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[–] 60 points 8 months ago (22 children)

Wish I was rich enough to do the same.

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  • [–] -1 points 8 months ago (21 children)

    You don't need a ton of money to do so if you're unskilled labor, and basically only a plane ticket if you're skilled labor. Contact people in perspective countries and ask about it. Japan is great if you want to start a small business, especially if it brings in USD. Vietnam is great if you want to be a white face for an english school, China is great if you have a degree in teaching, I've a couple friends who went to Germany (not from the US tho) for nursing and IDK what else.

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  • [–] 43 points 8 months ago (8 children)

    Not just a plane ticket. You need to take into account visas (can’t just fly in as a tourist and start working), employer sponsorships, temporary accommodation and living expenses until you get paid, and other kinds of expenses.

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  • [–] 19 points 8 months ago (6 children)

    And don't forget that you still have to pay US income taxes on income earned overseas! 🙄

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  • [–] 4 points 8 months ago*

    Depends on exactly what you're doing. If you're starting a business in Japan for example, it's fine for the duration of your tourist visa, then you have to leave and apply for a business visa, if you're doing it in China, or Vietnam, you have to reenter on a business visa. It's very common to arrange business sponsorships in person in Vietnam on a tourist visa then reenter. IDK about China. Temporary accommodation and living expenses can be extremely cheap compared to the US if you don't mind sleeping in a hostel and eating street food.

    But yes I didn't bother to include non-monetary things you'd need to set up, such as employer sponsorships.

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  • [–] 11 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (3 children)

    If I somehow found a way to leave, it certainly wouldn't be to Japan. They're just starting the same rise to fascism.

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  • [–] 7 points 8 months ago (1 child)

    That’s putting it lightly. Japan never really relaxed in regards to things like blatant racism and nationalism. In the wake of WW2, the Japanese government invested heavily in the arts to try and change their public image. And it largely worked. Overseas, the country is mostly known for anime and zany fashion.

    But domestically, the country has always been extremely conservative and resistant to change. At ~99% natural Japanese, their population is one of the most homogenous in the world. And that ~1% of foreigners encompasses the entirety of tourism, foreign workers, etc… Japan has a saying that roughly translates to “the nail that sticks out gets hammered down,” and the culture definitely embodies that. The culture is largely defined by conformity and tradition, meaning even small deviations from societal expectations get heavily scrutinized.

    This pressure to conform also means that Japan is extremely racist towards basically anyone who isn’t Japanese. If given the choice when hiring, Japanese companies will choose a Japanese applicant over a foreigner 100% of the time, even if the foreigner is just as qualified. That’s why the OP mentioned starting your own business if you plan on moving there. As a foreigner, you have basically no chance of getting hired by an existing company. As ann immigrant, your only real opportunities for employment will be in a stereotypically “foreign” job, (like teaching English), via international transfer, (like an American working for Toyota, and transferring to a Japanese branch), or via starting your own business.

    And that racism has always been present, but it has recently started to percolate into outright jingoism. Their politics have always been a mess, but recent elections have swung things even farther towards fascism. They’re constitutionally prohibited from building an army, (it was one of the concessions they made after WW2, and they’re only allowed to keep a small national self-defense force), but they have politicians murmuring about building an army anyways.

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  • [–] 7 points 8 months ago (1 child)

    This sounds like something that somebody who has literally never moved in their life would say. You need money just to move across states nevermind continents, trust me I have lived in 7 different states and 2 different European countries.

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  • [–] 3 points 8 months ago (5 children)

    Why would you go from one dictatorship to another lol

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  • [–] 1 point 8 months ago (2 children)

    If you meant China or Vietnam, a dictatorship of the working class is different from a dictatorship of capital.

    If you meant Japan, yeah things aren't looking great, but at least LDP is opposing the even-further-right parties?

    If you meant Germany, after 5 years or so of working, you qualify for citizenship and can go elsewhere in the EU, which should be enough time to get out before AfD takes over.

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