Post AxTS3Z3zSgowTSU7Xs by ricci@discuss.systems
(DIR) More posts by ricci@discuss.systems
(DIR) Post #AxTNeRl35RNQlCOOdE by ricci@discuss.systems
2025-08-23T20:48:20Z
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I need Americans to understand something that we've already lost, and which is probably not coming back:For as long as any of us have been alive, the United States has been *the* place to come if you were looking for a better life. Even during the cold war, there was no real "competition" between the US and the USSR on this front; if you wanted to improve your life, you didn't make a run for Russia. The United States has had its pick of people from all over the world to improve our science, our economy, our culture, our industries, our medicine, just about anything we wanted, we could get the people here to do it.This is not true anymore. Part of this is other areas of the world developing. Part of it is places recovering from their own centuries of warfare. Part of it is places that are relatively recently rich pouring money into attracting foreigners.But a large part of it is the this country's own, intentional, decisions to do things such as (a) stop valuing the things that have historically made us strong, (b) build up systems that transfer ever larger amounts of wealth to an increasingly small number of people, (c) proudly fail to fix some of our biggest problems such as gun violence, a failing healthcare system, and more, (d) stop believing in the notion of an actual social good that comes from investment in things that benefit all, and (e) double down on all kinds of bigotry and hatred.We have benefited for a very long time from a unipolar world which is now over. The time when the US was the *one* place to aspire has been on its way out for decades, but it's over now. We have competition, and if we want to continue to get any of the benefits of being a place that attracts the brightest, most motivated, hardest working, most-educated people and rewards them for that work, well, we're going to have to work for it.I don't know about you, but I intend to try.
(DIR) Post #AxTO4sxSa0AaeJnx1k by kel@mastodon.online
2025-08-23T20:53:06Z
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@ricci China kicking the worlds ass right now, they have a hunger and discipline and it's going to take decades for any of the traditionally 'advanced' countries to catch up with their momentum!Same here in the UK, only an insane person would want to come here now, we're dead in the water!
(DIR) Post #AxTOOJQ8PuVEDuTqsa by albertcardona@mathstodon.xyz
2025-08-23T20:56:35Z
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@ricci For the moment the US seems to be a place one is from. Over the last half a year I've heard many graduate students saying, the place to go is the US, but it's terrible now, so these other options look comparatively appealing.Will take a lot to reverse this. And current leadership doesn't have a clue about what it implies.
(DIR) Post #AxTPLyjsRJAxSJALhY by ricci@discuss.systems
2025-08-23T21:07:25Z
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@albertcardona At this point, I don't think it's going to reverse. A large part of the attractiveness has been stability. Even if we get a more sensible, less authoritarian congress in a year and president in three years, there will (correctly) be no sense that it will remain. Go to the US, and maybe it's fine now, but maybe they'll try to kick you out, or kill off your business, in a few years
(DIR) Post #AxTPakYBTU5rnIjweG by ricci@discuss.systems
2025-08-23T21:10:05Z
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@kel yeah there was a time when I would have considered the UK as an interesting alternative place to live, but no more
(DIR) Post #AxTR3I0ykRGze2NhJI by albertcardona@mathstodon.xyz
2025-08-23T21:26:25Z
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@ricci Indeed. The reputation of stability takes decades, and it's been thrown out the window just like that.
(DIR) Post #AxTRxfqvJ4UXnEZ20G by drewdaniels@mastodon.online
2025-08-23T21:36:36Z
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@ricci you are a good person and you are making a difference. Please keep up the good work. 🙂
(DIR) Post #AxTS3Z3zSgowTSU7Xs by ricci@discuss.systems
2025-08-23T21:37:42Z
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@drewdaniels I hope
(DIR) Post #AxTUdZ534jxQrPH2R6 by artagnon@mathstodon.xyz
2025-08-23T22:06:35Z
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@ricci As someone who consciously moved out of the US, I think I can safely say that, as much as the US is doing pretty much everything wrong, there is no alternative for an immigrant who wants to start a career in STEM fields today. I moved to Europe because, as I aged, I placed higher value on overall quality of life beyond just work, but I will admit that I used the US as a trampoline: I'm also a slightly strange case, because I can do good self-driven work without external incentives (this was developed at an early age, when I was contributing to git). The US still has the top universities and the most opportunity for career progression. The cream of academia and industry still has a strong incentive system based on merit.A broad oversimplification of the situation in Europe is that computer-literacy in France is abysmally low, everyone is jobless and penniless in Italy and Spain, there is no housing available at any price point available in the Netherlands, the Scandinavian countries have no higher education, and areas surrounding Munich, Zurich, and London have a tiny fraction of industry jobs. I was shocked to see the people employed at a major tech company in Europe: these people would either be laughed out of the US, or be stuck in some janitorial job forever. The strong merit-based incentive structure only exists in elite hedge funds or local setups of American companies.Canada and Australia aren't in much better shape either, although I'm not very familiar with the situation there. China, Japan, and South Korea are xenophobic, and the work culture is slavish. That probably leaves the tiny island city-country of Singapore, which isn't a bad option if you don't mind the tiny city.
(DIR) Post #AxTVfy3LIcACqQBYe0 by rk@mastodon.well.com
2025-08-23T22:18:14Z
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@ricci Switching from a unipolar to multipolar world was inevitable but my god we didn’t have to just…destroy ourselves in our tantrum over that fact.
(DIR) Post #AxTVn932olKuyMT6Se by ricci@discuss.systems
2025-08-23T22:19:33Z
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@rk exactly!