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Real_Trouble -> RE: Outsourcing Outrage Or Duh where did the jobs go? (2/2/2009 12:40:13 PM)
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Rule,
I don't disagree that, as with any other program administered by the government ever, there are major fuck ups with the H1B situation. Software engineering is one field where there have been major issues, and I don't doubt that any time we are allowed to have labor anywhere for any reason without an enforced standardized wage (which, of course, destroys productivity, as the USSR ably demonstrated for us!), there will be rule breakers.
However, you've cherry picked a scant few examples to try to demonstrate a total trend, which is logically non-viable (unless, of course, the abuse is so gross as to dwarf the entire trend, but I don't see "H1B visa worker annihilates USA" on there anywhere, though Lou Dobbs might wish he could print it).
Which brings me to a few points:
1 - Americans do not have a God-given right to high wages. You earn high wages by being valuable, not by just taking up space. If other people can do it cheaper or better, they should do it. The onus is on you to compete, and if you don't like that, too bad. It's a fact of life; other countries are not going to become less productive to do us a favor and support a standard of living. Making a nation great is about hard work, sacrifice, and pushing the envelope, not about being entitled.
2 - "The current law limits to 65,000 the number of aliens who may be issued a visa or otherwise provided H-1B status." For reference, this number was hit within the first day that visas become available. Think about that. On day 1, we ran out for the entire year! This is clearly a labor-restrictive force.
3 - One of my big criticisms of the H1B visa situation above is precisely what you mentioned in those articles - why the hell, if we only have limited H1B visas, are we giving them to cut rate half-assed code monkeys (or laundromat workers)? That's fucking stupid. We are denying doctors, nuclear physicists, and the like in order to get in people who either have family connections or a minor skill that could be successfully used elsewhere? Likewise, the rates of fraud and trouble among workers with graduate degrees (precisely the kind we want) is lower by a factor of three than even those with just bachelors degrees.
I cannot, for the life of me, understand why we have created a system where we incentivize companies to cheat, have no oversight or regulation that makes any sense, and actively denies jobs to the most skilled and valuable workers while allowing in people who clearly don't fill a need.
So you tell me - why should the government be regulating anything if this is the kind of regulation they can come up with, and likewise, why should we prevent MDs who want to come here and work when we can't hire enough of them to begin with, yet we're thrilled to import people like the IT guys you cited?
This explains pretty well both my free trade and anti-government stances on most things, ironically.
( Though IT has systemic issues with training throughout the entire industry that impact Americans and non-Americans alike, but that's an entirely different debate. )
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