språker wrote:tiia wrote:I noticed something in your post: You seem to consider yourself being an expat. It sounds like you see your stay in Lithuania much more as a temporary thing, than a permanent one. (Although I assumend you're there permantly.
Maybe I used the wording "expat" loosely. I don't know exactly where I'll end up, but I would say it is more probable that I'll stay here. I have the feeling that I'm not too familiar with the politics yet, but if I had the right to vote, I would try to decide what would be my choice. It will probably be easier to follow, and make my own opinion, when I reach the C1 level, but until then I think I prefer fiction
Yes, it's a lot about whether you see yourself as a temporary expat or a real immigrant. Tiia makes great points.
But I would like to add another one: we pay taxes in the countries we work in. We bring value both by doing the work and by paying taxes from our salary. And should I bring even more value, than just my brain, by really staying and founding a family based on the same values I live by (which includes creating value for the society), which will be even more likely to stay, I definitely want my say in how the society is run. Including how are my taxes spent.
While I definitely see, why it is wise to not give out citizenships and the right to vote too lightly (I've seen some pretty outputting examples in Belgium. I know a person, who was offered a few hundred votes from a leader of one immigrant community, should he decide to run for the local elections), it is:
1.a human rights problem, if a country makes citizenship and voting rights too hard to gain (and finding the balance is a huge issue, I know), basically creating two classes of inhabitants
2.sort of weird and dumb on an individual level, to say it just doesn't matter. Even if you opt to not vote, it is dumb to say that the right to vote is not important.
språker, your second quote makes much more sense. The fact you see your situation as temporary, that is a great argument. And the fact of the language bareer being a problem for decision making in elections, that is a very good point and one more reason for all immigrants to work hard on the languages of their new homes. And of course for learning more of the culture, history, the economical context, and so on.
I have so much to learn, in order to make a solid political idea about the Switzerland. It's good I do not have a right to vote after a mere year. But in a few years, it will be very different.
