[fw109]

This is my perspective as a much-maligned foreign worker. I lost the lottery of birth, and was born to lower middle class parents in a third world country. But I worked hard in school, and got a scholarship at a respected private university in the US. I worked hard in college, and got a decent offer from a big tech company. When I start next year right after graduating, I will earn more in one year than my father earns in five. Even with cost of living differences, I calculated that I will have a far better standard of living than I was used to.

Perhaps my university gave me the scholarship to boost its diversity figures. Perhaps my company is paying less than it would have to in some imaginary world in which foreign workers with H1Bs were not allowed -- then again, if that were the case, I would never get that job (I'm smart, but not "extraordinary" enough to get an O-1 visa). But it doesn't matter. Whatever the reasons, I stand to win, living a much better life than back home. So for those of you with inflated senses of self-worth complaining about people like me, why don't you go cry to your mommy about how you should have taken a Wall Street job instead, so that you could have earned a lot more money while fucking over the world economy. Because fuck the rest of the world, right?

[zo1]

>"So for those of you with inflated senses of self-worth complaining about people like me, why don't you go cry to your mommy about how you should have taken a Wall Street job instead, so that you could have earned a lot more money while fucking over the world economy. Because fuck the rest of the world, right?"

You're more than welcome to cut your upcoming now-1st-world salary that you boast about and give most of it to a third-world charity or something. Because otherwise, you're also saying "fuck the rest of the world". When you understand why you won't do that, then you'll understand why others won't as well. No, seriously, you can't just ask others to do good, you have to do good yourself as well. Until then, all you're saying is that you expect others to take a hit in their advantage so that your opinions on what matters are satisfied. Without even considering that maybe they're doing what they think matters already, and all you're really complaining about is that it's not the same as yours.

Edit. I'd like to add something about your "birth-lottery" comment.

>"I lost the lottery of birth, and was born to lower middle class parents in a third world country."

I don't agree at all. If anything, you WON the "lottery" over probably billions of other people, ones that are born into families that do not support their offspring as much as it sounds like yours did to you. You may not be lucky enough to be born in a fancy 1st world country, but that's just entirely besides the point because you're succeeding, despite your claim that you lost some imaginary lottery.

[fw109]

You're right, I'm luckier than several billions of people in the world. But my point is simply this: the fact that I wasn't born in the US was not in my control. If I want to move here, some people want me here, and it is in my control to do so, I just feel that I have the right to do so.

As far as the last few lines in my comment go: I was expressing bitterness at the fact that we foreign workers are being dismissed as worthless talent-less job-stealers. In my comment I wanted to be dismissive of those who are dismissive of me. I am not really so in real life, as I know that the ones being so vile here are not like that in person, because everyone is more complicated than that.

[pm24601]

We are not expressing bitterness at foreign workers - we are expressing the reality of 30+ years of US jobs being exported. Good paying manufacturing jobs in the Midwest. Many, many towns are now empty poor shells inhabited by once middle class families who are now poor because their jobs were exported to foreign countries.

And now Americans are supposed to be willing to give up their jobs even within the U.S.?

Maybe if the 1%ers hadn't been so busy destroying the American middle class, you would be welcomed more generously.

[amerliore]

You won the birth lottery by having the IQ to do this kind of work.

Software professionals would not be against immigration if VCs and their portfolio companies were not illegally suppressing wages using anti-competitive tactics.

Employers are suppressing wages using both hard and soft collusion. If they stopped doing that no one would have an issue with letting more workers in.

Still--the argument applies--why not just create software companies in your place of origin?

How are you giving back to your country of origin by participating in a brain drain, where all the talents of your high IQ are awarded to the imperialists that keep your home country in a state of economic subordination in the first place?

There is a very strong argument to be made that the best way to help "3rd world countries" is to refrain from draining their best and brightest brains. Paul Graham is arguing that America should fuck the rest of the world by stealing their best people, leaving the dregs to wallow in a ghetto of human misery.

[fw109]

Yes, I agree with you about the brain drain. But it's complicated, isn't it? At the moment, there isn't the right sort of environment to build a successful software company in my country of origin. The usual suspects are there: corruption, lack of infrastructure. and so on. Things are improving, but there's a long way to go.

But I wasn't quite arguing that I would be giving back to my country of origin. That is not to say that I don't want to. I was just arguing for myself, and people like me: foreigners in search of a better life, regardless of the geographical location.

[santacluster]

Although I am the son of an immigrant, am married to an immigrant and am a hiring manager who regularly hires migrant workers, I have no problem understanding anti-immigration sentiments when it comes to people with your attitude.

[fw109]

I don't understand. Am I supposed to accept the arguments I keep hearing for why I shouldn't be here? I'm just defending my right to be here, using the same self-serving attitude espoused in the rest of the comments I found here. What should I say: I am going to contribute to the American economy by paying taxes and being a good citizen, I am going to create value for my company, etc.? Well yes, I do think these things, but all the commenters here do not care, they just think I'm stealing their jobs.