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Vivek Ramaswamy, with one Xweet, set off quite the immigration discussion. One that has brought asinine internal divisions to the surface.
The reason top tech companies often hire foreign-born & first-generation engineers over “native” Americans isn’t because of an innate American IQ deficit (a lazy & wrong explanation). A key part of it comes down to the c-word: culture. Tough questions demand tough answers & if…
— Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) December 26, 2024
Some of the key points in his long comment:
Tough questions demand tough answers & if we’re really serious about fixing the problem, we have to confront the TRUTH:
Our American culture has venerated mediocrity over excellence for way too long (at least since the 90s and likely longer). That doesn’t start in college, it starts YOUNG.
~Snip
(Fact: I know *multiple* sets of immigrant parents in the 90s who actively limited how much their kids could watch those TV shows precisely because they promoted mediocrity…and their kids went on to become wildly successful STEM graduates).
More movies like Whiplash, fewer reruns of “Friends.” More math tutoring, fewer sleepovers. More weekend science competitions, fewer Saturday morning cartoons. More books, less TV. More creating, less “chillin.” More extracurriculars, less “hanging out at the mall.”
Most normal American parents look skeptically at “those kinds of parents.” More normal American kids view such “those kinds of kids” with scorn. If you grow up aspiring to normalcy, normalcy is what you will achieve.
Now close your eyes & visualize which families you knew in the 90s (or even now) who raise their kids according to one model versus the other. Be brutally honest.
“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.
What happened next was quite the online discussion regarding immigration, the H-1B visa program and more. Elon jumped into the fray as did the likes of Laura Loomer (whom I personally regard as a loon), and more.
His call for a cultural renaissance – one that prioritizes ‘excellence over mediocrity’ – set off a firestorm.
~Snip
Former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, who positioned herself as a moderate during the 2024 Republican primaries, offered a biting response.
‘There is nothing wrong with American workers or American culture,’ Haley declared.
In many cases, there isn’t. And Elon Musk points that out as well.
When another user suggested the Tesla and SpaceX CEO was denying opportunities to Americans, Musk argued that the poster’s understanding of the situation was “upside-down and backwards.”
“OF COURSE my companies and I would prefer to hire Americans and we DO, as that is MUCH easier than going through the incredibly painful and slow work visa process,” the tech billionaire said. “HOWEVER, there is a dire shortage of extremely talented and motivated engineers in America.”
Here’s something that hasn’t been taken into consideration regarding American talent. Participation trophies.
When my daughter was young, those started becoming a thing. You walked in the door – YAY!! Here’s a ribbon or prize! You showed up for your cross country meet in 8th grade – here’s a really cute trophy even though you placed 30th out of 78! WHEEE!! Oh, you’ve had a bad day, we’ll give you an extra few days grace on that project that was due three days ago. Oh, it got even worse? Well, go ahead and submit what you have and we’ll grade accordingly (yes, that happened multiple times in HS and in college).
How many times have we written here on these pages about American kids throwing fits because they were aghast at being expected to DO THE WORK??!! Or get triggered because someone is ignoring their current political stance on climate, politics, latest trends, or being expected to…complete the assignment?
Do NOT get me wrong. There are a ton of Americans out there who work their asses off to make a living, provide for their families, and contribute to their communities. Yet, there are ALSO too many who want to waltz into a job, get all the cool perks, and want to just phone it in for that paycheck.
America DOES need talent. We need talent that understands the value of hard work, the value of consistency, the value of showing up and being ready to give 100% to their work EVERY SINGLE DAY.
He poked the wrong generation.
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) December 27, 2024
That’s funny, but when he landed a job after college, did he do the work or just be there for the paycheck?
This is an interesting comment on Vivek’s Xweet. Worth the click to read it all.
This is a revealing take from @VivekGRamaswamy , and probably (judging from other comments from others on X and my own extensive personal experience with Indian Americans in Silicon Valley) fairly representative.
— Jeremy Carl (@realJeremyCarl) December 26, 2024
Before I get into why it is fundamentally wrong in its most… https://t.co/rwLrWvaRV7
Key point: “America’s willingness to embrace dynamism and risk– to have a society in which the rule of the law is honored (though Democrats have badly eroded this in recent years) and our unique culture, ultimately derived from Europe but strengthened with our own unique pioneering American qualities, has made us so successful.”
This country, as do all countries, needs a talented workforce that is willing to DO the work. Does that mean some are LEGAL immigrants? The answer is yes.
But that also means that we need to get rid of this participation trophy crap and place high expectations on our workforce, no matter the title or job, or immigration status. You have this position? Do the job right or don’t have a job.
Feature Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore/flickr/cropped/CC BY-SA 2.0.
Cameron says: Our American culture has venerated mediocrity over excellence for way too long (at least since the 90s and likely longer). That doesn’t start in college, it starts YOUNG.
And that somehow excuses colleges from admitting white males who have all the qualifications but have the wrong skin color?
“HOWEVER, there is a dire shortage of extremely talented and motivated engineers in America.”
Hard to be motivated when DEI and non-native culture lock you out of the job market. Elon seems to have forgotten how poorly Twitter was managed by Indians before he took over.
Yes, I said it. Fight me if you want.
Elmer says: Female dominated HR functions coupled with DEI mandates have discouraged many American men from even trying to get hired by corporations.
Cameron says: Husband of a friend of mine pointed out that once Indians get control of a company, they only hire Indians. A few of the Indians in his company tried arguing about he was ignorant. His response:
“I lived in your country for a few years and saw it first hand.” And this was back in the early 00s.
Anna A says: I’ve read articles about American companies having their US workers train immigrants for their jobs and then getting laid off. So I’d like an accurate comparison of the pay for an H-1B worker vs a NC State graduate. And how much would it cost to replace them?
I think that the money will speak.
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Richard says: Short term, there is probably a case to be made for importing talent. This should not be a long term approach. The long term demands we fix the culture and especially the education system.
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