UK general election

[TheMikrobe]

So we have to take 2 months out of the already impossibly short Brexit negotiations for a pointless snap election. Despite Labour looking slightly more coherent in the last week or so, there is basically no opposition and Brexit seems to have divided the country to almost Trumpian levels.

I keep up with the headlines, but I find I don't really care. I live in a Tory safe seat, so this FPP system means my vote counts for nothing (I try to tell myself that I'm lending weight to the argument for proportional representation), and in the nearly 10 years I've been here I've never felt more like a foreigner than after the Brexit referendum - I realised that I just don't understand the politics of this country.

[Kasferatu]

That's because this country makes no sense and is full of idiots and worse

Honestly, thinking about it is so depressing.

[Ray Patean]

Hey, it could be worse. You could have Trump leading your country...like we do...

[TheMikrobe]

We've got a robot controlled by a fascist newspaper editor given power by a readership of ignorant fools, and the most powerful faction of a fractured opposition is gathered behind a dithering naif. The checks and balances that give hope that Trump will end and be prevented from his worst excesses don't really exist. No-one in the UK is going to blab intelligence secrets to adversary powers, but they'll divide the country and cut themselves off from their neighbours well before Trump lays the first brick in his wall.

[Godji]

That's because this country makes no sense and is full of idiots and worse

Damn, reading this I thought you had moved in France!

[TheMikrobe]

You managed to avoid your fascist... congratulations!

[Godji]

Yeah, though unfortunately this outcome is far from shiny either. We avoided fascism by embracing (by default, but still) the ultraliberalism which is the exact cause of fascism rise in France for the last 15 years. I'm personally looking into solutions to leave the country before 2022 when LePen will not only be elected, but at such a level she might have the legislative seats to actually go along with her program.

[Godji]

You know what they say about France : always 10 years late after the US. Well, our Trump has been delayed, but only by consolidating what will inexorably bring our version to power.

[Kasferatu]

I'd say you are welcome here, but apparently there's an "overwhelming mandate" saying you aren't

[Timinator]

What are your options/preferences if you do leave?  Would you go somewhere that primarly speaks French? or just anywhere that is a good fit?

[Godji]

It does feel like the whole planet is going to shit tbf. That said, some part of it are going there more slowly than others, that will have to do.
Canada is actually looking like a strong candidate. We're going there as tourists for three weeks this summer, but re-evaluating if that's a place where we feel we could live is actually more than just a second thought behind the trip: we've actually lived there already*, we speak both languages, we actually know quite a few people there who left France too (moving to Quebec is almost cliché for our generation in France), job in at least my sector would not be an issue, and at least from an external point of view they seem a bit further from becoming a fascist country than France or other potenrial candidates are.
North European countries used to appear like progressist paradises too, but cracks are appearing, and it just would be much harder for us on a language/cultural aspect.



*that was the year I first stumbled on the diabloii.net single player forums, and met many of the people who funded this community

[Godji]

I'd say you are welcome here, but apparently there's an "overwhelming mandate" saying you aren't

We actually actively researched this around 2007-2008. Both Aurore and me were looking for jobs, and decided to look in UK as much as in France. Thing is, we had 2-3 years of professional experience, so nothing very differentiating yet, and at least the few job interviews I did, answers I got was that I was a pretty good candidate, but not better by such a margin that it would justify going through the hassle of recruiting a foreigner. 2-3 year of experience in software development was too common. I might have found if I had persisted a bit, but this was much more of a dead-end for my wife.

[Cluck Kent]

Canada, baby Canada.

My wife was until recently an IT recruiter. She is currently recruiting exec positions for a big 5 bank. If you're looking for any information on the job market, she can help. If you're in the Toronto area during your 3 week visit let me know.

Ohhhhhh Canada.

[narsica]

Canada is awesome. You should totally live here.

Just not in the prairies. The prairies suck hairy goat balls.

Or Toronto.

[Godji]

Ah, unfortunately, Toronto won't be part of the trip this time. Arriving in Montreal, seeing friends there a few days, then going down the Saint-Laurent, hopefully seeing whales past the fjords, then crossing, and a few days through Gaspésie. Quick rountrip to NY with friends for three days since it will be an occasion to be there for the 4th of July, then back to France.
It's still a bit early to start probing the job market very precisely (though I actually do have meetings with some friends of friends with professional networking in mind)but I will certainly keep your offer in mind Cluck, many thanks!


ANd my apologies for completely hijacking the thread :s