Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by Unseelie 5205 days ago
Insurance Company A has mercenary company B and diplomat C on retainer in case of conflict with foreign nations.

Really, we pay taxes, and taxes cover things like the aforementioned ambassadorial services. It is arguably doable that we could pay some other organization to do the same thing.

1 comments

OK, let me illustrate my point. Let's say you, a US citizen, renounce your citizenship and vow allegiance to this new entity which doesn't hold any land, but with which the US has generously agreed to a permanent residency status for any of its citizens (however unlikely such an occurrence). You run your online business from the US, and a judge in, say, Thailand rules that your product is in violation of their laws incriminating insults to the king. The Thai embassy files for your extradition, as the country has an extradition agreement with the US, and since you are not a US citizen, you are placed in US Immigration & Customs custody until your residency status can be determined. Now, why would the US ICE administrator or Justice Dept. official in charge stick his neck out and prevent your custody from being transferred to Thai authorities? What could your "ambassador" possibly offer as leverage comparable to what his Thai equivalent brings to bear?