Forget Amazon - Toronto is taking tech jobs away from DC because of GOP anti-immigrant policies

[Anonymous]

This has been pretty obvious since 2016, or longer, to anyone working in tech.
The Republican strategy is to use xenophobia to get white people to vote to harm themselves economically and to help billionaires.

And demonizing immigrants is damaging our world-leading tech industry.

U.S. Hands Canada an Opening in Tech
By making immigrants feel unwelcome, America does a favor for aspiring hubs in Toronto and Vancouver.

Canada ought to have a world-beating technology industry. The country has arguably the best system for admitting high-skilled immigrants. As a rich country, Canada has plenty of capital to direct toward building tech companies. The legal environment for venture capital and startups is very similar to that of the U.S., and taxes are not much higher. With its proximity to the U.S., its English proficiency, and its cultural ties to both Europe and Asia, it should have little problem selling into the biggest markets. And its educational system is one of the world’s highest-ranked:

...

This reflects what economists call the clustering effect. Venture capitalists, start-up founders, big companies, and engineers all want to be near each other, in order to have the maximum number of options, and also to take advantage of the ideas and expertise that seem to permeate the air in places like Silicon Valley. Because the U.S. tech hubs have a big head start, Canada’s cities are left struggling to get off the ground.

...

But the winds may be changing. Silicon Valley, New York and Seattle have one major weakness -- they are located in a country that has chosen to elect Donald Trump as president. Trump’s restrictive policies toward high-skilled immigration, combined with his general xenophobic attitude and rhetoric, are making the U.S. look like a less attractive destination for foreign talent.

...

Toronto, in particular, may be well poised to capitalize. In 2017, it added more tech jobs than the San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle, DC, or New York:

https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2019-07-25/u-s-immigration-policy-gives-canadian-tech-a-great-opportunity

As Canada and other countries siphon off our tech talent and harm our economy -- at least housing prices in DC will go down marginally. Too bad for America, though.

[Anonymous]

It's not just Canada.

The UK and Germany and China are heavily investing in their universities and their tech industry.

Their stated goal is to take the worldwide talent that currently goes to the US and starts companies like Google and Intel, and get that talent to go to THEIR countries. To make the next Google a German, or a British, or a Chinese company. And it's working.

Thanks, Republicans.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's not just Canada.

The UK and Germany and China are heavily investing in their universities and their tech industry.

Their stated goal is to take the worldwide talent that currently goes to the US and starts companies like Google and Intel, and get that talent to go to THEIR countries. To make the next Google a German, or a British, or a Chinese company. And it's working.

Thanks, Republicans.

Good. We can start educating Americans at CalTech, MIT, Stanford, Rice, and the good medical schools

[Anonymous]

Most countries have better training than the US does.

Amazon is a global company and has employees all over the world.

[Anonymous]

I wouldn’t work in Toronto for any amount of money, because it’s a freezing hell on earth for five months a year.

Have you ever felt a -50 windchill?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's not just Canada.

The UK and Germany and China are heavily investing in their universities and their tech industry.

Their stated goal is to take the worldwide talent that currently goes to the US and starts companies like Google and Intel, and get that talent to go to THEIR countries. To make the next Google a German, or a British, or a Chinese company. And it's working.

Thanks, Republicans.

Good. We can start educating Americans at CalTech, MIT, Stanford, Rice, and the good medical schools

Such a backward point of view. Americans at Caltech and MIT and Stanford (I am an American who went to Stanford) HUGELY benefit from foreign talent coming here.

There are enough great American universities to accommodate the Americans that want to go to a great university and work hard.




... Actually, I'll go further.
Your point of view is not just a backward one.
It is a fundamentally weak and insecure point of view.
It is the point of view of a coddled likely-conservative used to getting a hand up from being rich or white or male and afraid to compete in the real, worldwide arena where economic success is made.

Too bad for you. America is a global economic giant because Americans have not been afraid to compete with the best the world has to offer.
We invite global talent here because we are smart and strong and secure and we know we can learn from foreigners as we build a multiethnic culture together.
If you're afraid of that, leave. Or go to a conservative bubble school like Hillsdale and suck down wingnut welfare because you can't compete with actual smart people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wouldn’t work in Toronto for any amount of money, because it’s a freezing hell on earth for five months a year.

Have you ever felt a -50 windchill?

Okay.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's not just Canada.

The UK and Germany and China are heavily investing in their universities and their tech industry.

Their stated goal is to take the worldwide talent that currently goes to the US and starts companies like Google and Intel, and get that talent to go to THEIR countries. To make the next Google a German, or a British, or a Chinese company. And it's working.

Thanks, Republicans.

Meanwhile the US permits fake for-profit colleges to suck up a huge percentage of student aid dollars, refuses to charge reasonable tuition, and acts like investing in universities is "socialism."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's not just Canada.

The UK and Germany and China are heavily investing in their universities and their tech industry.

Their stated goal is to take the worldwide talent that currently goes to the US and starts companies like Google and Intel, and get that talent to go to THEIR countries. To make the next Google a German, or a British, or a Chinese company. And it's working.

Thanks, Republicans.

Good. We can start educating Americans at CalTech, MIT, Stanford, Rice, and the good medical schools

So we can work to reduce student loan debt and make college accessible to all, is that what you are saying? Or are you one of those people who things that caring about student loan debt is "socialist" and everyone should just "be responsible" and not go to college if they can't afford it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's not just Canada.

The UK and Germany and China are heavily investing in their universities and their tech industry.

Their stated goal is to take the worldwide talent that currently goes to the US and starts companies like Google and Intel, and get that talent to go to THEIR countries. To make the next Google a German, or a British, or a Chinese company. And it's working.

Thanks, Republicans.

Good. We can start educating Americans at CalTech, MIT, Stanford, Rice, and the good medical schools

This is an export industry. Nobody says 'good, now we can enjoy our soybeans instead of sending them to China.'

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's not just Canada.

The UK and Germany and China are heavily investing in their universities and their tech industry.

Their stated goal is to take the worldwide talent that currently goes to the US and starts companies like Google and Intel, and get that talent to go to THEIR countries. To make the next Google a German, or a British, or a Chinese company. And it's working.

Thanks, Republicans.

Good. We can start educating Americans at CalTech, MIT, Stanford, Rice, and the good medical schools

Such a backward point of view. Americans at Caltech and MIT and Stanford (I am an American who went to Stanford) HUGELY benefit from foreign talent coming here.

There are enough great American universities to accommodate the Americans that want to go to a great university and work hard.




... Actually, I'll go further.
Your point of view is not just a backward one.
It is a fundamentally weak and insecure point of view.
It is the point of view of a coddled likely-conservative used to getting a hand up from being rich or white or male and afraid to compete in the real, worldwide arena where economic success is made.

Too bad for you. America is a global economic giant because Americans have not been afraid to compete with the best the world has to offer.
We invite global talent here because we are smart and strong and secure and we know we can learn from foreigners as we build a multiethnic culture together.
If you're afraid of that, leave. Or go to a conservative bubble school like Hillsdale and suck down wingnut welfare because you can't compete with actual smart people.

Thank you. I have a white kid at TJ. And I have never begrudged the 70% Asian admit rate, because those kids work for it. And here is my message to my white kids: you are smart, you are talented, you have a lot of potential. So, if you want it, work for it. Whether “it” is TJ or college or grad school or a job. In your grandparents generation, white men had virtually no competition. In my generation, POC and women began competing in earnest. In yours, you are competing on a global scale. So expect to put in as much work as the Indian American kids— and the kids in India, if you want the great college, the great job, the great life.

My kids are lucky to be born to UMC parents, to have gone to great schools, to have had us invest in them and their education, and that they will graduate from college debt free. That’s a lot of advantages. They are lucky not to have to deal with institutional racism. I don’t actually feel like they deserve any more over some other kid.

I have zero interest in sending a kid out into the world with white male privilege or white female privilege. If for no other reason than I want them to be able to deal with the reality of globalization, rather than whining about what they “deserve”. They will be competing on an international scale. They need to be prepared for that— in terms of education and in terms of attitude.

Maybe if white American kids worked as hard as 1st Gen Asian kids and international kids, they would be getting the spots at Stanford.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wouldn’t work in Toronto for any amount of money, because it’s a freezing hell on earth for five months a year.

Have you ever felt a -50 windchill?

Are you aware of where on the map Toronto is? Because it's really not that bad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's not just Canada.

The UK and Germany and China are heavily investing in their universities and their tech industry.

Their stated goal is to take the worldwide talent that currently goes to the US and starts companies like Google and Intel, and get that talent to go to THEIR countries. To make the next Google a German, or a British, or a Chinese company. And it's working.

Thanks, Republicans.

Good. We can start educating Americans at CalTech, MIT, Stanford, Rice, and the good medical schools

Such a backward point of view. Americans at Caltech and MIT and Stanford (I am an American who went to Stanford) HUGELY benefit from foreign talent coming here.

There are enough great American universities to accommodate the Americans that want to go to a great university and work hard.




... Actually, I'll go further.
Your point of view is not just a backward one.
It is a fundamentally weak and insecure point of view.
It is the point of view of a coddled likely-conservative used to getting a hand up from being rich or white or male and afraid to compete in the real, worldwide arena where economic success is made.

Too bad for you. America is a global economic giant because Americans have not been afraid to compete with the best the world has to offer.
We invite global talent here because we are smart and strong and secure and we know we can learn from foreigners as we build a multiethnic culture together.
If you're afraid of that, leave. Or go to a conservative bubble school like Hillsdale and suck down wingnut welfare because you can't compete with actual smart people.

Thank you. I have a white kid at TJ. And I have never begrudged the 70% Asian admit rate, because those kids work for it. And here is my message to my white kids: you are smart, you are talented, you have a lot of potential. So, if you want it, work for it. Whether “it” is TJ or college or grad school or a job. In your grandparents generation, white men had virtually no competition. In my generation, POC and women began competing in earnest. In yours, you are competing on a global scale. So expect to put in as much work as the Indian American kids— and the kids in India, if you want the great college, the great job, the great life.

My kids are lucky to be born to UMC parents, to have gone to great schools, to have had us invest in them and their education, and that they will graduate from college debt free. That’s a lot of advantages. They are lucky not to have to deal with institutional racism. I don’t actually feel like they deserve any more over some other kid.

I have zero interest in sending a kid out into the world with white male privilege or white female privilege. If for no other reason than I want them to be able to deal with the reality of globalization, rather than whining about what they “deserve”. They will be competing on an international scale. They need to be prepared for that— in terms of education and in terms of attitude.

Maybe if white American kids worked as hard as 1st Gen Asian kids and international kids, they would be getting the spots at Stanford.

Yes, exactly.

One comment: Plenty of white Americans are getting spots at Stanford.
However, plenty of white conservatives are NOT getting spots at Stanford.

What I am increasingly realizing is that white conservative mediocrities are whining about top colleges because THEY couldn’t compete there.

In DC, I have come to realize the vast majority of Republicans who work here are dim-witted ideologues who got their Republican jobs for their ideology, not any brains. As a colleague said to me: “smart liberals want to build something and go into science or to Silicon Valley. The small number of smart conservatives all go into politics.”

What I will NOT let those people do is bring down the American university system and tech economy, including in DC, because they can’t hack it. Screw that. Our best universities are liberal because on average our best STUDENTS are liberal. America is going to stay a multicultural democracy or die trying.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wouldn’t work in Toronto for any amount of money, because it’s a freezing hell on earth for five months a year.

Have you ever felt a -50 windchill?

This! The paranoia by the OP is unreal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wouldn’t work in Toronto for any amount of money, because it’s a freezing hell on earth for five months a year.

Have you ever felt a -50 windchill?

It won't be that way much longer.