[ExI] Be nice to leftists

[Anders Sandberg]

spike <spike66 at att.net> , 23/5/2014 10:04 PM:


 A solution suggests itself.  Perhaps a loose coalition of nations could form which have a similar outlook on government; example, USA, Canada, Australia, England, Sweden, Denmark, Germany.  Then treat those as scaled up-versions of our states: any citizen of any of those countries can freely immigrate to any other, understanding that the legal system varies somewhat between them.  Pension obligations would be transferred from the country of origin and place where the pensions were earned. 

 

Everyone in the super-republic would understand that if you come to the USA, you can have guns, some crimes are punishable by death, and the healthcare system is broken.  In England, you can’t have guns, the constables are nice, and the healthcare system is broken.  In Sweden, the women are beautiful, the food is bland, and the healthcare system is broken, etc.  Then we get the federal governments working under market pressures, competition breeds excellence.

 
Sounds excellent. Sounds like... the EU. 
When the EU works at its best it is just like that: you move to a country that fits you with a minimal hassle. Moving to the UK took me one form at the Swedish revenue service website, and answering a resulting letter from HRM's revenue service politely asking if I live here now. To me, that was the moment I realized that I was an European citizen rather than just a Swedish citizen. 
Still, mobility could be a fair bit better: the rate at which US citizens move between states is several times the rate EU citizens change country. Part of it may be language and social barriers, but I think a lot of people still do not realize how mobile they can be. Especially with the very different unemployment rates it would make sense for a lot of people to migrate, but they won't. Then again, views on migrants are also mildly crazy: the UK doesn't want immigration, but integrates people pretty well. Sweden prides itself on not being racist, but is lousy at integration. 

(Of course, then there is the stupid and inefficient EU of the Common Agricultural Protocol, bureaucratic research grants and eurozone crises...)




Anders Sandberg, Future of Humanity Institute Philosophy Faculty of Oxford University
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