Scapeghost (u/Scapeghost)

Scapeghost commented on Online age-verification tools for child safety are surveilling adults cnbc.com/2026/03/08/socia... · Posted by u/bilsbie

petcat · 4 days ago

> Now your countries are little different from Russia or China or Dubai

The fact that many independent national newspapers (including this article from CNBC) are openly calling-out the surveillance state and entering the debate into the public conscience should tell everyone that USA (and the West) is very different from Russia or China or Dubai.

USA is not perfect, but at least is has active public discourse. We can openly (and legally) debate these things, and if we convince enough people, then we can change them.

Scapeghost · 3 days ago

In Russia, China, the people are under threat of literal torture and murder.

You gave up way before that

Scapeghost commented on Online age-verification tools for child safety are surveilling adults cnbc.com/2026/03/08/socia... · Posted by u/bilsbie

code4life · 4 days ago

It is both scary to watch and yet fun to be alive to see it come to fruition.

It is occurring in every dimension, including the ability to track who buys and sells with crypto currencies along with the ability to punish or reward people based on ai hardware software infrastructure deployments.

Scapeghost · 4 days ago

Reddit bans users based on what they upvoted:

https://www.reddit.com/r/RedditSafety/comments/1j4cd53/warni...

"We know that the culture of a community is not just what gets posted, but what is engaged with. Voting comes with responsibility."

Scapeghost commented on Online age-verification tools for child safety are surveilling adults cnbc.com/2026/03/08/socia... · Posted by u/bilsbie

Scapeghost · 4 days ago

Man... How did yall white Westerners turn out to be the weakest people in the world?

You were supposed to be the bastions of freedom and justice, and the rest of the world begrudgingly admired you for that and were slowly improving to become like you, but ever since 9/11/2001 the rich old people that rule you have been feeding you boogeymen to make you their complacent b*tches and you lay down and crawl along and accept everything without even a whimper.

Now your countries are little different from Russia or China or Dubai etc where the old money cabals run everything, and it's not some third world backhole that was suffering already anyway, but you yourself that are the worst victims of all their laws and wars.

Scapeghost commented on You can't cURL a Border drobinin.com/posts/you-ca... · Posted by u/valzevul

apexalpha · 4 months ago

I had no idea travel was this difficult for people who aren't EU citizens.

Wow, I'm almost annoyed on the authors behalf of how much hoops there are to jump through.

>To apply for British citizenship, you need to prove you were physically in the UK on your application date but five years ago. Not approximately five years, not that week—that exact day when you press "submit" on the form minus five years. Miss it by 24 hours and your application is reject after months of waiting, and you have to pay a hefty fee to re-apply.

That's a hilarious requirement. I wonder how that ended up in there.

Scapeghost · 4 months ago

Right now the biggest problem in life is the country of my passport.

I have enough in savings and enough passive income to be able to live comfortably almost anywhere, but whenever I talk to travel agents, or people who can help set up companies etc in the countries I want to go to, first they're like "Sure, we can do it, when do you want it" etc and then they ask where I'm from, and when I tell them, they either stop replying or say sorry, they can't help me.

sigh...Racism is a funny thing. They haven't even seen me, or seen my history of travel, or anything, they just stop cooperating when they see that one word, the name of my country.

And I can't blame them either, I know many people from here go and overstay there visas and generally make problems in other countries.

I just wish I could put down a deposit of a few thousand dollars as a guarantee that I'll behave and get a visa.

Scapeghost commented on Ask HN: How can I escape my 3W country as a freelance dev with passive income? · Posted by u/Scapeghost

aupra · a year ago

Sorry, I don't have any advice. But earning $1K-2K as a passive income is huge! Atleast as a fellow 3W resident. Do you mind sharing what you do?

Anyway, wishing you good luck!

Scapeghost · a year ago

Without giving away too much PII, some of it is interest from various savings accounts and subscriptions/donations from Patreon etc. and some from sporadic sales.

Scapeghost commented on Ask HN: How can I escape my 3W country as a freelance dev with passive income? · Posted by u/Scapeghost

getwiththeprog · a year ago

That should be "as well as a native", but seriously, you write incredibly well.

I would suggest travelling and building connections with people in places you would like to be. You will probably have to work to get your required visas, and meeting people is the best way to get work.

Scapeghost · a year ago

"as well as a native" sounds ambiguous in my head, like implying "and I am a native" so I went with the counterpart to "as good as new"

Scapeghost commented on Ask HN: How can I escape my 3W country as a freelance dev with passive income? · Posted by u/Scapeghost

Scapeghost · a year ago

P.S. Since I mentioned being from the Middle East I think I should add that I'm not religious at all lol

But I can't get it removed from my passport as there are laws against apostasy and "blasphemy" here :(

Scapeghost commented on Ask HN: How can I escape my 3W country as a freelance dev with passive income? · Posted by u/Scapeghost

big-green-man · a year ago

If you're looking for a beautiful place to go outside, Svalbard is not it lol.

Thailand is awesome, however they're not like many other well developed places where English is important to them. They are proud of their language and you'll need to learn it to get on. It's a shame because you speak English perfectly.

If you want something that your English can be a skill that you can put to use, Europe and the English speaking countries have pretty strict rules (for legal immigrants). You can get work as an English teacher in Korea or Japan since you're so good at it, especially if you learned it as a second language you're more familiar with the formal structure of the language than a native speaker because you had to learn them from scratch. Not quite tech work, but they're reasonably nice places. They're a little racist but they see nothing wrong with it, and their target of dislike is probably not you so you probably won't see much of that. And, their racism isn't usually hateful, they just stereotype and stare and ask inappropriate questions mostly.

Latin America... you'll need to learn Spanish. Most of the place is unbelievably beautiful, but there's some corruption and crime. The Caribbean, it's also beautiful, and many places have English as the primary language, but again, similar problems to Latin America.

The pacific islands are nice, most of them are full of English speakers, but many of the islands are UK or US territories and you'll have a hard time going for the same reason you'd have a hard time going to the US or UK. Also, some places like american Samoa, they have weird laws about land ownership, and interestingly those from there have US passports but are not US citizens. There are many that aren't US territories but that are guaranteed military protection and use the US dollar. Tons of great places there if you do your research.

As far as Mexico, many places on the Baja peninsula are relatively crime free, as developed as any US town, many people speak English there because of a history of tourism from the US state of California. Maybe worth checking out. Mexican passport holders can travel to more countries visa free than any other country's passport, and in many other places, get a visa relatively easily, so it might be a great idea to get one if you want access to much of the world.

Scapeghost · a year ago

> If you're looking for a beautiful place to go outside, Svalbard is not it lol.

It'd be a nice change from the desert climates I've been stuck in all my life though haha

> You can get work as an English teacher in Korea or Japan since you're so good at it

Let's be real here, they won't feel much confidence in learning English from a brown person :') I grew up on English media and then raised on the internet so my accent actually used to be good, but living in places like Dubai has actually messed up my English a bit because of the creole/pidgin they use there.

As for racism, I've been to East/SE Asian countries and frankly the racism that white/Western people tend to perceive is often pretty harmless and benign. Just cultural differences in "appropriateness". I've certainly seen worse in my own country. The worst I've personally experienced was in Dubai from Arabs/Emiratis against the many "brown" expats who live and work there, even those following the same religion. (P.S. I'm not religious at all)

I don't really need a job per se to support myself. I just want a way to 1: Be able to stay in a country long-term (longer than the usual tourist visas) while working from home, and 2: Eventually own property there and become a permanent resident if not a naturalized citizen.

There are some "gray" options like paying someone to "hire" you as their employee, basically getting an employment visa but doing your own thing. Or paying someone to marry you :') Both options are legal but rely on trust and make you dependent on a person you don't know: They can take your money then give you the boot any time if they want.

I learned of New Caledonia a while ago (France) and man, that place looks like paradise. Would be so perfect if I could settle there!

Scapeghost commented on Ask HN: How can I escape my 3W country as a freelance dev with passive income? · Posted by u/Scapeghost

WheelsAtLarge · a year ago

You'll need lots of money or a high education to move to one of the European Union countries. Try getting a job that offers a work visa in one of the countries of your choice. But that's temporary by definition.

Another option, move to a country like Mexico that has options. Immigration is not as difficult as it is in the US or Europe and you can make a relatively good living if you have marketable skills. I know of people who have moved to Mexico from the US and they are happy. Make sure that you pick the right area to move to. Living conditions can vary a lot. A big advantage that you will have is your ability to speak English. It's a big plus. You'll need to learn Spanish. Given your assets, you can get a visa to travel to the US and use that to find businesses that you can work for as a freelancer.

I assume that you are female from what you wrote. Misogyny is a problem too but I suspect that it's better than in the Middle East. It's a democracy but it has issues with corruption. I hear that it can be a great place to live once you adapt.

That's one option. Your goal should be to do as much research as you can. You always have the option to visit for a few months and see how things work out before you make a decision.

Canada is another option, but again immigration requirements are hard to meet. Look into it. It's worth trying.

Scapeghost · a year ago

Thank you. Though Mexico has always seemed just as scary and with many of the same problems as the place I want to leave.

I'm more inclined towards East Asia, and read that Thailand may have options for "digital nomads". My passive income alone may be enough to live in relative comfort there.

If I ever go to the western hemisphere I'd rather consider places like Chile, or even visa-free places like Svalbard, Norway as a last resort.. :)

How about just disappearing in a Polynesian island like Samoa, is that a thing? lol