[pratyushnair01]

I think there's a lot of visible frustration (and sometimes racism) in tech discussions online, due to the bad economic climate. This is visible across different platforms. In the past year, I've seen massive rise in people making outlandish claims like this. I expect the trend will grow and soon they'll find a new scapegoat.

[llm_nerd]

Okay, if that's my bias -- if you think you get to casually wave off positions as emotional instead of the objective truth it is -- then what is your bias?

From your minimal activity on here it seems that you're Indian. Do you think you have an objective, ground-truth position on the H1B program?

As to the "scapegoat", if there is a bad economic climate, it's simply obvious that the purported labour shortage is no longer the justification, doesn't it? You don't have to scapegoat to point out that a program contingent on an economic condition needs to change when the condition changes.

[pratyushnair01]

Calm down my friend, this isn't a personal attack!

I'm neither in the US nor do I work for a US company, so granted, I personally don't have much skin in the game, and yes I don't have objective, ground-truth position, like you do, but you fail to notice the comment I was replying to, which was simply pointing out blanket statements, namely this:

> I think the H1B program [...] has zero legitimacy

I take it me being Indian doesn't sit right with you, considering you're Canadian yourself. Now as for my bias, I'm frustrated by the rampant racism piggybacking on the singular fact that the majority H1B visa holders are Indian, which comes back to my point: there is a lot of perfectly understandable frustration surrounding H1B, but does this make the racism alright?

Is H1B exploited? Yes. Are ALL H1B engineers good for nothing, wage slaves? Probably Not.

Now, FWIW, the company I work (not WITCH) for has sales engineers in US who are under H1B, so yes, I can claim that the legitimacy of H1B is in fact, non-zero.

As for the "scapegoat", I've seen discussions go from "DEI" and "woke" taking away jobs to "H1B Indians". I'm sure there will be someone else to blame once all the H1Bs are "evicted".

[llm_nerd]

> Calm down my friend, this isn't a personal attack!

How is this remotely appropriate to my reply, beyond a rather transparent attempt to taint readers?

> I take it me being Indian doesn't sit right with you, considering you're Canadian yourself.

Another incredibly weird comment, again wholly inappropriate. Does this tactic actually work?

Indians have a significant bias on this and similar topics, and given that there are several hundred million English speaking Indians online, their presence is seen in every discussion. It is always some manner of "this is good for you and it's racism if you oppose it" (which is a rather ironic given the incredible racism that Indians are often observed plying when they do get to the West).

> the company I work (not WITCH) for has sales engineers in US who are under H1B, so yes, I can claim that the legitimacy of H1B is in fact, non-zero

Instead of hiring Americans to staff an American sales office, they parachute an army of Indians into the US to use US systems to undercut Americans? This is precisely the illegitimate use of H1Bs, so what an incredible claim.

Regardless, I have no idea why you've become so angry and racist about this. Is it because you hate Canadians? Weird. Hey look, I can do that ignorant tactic to divert from the discussion as well.

> As for the "scapegoat", I've seen discussions go from "DEI" and "woke" taking away jobs to "H1B Indians".

Almost as if it's a complex and multifaceted conversation? Some are diversions, some are legitimate grievances, and again that is just nonsensical distractions. If the economic climate is bad, which you specifically said, programs like the H1B should be winnowed down to the truly exceptional. Which obviously includes zero "sales engineers".

[pratyushnair01]

> How is this remotely appropriate to my reply, beyond a rather transparent attempt to taint readers?

Okay, I apologize for the snarky remark, I just found it odd that you called my nationality into question.

> Another incredibly weird comment, again wholly inappropriate. Does this tactic actually work?

This was simply mirroring what you did, I don't know if you meant it in good faith, but it was inappropriate on my part.

> "this is good for you and it's racism if you oppose it"

I would genuinely not have engaged with you if not for this comment. For my part, I'm simply concerned about racism against Indians, which I've seen increasing more and more in recent years. I don't have a problem with criticism, I'm just concerned about the slippery slope.

> Instead of hiring Americans to staff an American sales office

As I mentioned, I don't work for WITCH (consulting) companies. This is an assumption you made out of thin air. I work on a product based company that sell it to American businesses. There is a relatively handful of sales engineers/support engineers in the US, and not just H1Bs, this includes US citizens too. There is no undercutting here, it's a relative niche that American firms haven't bothered with. FWIW, I know a few companies similar to mine, where our target market is NA, though I agree it's very few. We can also afford to pay $100K fee, because of the smaller number of staff.

> Is it because you hate Canadians?

> From your minimal activity on here it seems that you're Indian. Do you think you have an objective, ground-truth position on the H1B program?

Assuming you made the original comment in good faith, I apologize for the remark. I simply lurk here and read whatever is posted, not much of a commenter!

> Almost as if it's a complex and multifaceted conversation?

Yes, but how often do you find people willing to have complex and multifaceted conversation? Purely from personal experience, the moment people find they're talking with an Indian, they tend to have many assumptions. Also note, I'm predominantly talking about conversations online.

[foldr]

Compare your comment here to pratyushnair01's original comment in this thread. You are only proving their point.

[pratyushnair01]

Conversations can get heated sometimes, but hey we don't learn without challenging each other.

[llm_nerd]

What point did my comment prove? I'm super curious and hopeful for a learning experience!