

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Comment author: Jiro 10 May 2013 08:17:10PM 14 points [-]
  1. Obtaining a remoteable job is much like obtaining a job with any other specific benefit: the market is going to arrange things so that jobs with the benefit pay less in other ways, on the average, than jobs without it. And given the paucity of remoteable jobs, you've drastically cut down your options.
  2. Living in a faraway country means that you are far away from relatives whom you might want to visit.
  3. Living in a faraway country means either learning the local language or being at a serious disadvantage.
  4. Living in a faraway country means living in another culture. Very basic things that we take for granted in our country might not exist in others. Do you even know the correct way to bribe public officials? What's your social life going to be like when few people watch the same TV shows or read the same books as you? Are you sure you like the other culture's food, and want to follow their holidays instead of your own? Is the other country going to be more tolerant of weirdos, and are you going to be perceived as even more of a weirdo than you might be in the US? If you have kids, what's the school system like? Are people with your religion going to be as accepted as in the US? Do people in the other country resent (or even just look down on while being glad to take the money of) foreigners?
  5. If a job is available for you in the foreign country, it's equally available to local residents. If you could program by long distance, the company you work for could just hire a programmer from the country instead, and he wouldn't demand American salaries.
  6. If you do lose your job, how are you going to find another one? Fly to America for the interview, while unemployed?
  7. Did you actually consult with a tax lawyer? (The US still taxes expatriates.)
Comment author: Risto_Saarelma 12 May 2013 08:16:42AM 4 points [-]

Is the other country going to be more tolerant of weirdos, and are you going to be perceived as even more of a weirdo than you might be in the US?

Foreigners might get more latitude for being weird. The locals will chalk up some degree of idiosyncratic weirdness as cultural differences, and won't expect full familiarity with the local social conventions.

Comment author: MichaelVassar 18 May 2013 11:52:42AM 0 points [-]

legitimate concerns, but way WAY weaker than the strength of the argument they are set against.

Comment author: wedrifid 18 May 2013 12:13:21PM 0 points [-]

legitimate concerns, but way WAY weaker than the strength of the argument they are set against.

What? No they aren't. Telecommuting from a (formerly) foreign country where things costs much less (and everything that implies) really isn't that great an option.

Comment author: Decius 11 May 2013 03:58:54AM -1 points [-]
  1. The US can only tax people who have assets or their person in the country. Everyone else is on a pure voluntary basis.
Comment author: AspiringRationalist 11 May 2013 05:10:11PM 4 points [-]

Citation needed.

I would imagine it's a lot less voluntary if you ever plan on returning to the US.

Comment author: Decius 11 May 2013 09:38:33PM -1 points [-]

Foreign banks are unlikely to honor a US tax lien on somebody who is not a US national.

I doubt that I would become an expatriate for tax reasons, but if I did I would certainly refuse to pay taxes.

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