Taxation without representation
… is tyranny. I pay taxes and I pay attention to politics, but I cannot legally vote in the US. I know, I am a lousy excuse for a patriot, but I do care about this country (my adopted one, the USofA). No, I don’t fly the American flag on our porch. I do not believe that a national flag is a piece of decoration. I don’t fly the German flag, either.
Why do foreigners not have the right to vote in the place where they live (and pay taxes)? It is unfair, un-democratic, and un-American. We do our part, so we should have a say in who runs the place. Maybe even help run the place. How does getting citizenship make me more qualified to vote? I don’t see how the two are connected.
Across Europe, the idea that foreigners can vote, especially in local and regional elections, is gaining traction. Yet in the US this appears to be a non issue, despite this country being a much more immigration-oriented place than most European nations. So all that’s left for us to do is to send money to the candidates we support. Cynics might argue that sending a couple hundred bucks to a candidate stands a better chance to make a difference than casting a vote. I say that all the money in politics and in elections is the cancer that is killing democracy in this country. But while many Americans are increasingly turned off by politics and apathetic, foreigners are quite motivated to participate, even though we may have our reasons to keep our foreign passports.
Of course, not having to pay income taxes would be a compromise I’d be willing to consider …