Less Sleepovers, More Math Tutoring
American work culture and the H1B scam
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Less Sleepovers, More Math Tutoring
The war between the “populist right” and the “techno-right” started on Christmas Day. The one day I try to spend zero time online (I would you all had a wonderful Christmas by the way). Here is a short summary:
(1) This schism erupted when news broke that entrepreneur, venture capitalist, and computer scientist Sriram Krishnan would be appointed by Donald Trump to the position of Senior White House Policy Advisor on Artificial Intelligence.
(2) Elon Musk defended the tech industry’s practice of hiring foreign H1B workers, from which Musk himself and his companies have greatly benefitted.
(3) Musk, replying to several accounts that both agreed and disagreed, argued that hiring foreign workers is true to meritocratic principles and stressed the need to acquire top talent to compete with China.
(4) Vivek Ramaswamy, who, along with Musk is heading the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) then weighed in with his take on the H1B controversy. In his post, he derided American culture as lazy and entitled, saying; “‘Normalcy’ doesn’t cut it in a hyper-competitive global market for technical talent. And if we pretend like it does, we’ll have our asses handed to us by China.”
Since this is an ongoing debate, I’m sure to have missed something, but you get the general idea.
This discourse was necessary and a long time coming. This is a “future vision of America” fight. Is this country an idea or a people? Is it a zone of economic opportunity? The elephant in the room has whipped its trunk around and tossed us against the wall. We have no choice but to confront the reality we’re wading into. Fighting for this is good. The right, and all of its various factions, have been handed a mandate. It’s easy to be “anti-woke”; to stand against the ineffectual HR-ification the Democratic establishment has imposed. It’s much more difficult to agree on an alternative vision or find common ground. Demographics are destiny. From a bird’s eye view, all other issues pale in comparison.
Nerd Worship
The technologist (Musk, Sacks, Krishnan, Ramaswamy) is governed by different motives than the populist. The technologist sees technological growth and efficiency as the vehicle for national—and human—success. If we fail here we fail as a nation. They see human flourishing as a scientific and technological race of ideas; if we don’t build quantum computers and fission reactors first then China wins and we lose. It doesn’t matter who we bring in to build it, as long as they do it better than our competitors. This view of history emphasizes “talent” above all else regarding the exponential leaps of technology (the industrial revolution, the microprocessor, social media, etc). Successful companies are a direct result of the most skilled and dedicated employees working there. Work ethic and technical mastery above everything else.
For the technologist, business success is sacred, and hiring foreign workers is seen as an unavoidable necessity. This is disguised behind a rhetoric of securing .0001% talent. But you or I know that a rogue genius is not the ideal candidate for an entry-level software engineering job in companies with tens of thousands of employees. Like all employers, they need someone who understands the tasks, wants to work, and can get the job done promptly. So why would they hire Mark, the systems engineer from Massachusetts, for $120k a year, when they can hire Dhruv, the systems engineer from New Delhi, for $80k a year? The bottom line just makes sense. Of course, Mark might have a family, be a member of the local pickleball club, and have an active social life. Dhruv, motivated by his burning desire to escape the lung-curdling smog and poverty of his home country, might be more willing to work long hours to achieve the ever-fading mirage of the “American Dream”. The technologist venerates the nerd, the social outcast, the quiet “autist,” the immigrant. They are skeptical, and, as we’ll see, burning with resentment, of everyone else. This is how they think. It is ruthless, and, in many ways, it makes sense for what they do. But it's a fundamentally misguided and dangerous way to think about a nation.
The H1B Scam
Each year, the United States accepts 65,000 new H-1B visas, with a small carve-out—20,000 extra—for those with advanced degrees. Officially, the visa stretches three years, promising another three if extended. But the numbers, like everything else, tell a different story. Extensions are routine and almost guaranteed, with more than 309,000 approvals for continued employment granted in 2023 alone. Over 70% come from India, trailed distantly by China, whose share hovers just above 10%. The rest scatter across nations—Canada, Korea, the Philippines, Mexico, and Taiwan.
H1B data is public, confirming many on the right's suspicions. Between 2021 and 2024, only 6% of S&P 500 jobs have gone to white men despite 42% of this demographic holding Bachelor's degrees or higher and being a part of the primary demographic. Many thousands of young American (black, white, hispanic, and asian) STEM graduates are desperately searching for work at American companies, but they’re not being hired. In the last four years, America’s largest companies laid off thousands of domestic employees and while increasing the number of cheap H1B hires.