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PaperclipPerfector  1yr ago (text post)   30730 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of July 3, 2023

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I finally remembered to re-read your comment and give it the attention it clearly deserves, not that I'm any less sleep deprived now than I was when I first saw it haha.

I appreciate that you shared your experiences, it largely confirms what I myself expected from years of hearing about the place, but independent confirmation is always great to have.

I'm a libertarian and I already went to the US primed with the notion that, "This is THE place in the world that aligns closest to my values, or at the very least, I am to find people who are, more than anywhere else". I don't mean this lightly, I think the First Amendment is one of the all-time greatest ideas ever. If I ever came across the reincarnations of the founding fathers, I would bow down and touch their feet.

While I'm not a card carrying Libertarian, I'd describe myself as a classical liberal with libertarian tendencies, and there are few enough of the both of us that I see no need to nitpick!

I personally find a tendency for governments to stay out of the affairs of consenting adults refreshing, and in this day and age that's practically reactionary to espouse.

Alternatively, do realize that you are already one of the lucky ones. The UK is still a gazillion times better than India. It's no America, but a large part of that is in your head. You don't really need air conditioning in the UK, You don't NEED a 7 bedroom McMansion, and it's still a million times closer to America along the reasons you like America and dislike India. The UK is not a bad place to live, all things considered, in many cases, it's actually better than the US

All excellent points. I do however want to state that it's not just the relatively lower salaries that make me scared of the UK, it's the fact that the government has explicitly committed itself to replacing doctors with automation from above and trained monkeys midlevels like PAs and NPs below, and even I as an IMG (international medical graduate) represent an assault on the value of the local doctors, though at least on the latter they're usually too nice to complain.

Junior doctors in the UK need a 40% payraise to restore pay to the level it was at in 2008, and when they just about had enough and went on strike this year, the government offered a 5% payraise when inflation was 10%.

Given how foreign doctors are treated as a means as an end for propping up the failing NHS, the moment we're obsolete it won't end well.

The minimum thing that would grant me a sense of security is citizenship, and it would take 6 years. That's already more than my median timeline to transformative AI.

US doctors take better care of their own, and if I can't become a citizen of the UK in time for it to matter, I'd rather have spent my time doing my residency in the States.

If this wasn't a serious concern, I would have fewer qualms about trying to establish myself there. All the real moneymaking opportunities for UK doctors like locums or switching to pharma are either drying up or will be packed with people realizing this sooner rather than later.

Additionally, As someone who has many relatives who are US citizens. You need to think long-term. And by that, I mean on the span of decades

I'm sure you understand why my timelines suggest that planning decades ahead is a little foolhardy for me, for the above reasons.

I see the next ten to twenty years either going very well or very poorly for most of us, but I'm very sure that what almost certainly won't happen is the "business as usual" that most forecasting implies.

I don't think I'd be outright miserable in the UK, far from it, but it will still be tight, and it's a risk I'm afraid of taking.

At the least, I think I'd find myself consumed with angst over the road not taken, and while the UK is a well maintained thoroughfare compared to an India dirt trail, the US is a 12 lane superhighway. I feel like I owe it to myself to at least try, even if success or happiness isn't guaranteed.

Also in my experience, brits are a lot easier to get along with because they actually understand sarcasm and banter, and Americans can be sincere to a fault, don't underestimate the importance of this as an immigrant, trust me on this, no amount of freedom of speech might be worth having no friends), travel visa-free to most places, etc. Don't ruin this one.

I deeply appreciate British humor, they have the sort of dry, understated wit that matches my own. The funniest friends I have are British, and they give me cramps from laughing on the regular!

I don't see myself as being unable to find plenty of people I'd get along with in the States, especially since that's where so many of us Mottizens are from.

Either way, thanks for sharing your own story, and I do hope you get to take a jerb or two if you can. US programmers won't even notice that rounding error in their outcomes that represents, and it would make a world of difference for you.

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