Yes, they are partially ideological- but also partially based on actual preferences. I like to snoop around the ‘dirty laundry’ of various governments (especially my own) when I can, I like to appear right wing (hence I can say to my friends I moved on principle), and I place a very high utility on not having the trauma of going to jail (judging from past experience there’s a risk I’d kill a burgular), plus a degree of pride in actually having something resembling actual property rights.
EDIT: In addition, in old age I want to live in something as close as possible to a proper democracy that actually follows the ideals democracy is supposed to. Lack of internet censorship makes for de facto freedom of speech, property rights are self-explanatory (western society says people own their properties, but have a lot of implicit ‘but’ clauses), and laws forcing me to intervene in a crisis get rid of my liberty. These are trends that are likely to get worse, not better, over time- the trend in the U.S is towards Guantanamo Bay and increased presidential power, Australia has internet censorship and could go further, and Europe has ‘intervene in a crisis’ laws (the UK as far as I know takes the lead with public security cameras).
EDIT TWO: I agree that I should rule out countries I can’t get into even with dogged persistence, being Western middle class, and advice from hiring a lawyer. Other than that, I don’t see how immigration comes into it.
These are not, in fact, important factors in deciding in which country to live.
I like to appear right wing (hence I can say to my friends I moved on principle)
Once moved out of the country, your current friends will have a very small impact on your life. Whatever utility you gain from feeling great while preparing for your move will be dwarfed by the disutility of having optimized incorrectly after you have moved.
I place a very high utility on not having the trauma of going to jail (judging from past experience there’s a risk I’d kill a burgular)
You are better served by living in a country with a low crime rate, or living in a country with a cheap cost of living so you can live in the best neighborhoods. What are the odds you’ll actually be broken into, while you’re home, while you’re able to get to your gun, and that you’ll feel better having killed another person? That’s a lot of conditional probabilities, for something that would give you negative utility anyways. Try to imagine how you’ll feel one month or one year afterwards knowing you’ve ended a life instead of just having bought renter’s insurance and getting new stuff anyways (assuming you bought a replacement versus ACV policy).
Plus a degree of pride in actually having something resembling actual property rights.
There’s points of pride you don’t know about until you live elsewhere. One is having 10x the internet speed than another country. Another is not having to worry about medical care, having better medical care, and spending 1⁄2 as much per capita on that care. Yet another is having protections against corporations some other countries don’t have.
It’s best to narrow your search to things that will effect your life on a real day-to-day basis, then sort competitors from there. Climate, culture, population density, and job market are the most important factors.
1- You don’t know my friends. Many of them would be likely to call me a significant amount of the time anyway, and I don’t want to have to ‘cut the cord’ with them.
2- I admit I’m not actually normal in this, but I tend to imagine how I’d feel knowing that I was beaten by a burgular who I couldn’t stop form taking all my stuff as worse. At least I’d have my pride if I killed them.
3- After a certain point, internet speed as a matter of dimishing marginal returns. I also care about pride in what I have, not pride in what I am given by the government. If I have the right to defend my property, that’s at least closer to something that’s inherent to me rather than the government than protection aganist corporations.
If/when you get to old age, you can move again. Your priorities WILL shift A LOT over the course of a few decades. E.g. freezing weather is an annoyance when you’re young, but a mortal handicap when you’re old.
Yes, they are partially ideological- but also partially based on actual preferences. I like to snoop around the ‘dirty laundry’ of various governments (especially my own) when I can, I like to appear right wing (hence I can say to my friends I moved on principle), and I place a very high utility on not having the trauma of going to jail (judging from past experience there’s a risk I’d kill a burgular), plus a degree of pride in actually having something resembling actual property rights.
EDIT: In addition, in old age I want to live in something as close as possible to a proper democracy that actually follows the ideals democracy is supposed to. Lack of internet censorship makes for de facto freedom of speech, property rights are self-explanatory (western society says people own their properties, but have a lot of implicit ‘but’ clauses), and laws forcing me to intervene in a crisis get rid of my liberty. These are trends that are likely to get worse, not better, over time- the trend in the U.S is towards Guantanamo Bay and increased presidential power, Australia has internet censorship and could go further, and Europe has ‘intervene in a crisis’ laws (the UK as far as I know takes the lead with public security cameras). EDIT TWO: I agree that I should rule out countries I can’t get into even with dogged persistence, being Western middle class, and advice from hiring a lawyer. Other than that, I don’t see how immigration comes into it.
These are not, in fact, important factors in deciding in which country to live.
Once moved out of the country, your current friends will have a very small impact on your life. Whatever utility you gain from feeling great while preparing for your move will be dwarfed by the disutility of having optimized incorrectly after you have moved.
You are better served by living in a country with a low crime rate, or living in a country with a cheap cost of living so you can live in the best neighborhoods. What are the odds you’ll actually be broken into, while you’re home, while you’re able to get to your gun, and that you’ll feel better having killed another person? That’s a lot of conditional probabilities, for something that would give you negative utility anyways. Try to imagine how you’ll feel one month or one year afterwards knowing you’ve ended a life instead of just having bought renter’s insurance and getting new stuff anyways (assuming you bought a replacement versus ACV policy).
There’s points of pride you don’t know about until you live elsewhere. One is having 10x the internet speed than another country. Another is not having to worry about medical care, having better medical care, and spending 1⁄2 as much per capita on that care. Yet another is having protections against corporations some other countries don’t have.
It’s best to narrow your search to things that will effect your life on a real day-to-day basis, then sort competitors from there. Climate, culture, population density, and job market are the most important factors.
1- You don’t know my friends. Many of them would be likely to call me a significant amount of the time anyway, and I don’t want to have to ‘cut the cord’ with them. 2- I admit I’m not actually normal in this, but I tend to imagine how I’d feel knowing that I was beaten by a burgular who I couldn’t stop form taking all my stuff as worse. At least I’d have my pride if I killed them. 3- After a certain point, internet speed as a matter of dimishing marginal returns. I also care about pride in what I have, not pride in what I am given by the government. If I have the right to defend my property, that’s at least closer to something that’s inherent to me rather than the government than protection aganist corporations.
If/when you get to old age, you can move again. Your priorities WILL shift A LOT over the course of a few decades. E.g. freezing weather is an annoyance when you’re young, but a mortal handicap when you’re old.
You say that as if Australia has far more censorship than the US, which I don’t believe is true.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Censorship_in_Australia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Censorship_in_the_United_States
(What are you trying to say?)