11.8M EU citizens pay taxes to governments they cannot vote for
1–10 of 120 posts
Re: 11.8M EU citizens pay taxes to governments they cannot vote for
#2These (and not just limited to elections here now) are exactly the same issues that come up when non-EU migrants want to do stuff in EU. And the argument the OP makes has always been my argument. Fine, you hate migrants, good for you. But what about other Europeans who are getting the short stick with your national rules? No one has a good answer for this.
FWIW: I am a non-EU migrant.
Re: 11.8M EU citizens pay taxes to governments they cannot vote for
#3Inability to meaningfully vote against the government is even more common.
Re: 11.8M EU citizens pay taxes to governments they cannot vote for
#4Puerto Rico pays taxes to the U.S. government, yet its residents cannot vote in federal elections. Additionally, the Jones Act increases costs even more than on the mainland.
Re: 11.8M EU citizens pay taxes to governments they cannot vote for
#585% of Americans pay taxes to a federal government that they cannot vote for.
My vote is totally irrelevant. I've moved 3 states in my life. Never once has it mattered because of how we vote. My state will be blue. My congressional district will be blue. I might as well do nothing.
Thankfully I'm a dual citizen with Canada so my vote has mattered there at least part of the time.
So this isn't anything special.
I'd say the EU is in a far more democratic spot by this metric than the US.
Re: 11.8M EU citizens pay taxes to governments they cannot vote for
#6You may have mobility but you are not a citizen of the host country, so therefore you should not have the right to dictate their laws. You are a welcome guest until you actually become a citizen (through whatever process they define).
Re: 11.8M EU citizens pay taxes to governments they cannot vote for
#7Puerto Rico pays taxes to the U.S. government, yet its residents cannot vote in federal elections. Additionally, the Jones Act increases costs even more than on the mainland.
Okay?
Re: 11.8M EU citizens pay taxes to governments they cannot vote for
#8One of the best arguments against immigration is that, if you allow people to move to your country, even as non-citizen guest workers, they will eventually demand political rights in your country using their physical presence in a democracy as a moral justification. In other words, the only way to keep foreigners from influencing the laws and norms you live under is to physically bar them from your polity entirely.
Re: 11.8M EU citizens pay taxes to governments they cannot vote for
#9Are you going to let them vote or let them not pay taxes? I know which I'd rather.
Re: 11.8M EU citizens pay taxes to governments they cannot vote for
#10Plenty of US citizens are in a similar situation: namely those who are in territories that are not US States, like Puerto Rico. Some US nationals are not even US citizens: those from American Samoa carry US passports but are not considered citizens.