The US is barreling toward open fascism, and the consequences for its talent pool will be catastrophic. Educated professionals are precisely the people who find this political shift most intolerable and who also happen to be the ones with the means to leave. Historically, the U.S. has compensated for its weak domestic education system by poaching global talent. But as the country becomes an increasingly unattractive destination, that pipeline will collapse.
Meanwhile, domestic talent can’t fill the gap given the current state of the US education system. On top of that, a wave of retirements among scientists and engineers is already thinning the ranks. The cracks are already forming with Raytheon recently having to recall retired engineers because no one left in the workforce knows how to produce missiles anymore. It’s the inevitable result of a system that prioritized short-term exploitation over long-term investment. When the talent leaves and the retirees aren’t replaced, the decline will accelerate.
This is what kills me. Like why are all employers so picky, so gatekeepy, yet there’s a skills gap? Like just admit you’re not hiring and stop the narrative of any skills gap.
I imagine a large part of it comes down to stock market dynamics. Companies always want to look like they’re growing and doing well to keep their stock price up. Admitting they’re not hiring is a sign that they’re not showing growth, and so they try to hide that. It’s the similar situation with companies using AI as cover to mask layoffs. They can’t admit that they need to cut people, so they mask it by saying they’re becoming more efficient thanks to AI tooling.
The educated people in the west dont really have anywhere to go. Most people have China anti-authoritarian brain worms plus casual racism so I dont see that being a major hub for them. I think about the bourgeois intellectuals like Timothy Snyder who went to fucking Canada of all places to escape fascism. But I get it when youre analysis of fascism is all about aesthetics and ignoring the link between liberalism and fascism.
Thats not to say China or the global south are doomed, as they will just educate and cultivate their own populations. Its just the masses of the global north that will suffer.
I dont think the reddit ideology is necessarily the thing that will stop people as much as the language barrier. We learn European languages growing up and they use mostly the same script so it’s easier for people to imagine moving to Europe. I think Korea is interesting in that sense too because Hangul is pretty easy to learn even if the Korean language itself is not. So I have heard of a bunch of (non Korean) techies moving out there too. Being able to read and write a language even if speaking is difficult for you makes life in another country infinitely easier. If teaching Chinese was more common in schools i bet wed see more migration intrest
The language barrier is definitely a problem, but it’s also worth remembering that a lot of top scientists in US are ethnically Chinese. There’s already been numerous cases of high profile scientists moving to China, and the trend will only accelerate as a result of growing sinophobia. Each expert leaving to China is a big deal because they bring their expertise with them.
I dont disagree with you there. I think here we are talking about people who grew up in the US and what they would do. Maybe that is a bad assumption on my part. I guess there are some smaller number of 2nd or 3rd gen Chinese people who grew up learning Chinese and may have an easier time immigrating to China than anyone else would.
I do think that educated people who won’t have interest in moving to the global south will likely still choose to leave the US and move to other global north countries. That’s still going to cause harm to US tech sector in the long run.
Even if educated people start moving to other global north countries, that’s still a problem for the US. Meanwhile, it’s also worth remembering that a lot of people in STEM are immigrants to the US from the global south. They may leave the west entirely and go back to their home countries where there is growing demand for their skills. Meanwhile, China has already largely caught up in terms of education. Chinese universities are taking top spots in global ranking, China is now producing both higher quantity and quality of research than the US, and China has far more STEM graduates. I’d argue we’ve already hit the inflection point where Chinese technological progress is outpacing the US in most areas.
Ireland is like the only English-speaking country that isn’t cooked. Possibly NZ as well. Immigration is somewhat difficult for either (basically average difficulty for “western” countries) so might be easier to just learn a second language & leave the “west” entirely.
The US is barreling toward open fascism, and the consequences for its talent pool will be catastrophic. Educated professionals are precisely the people who find this political shift most intolerable and who also happen to be the ones with the means to leave. Historically, the U.S. has compensated for its weak domestic education system by poaching global talent. But as the country becomes an increasingly unattractive destination, that pipeline will collapse.
Meanwhile, domestic talent can’t fill the gap given the current state of the US education system. On top of that, a wave of retirements among scientists and engineers is already thinning the ranks. The cracks are already forming with Raytheon recently having to recall retired engineers because no one left in the workforce knows how to produce missiles anymore. It’s the inevitable result of a system that prioritized short-term exploitation over long-term investment. When the talent leaves and the retirees aren’t replaced, the decline will accelerate.
This is what kills me. Like why are all employers so picky, so gatekeepy, yet there’s a skills gap? Like just admit you’re not hiring and stop the narrative of any skills gap.
I imagine a large part of it comes down to stock market dynamics. Companies always want to look like they’re growing and doing well to keep their stock price up. Admitting they’re not hiring is a sign that they’re not showing growth, and so they try to hide that. It’s the similar situation with companies using AI as cover to mask layoffs. They can’t admit that they need to cut people, so they mask it by saying they’re becoming more efficient thanks to AI tooling.
The educated people in the west dont really have anywhere to go. Most people have China anti-authoritarian brain worms plus casual racism so I dont see that being a major hub for them. I think about the bourgeois intellectuals like Timothy Snyder who went to fucking Canada of all places to escape fascism. But I get it when youre analysis of fascism is all about aesthetics and ignoring the link between liberalism and fascism.
Thats not to say China or the global south are doomed, as they will just educate and cultivate their own populations. Its just the masses of the global north that will suffer.
I dont think the reddit ideology is necessarily the thing that will stop people as much as the language barrier. We learn European languages growing up and they use mostly the same script so it’s easier for people to imagine moving to Europe. I think Korea is interesting in that sense too because Hangul is pretty easy to learn even if the Korean language itself is not. So I have heard of a bunch of (non Korean) techies moving out there too. Being able to read and write a language even if speaking is difficult for you makes life in another country infinitely easier. If teaching Chinese was more common in schools i bet wed see more migration intrest
The language barrier is definitely a problem, but it’s also worth remembering that a lot of top scientists in US are ethnically Chinese. There’s already been numerous cases of high profile scientists moving to China, and the trend will only accelerate as a result of growing sinophobia. Each expert leaving to China is a big deal because they bring their expertise with them.
I dont disagree with you there. I think here we are talking about people who grew up in the US and what they would do. Maybe that is a bad assumption on my part. I guess there are some smaller number of 2nd or 3rd gen Chinese people who grew up learning Chinese and may have an easier time immigrating to China than anyone else would.
I do think that educated people who won’t have interest in moving to the global south will likely still choose to leave the US and move to other global north countries. That’s still going to cause harm to US tech sector in the long run.
But also a chance for their former coworkers to be hired there
Even if educated people start moving to other global north countries, that’s still a problem for the US. Meanwhile, it’s also worth remembering that a lot of people in STEM are immigrants to the US from the global south. They may leave the west entirely and go back to their home countries where there is growing demand for their skills. Meanwhile, China has already largely caught up in terms of education. Chinese universities are taking top spots in global ranking, China is now producing both higher quantity and quality of research than the US, and China has far more STEM graduates. I’d argue we’ve already hit the inflection point where Chinese technological progress is outpacing the US in most areas.
If you’re looking to get out fast, and you only speak English, where do you go that isn’t fascist? Genuine question
Ireland is like the only English-speaking country that isn’t cooked. Possibly NZ as well. Immigration is somewhat difficult for either (basically average difficulty for “western” countries) so might be easier to just learn a second language & leave the “west” entirely.