Given that nearly eight in 10 new jobs, according to the administration, will require work-force training or higher education, it furthermore makes no sense that we have reversed the traditional American policy of welcoming skilled immigrants and integrating them into our economy. Because of a recrudescent nativism, we send home thousands upon thousands of foreign students who have gotten masters and doctoral degrees in the hard sciences at American universities. These are people who create jobs, not displace them. The incorporation of immigrants used to be one of the core competencies of our economy. It's time to return to that successful model.I must have missed the "reversal" of "traditional American policy of welcoming skilled immigrants", because as far as I know, we're still admitting over a million legal immigrants annually. Granted, in favor of Mr. Zuckerman's point about skills, we seem to be admitting them on no other basis than that we have to, because, well, if we didn't we'd be racist. Somali refugees and Pakistani cab drivers don't quite fall into the "skilled" category, unless we're talking their skill at milking the system and making large swathes of cities unfit for residential use.
Then there's the "recrudescent nativism": ah, here's the nub of the matter. Zuckerman wants us to forget our "nativism" so we can admit even more immigrants who allegedly "create jobs". It's (almost) all about money for him, an immigrant himself. But it's also about how much he holds white Americans in contempt for thinking that they might like a country of their own, especially the country that used to be theirs.
The following passage illustrates what I mean about the masturbatory quality of pieces like these: uninformed by critical analysis, it merely repeats a tired cliche that reinforces the status quo of huge government, as well as reveling in ignorance of why we have an education problem.
Higher education is another critical issue. As President Obama pointed out last week in his speech at the University of Texas, we have fallen from first to 12th in college graduation rates for young adults. The unemployment rate for those who have never gone to college is almost double what it is for those who have.We have legions of un- and under-employed scientists and others with higher educations, in part because of the very policies Zuckerman wants more of, namely more government subsidies and more H-1B visas for his beloved foreigners. There's no mention of the education bubble, nor of students overloaded with debt, nor of any inkling of why other countries might "out-compete us".
Education may be the key economic issue of our time, Mr. Obama said in his speech, for "countries that out-educate us today . . . will out-compete us tomorrow." To improve our performance will involve massive increases in scholarship support for higher education, and an increase in H-1B visas for foreign students who get M.A.s and Ph.D.s in the hard sciences.
Ashkenazi Supremacist: "We need immigrants bla bla bla"
ReplyDeleteEthnopatriot: "I think the Israelis have a better model here, and my policy is to follow the Israeli model."
[almost imperceptible pause]
Ashkenazi Supremacist: "No, the Israeli model is a special case, required by the fact that Israel is surrounded by a sea of enemies."
Ethnopatriot: "No, I disagree, I think the particulars of the Israeli situation only serve to bring the advantages of the Israeli model into sharper focus; the benefits remain even in less apparently dire or existential circumstances. The Israelis have the policy they do because it's a healthy policy in general; the particulars of their situation only serve to highlight the advantages."
Ashkenazi Supremacist: "[subject change]"
Ethnopatriot: "[stays on subject, breaks out the graphs and statistics]"
Et cetera.
A businessman would never invite the junior executives of competitor companies to come and learn the trade secrets that gave that businessman his edge in the industry.
ReplyDeleteYet billionaire liberal businessmen advocate that we bring more of the smart children of competitor nations here to learn our 'trade secrets': the math, sciences, and engineering that gave us our wealth and military supremacy.
It's insane. I would like to ask a man like Zuckerman why the hell he thinks training Chinese students in advanced physics and engineering is going to help us. Does he assume none of them are going to bring that knowledge back to China (along with the other trade secrets they steal before leaving) and outcompete us with lower labor costs, while building a military that can defeat us?
The Chinese must think we are absolute morons.
Ashkenazi Supremacist: "Israeli immigration is based on religion; American has a very different history."
ReplyDeleteEthnopatriot: "No, the Israeli model isn't based on religion, it's based on ethnicity and majority rights; Israel's immigration policy is based on ethnicity, on who your parents were, not on what you believe. I think that's a good model, and that America should follow suit; we should be admitting only immigrants from groups who have a proven track record of assimilating into the American majority."
Ashkenazi Supremacist: "That sounds a lot like racism to me."
Ethnopatriot: "No, it's not racism, that's the Israeli model. Israel has been following this model since its inception; the American-Israeli friendship has been rock solid for nearly fifty years now, enjoying overwhelming bipartisan support. That broad-based, bipartisan friendship could not have existed if Israeli immigration policy was racist, the American people and Congress would never have allowed it. Are you calling Israeli immigration policy racist? Are you calling Israel racist?
The American Jewish community is well known for its democratic, egalitarian, and anti-racist values. The American Jewish community is also well-known for its financial, religious, and moral support of the state of Israel. Are you calling the American Jewish community racist? I certainly hope not, as that would be the height of absurdity, to say nothing of its offensiveness."
Et Cetera.
Has this guy ever heard of H1-B visas? Does he realize this depresses wages so much so that many engineering and hard sciences majors have no incentive to pursue work in these fields?
ReplyDeleteI agree that we need SOME high-IQ immigrants because there's only so many native Americans qualified to support our increasingly technological society, but let's consider alternative policies before flooding our country with immigrants (ironically most of whom have no discernible skills whatsoever). Not to mention that we completely ignore the most intelligent kids while they're in school, tell them they should go for what they like instead of what's practical concerning college major, then convince them that the best means of supporting society is by giving money to poor NAMs.
And none of this even broaches the notion that a high level of immigration depresses national solidarity. I don't glorify cultural traditions (to me, they're all arbitrary), but this sociological experiment, whereby we fundamentally change the social fabric of this nation, is a dangerous one.
Never trust a writer who uses the word "recrudescent." It is a sure sign of someone who has been educated beyond his intellectual capacity.
ReplyDeleteThe hell of it is, lots of techno-dweebs and economic fundamentalists will read this and think Zuckerman is a conservative, yay, yay! He's bashing Obama for not creating enough jobs! What a guy!
OneSDTV wrote: I agree that we need SOME high-IQ immigrants because there's only so many native Americans qualified to support our increasingly technological society...
ReplyDeleteI disagree. There are always "enough" people available to work in a field if the pay is high enough. If there is a scarcity of American engineers now, then the salaries will rise and attract bright kids into scientific/technical fields.
There were plenty enough white Americans to build America through the technological explosion of the 1800s-1900s. We didn't need Chinese and Indians in order to prosper then, and we don't now. We don't even need smart European immigrants.
We are a people first, and an economic entity second. We will have plenty of money and economic security with just the white population we have now. Stop filling the grad schools with Chinese and Indians and there's more room for our own kids, and better salaries to encourage them.
I agree that we need SOME high-IQ immigrants because there's only so many native Americans qualified to support our increasingly technological society
ReplyDeleteBalls. I have an IQ of 142 and a degree in computer science. I'm also unemployed and have only a very slim chance of ever working in IT again.
There is no shortage of people in America with technological skills. In fact there is a surplus of them.
The hell of it is, lots of techno-dweebs and economic fundamentalists will read this and think Zuckerman is a conservative, yay, yay! He's bashing Obama for not creating enough jobs! What a guy!
ReplyDeleteNo, Rush just showed the "conservative" response; he read the part about the "new normal," interpreted it as cover for Obama's failed economy, and made no mention of the immigration arguments in the piece.
RealClearPolitics - Video - Mort Zuckerman Admits He Helped Write One Of Obama's Speeches
ReplyDeleteThe motivation for H1B labor in IT is price, not labor. An H1B from India or China will happily take entry-level salary in America, whereas a seasoned white professional in America will demand a salary commensurate with his experience.
ReplyDeleteAgree with MnMark above who says: We are a people first, and an economic entity second.
That should especially go out to allegedly "pro-White" HBD bloggers like Dick Hoste. We're a people, not an economic playground for the cognitive elite. Prosperity for whites begins when we start looking out for ourselves - not economic abstractions.
Yes, he's an immigrant, but he's a Canadian immigrant. Ok, he's a jew so he doesn't count, but in general, white Canadians and Americans are basically the same ethnicity. I think it should be a lot easier for them to move back and forth between the countries.
ReplyDelete"We are a people first, and an economic entity second."
ReplyDeleteAlthough I think it's a false dilemma to an extent, the importance of economic growth fades dramatically after a certain basic point, and the importance of other things (coherent culture, healthy values, and so on) heavily outweighs economic considerations.
Regardless, that isn't the choice here - we can have our cake and eat it too. People like Zuckerman are either disingenuous or misled, or both.
we can have our cake and eat it too.
ReplyDeleteI disagree. Any value system beyond dollars takes a sliver off your cake. Not willing to sell your children into slavery? Your competing value has just cost you money.
The point is that capitalism is not an acceptable ruling system. It's an acceptable sub-system, a tool.
It's not like this makes a great talking point, because 1) it's negative, and 2) you're right to the extent that we aren't losing much off our slice, and we can do much to mitigate the loss.
In any case, I agree that we have to have a value system to which capitalism is subordinate. If capitalism is dominant, we'll be bribed right onto the chopping block.
I don't disagree with the substance of what you're saying here ("It's an acceptable sub-system, a tool.").
ReplyDeleteAs a conceptual point, though, any value system beyond economicism (?) may take a sliver off the economic cake, that's true, but it might not change it much, or it might add to it.
This is especially true when looking at short-term long-term things. Often what is good for a society isn't so good in the short-term for profits or what have you, but in the long-term is actually better.
Dennis thank you for continuing to write about this. I am a native born American who is currently completing my Ph.D in chemistry. Zuckerman and his ilk continue to promote this lie. Most people in the newsmedia are too stupid to actually look at the facts. I think Zuckerman is savy enough to know the truth, but he is an unabashed globalist and will use these lies to push his agenda. Ed Rubenstein at Vdare.com has written several insightful articles over the years to put these lies to shame. There really aren't that many jobs for people with advanced degrees in the natural sciences, and while there is a demand, the demand is greatly exagerated. And as far as I can tell very few if any foreigners are asked to leave once they have completed their degrees. Almost all of them stay on in the U.S. The saving grace for Americans is that a good number of them can't get hired at a company because their command of english is so poor, despite having lived in the U.S. for 5+ yrs. Government jobs are often designated for U.S. citizens as well but I wonder how much longer this will last. My viewpoint is that the U.S. will collapse economically in the next few years and few if any foreigners will want to come here after that happens.
ReplyDeleteI wonder what reaction Mortimer Zuckerman wanted for his speech, delivered through the mouth of Barack Obama, and who he wanted that reaction from. Who were the important people as far as Mortimer Zuckerman were concerned, what do they control, and why would he hope that having Barack Obama deliver the message rather than just saying it himself would sway them?
ReplyDeleteIn any case it seems to me that here really wants to define "leadership" as "making Mortimer Zuckerman's preferences into state policy" by building a bipartisan consensus on terms pre-set by him.
"But if the economic scene these days is daunting, the political scene is downright depressing. We have a paralyzed system. Neither the Democrats nor the Republicans seem able to find common ground to address what is clearly going to be an ongoing employment crisis. Finding that common ground is a job opportunity for real leaders."
Not a bad idea, if he does know what's for the best. There is indeed a jobs crisis. The kids are no all right, especially the White boys.
But I see no reason to trust Mortimer Zuckerman to have Whites' best interests in mind, or even to have thought beyond the usual cliches. I think he "knows" what's right because he sees a lot of smart, connected people, people like him, heading in the same direction, and he sees no clash between that and what's good for his in-groups, and that settles it for Mortimer Zuckerman.
- Daybreaker
I'll pretend not to notice Zuckerman's ethnicity. That's what I am supposed to do, right?
ReplyDeleteMangan,
ReplyDeleteI am curious as to how people from supposedly dirt poor nations can afford to come here and study when the native population needs 10-20 years to pay down the incurred debt. Does the university charge them a different rate rate? Do foreign governments pay for the education (via US foreign aid most likely)? Does the student go into massive debt like the rest of us? Do many universities hand out scholarships specifically for foreigners students? Why would a university knowingly displace a native slot if there was one to fill it? Obviously this is a problem, but the details surrounding this topic seem vague, perhaps intentionally. I have come across the answers to any of these questions addressed on any other site when the visa topic is discussed.
Interestingly enough a few years ago I considered obtaining a second bachelors degree outside my current field. When looking at public universities for which to apply I was surprised to see that some were closed to second bachelors, but open to international students. For publicly funded universities I considered this policy outrageous.
@anonymous 7:20 pm
ReplyDeleteState universities love international students, because these students are pure profit for the university. Foreign students pay the full sticker price when it comes to tuition. The countries the students come from may be poor, but the students are not. They are from wealthy families who are able to pay the full tuition without any financial aid middle man.
"Interestingly enough a few years ago I considered obtaining a second bachelors degree outside my current field. When looking at public universities for which to apply I was surprised to see that some were closed to second bachelors, but open to international students. For publicly funded universities I considered this policy outrageous."
They know that they can make much more money from an international student paying the out of state rate (typically 2.5x more), then an in-state student who will pay the much lower in-state tuition rate.
Anonymous, we have to pay out of state tuition fees. And yes, there are a bunch of Lamborghini cars on a few miles radius around my apartment. Just because they afford them, doesn't mean I do or most people in my country do.
ReplyDeleteRelated to H1B being a thing of price, not labour. I don't really get all this immigration worship. You don't even need the people to move to your country to hire them in the tech sector. Also, I'm unsure about how much economic growth immigration creates. In Europe it's super small - it probably decreased the GDP per capita, besides higher crime, even more crowded places and so on.