Video Of The Week: Borders Are Within Us

This is a fantastic Ted Talk given by Karoli Hindriks, founder and CEO of our portfolio company Jobbatical. It’s only ten minutes long and well worth your time this weekend.

#entrepreneurship

Comments (Archived):

  1. awaldstein

    ahhh….the power of a story told with authenticity and belief!

  2. pointsnfigures

    https://newrepublic.com/art… I think history is important and knowing how they got there is key. Estonia is different than Ukraine but similar. Putin’s forced occupation of Ukraine is rooted in Russian history-and Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania are not immune.Interestingly, Americans had been getting less migratory until recently. Now Americans are moving for opportunity.

    1. JLM

      .Some substantial part of current internal US migration is driven by state tax policy – both income and property taxes.As well as job creation and general economic outlook.One has only to look at Illinois and California to see the impact.In Texas, one cannot swing a short tailed cat on a 10′ lariat without hitting a California transplant.We love all of them.JLMwww.themusingsofthebigredca…

      1. Vasudev Ram

        If California is not so good a place to live now (as before), is it also because of the high population (apart from the reasons you mention, like income and property tax, etc.)? I was a bit surprised to read somewhat recently that CA is (IIRC) a US state with one of the highest populations, but then guessed there might be at least a few reasons for that – the good weather, the Bay Area and Silicon Valley (tech jobs) and the LA / Hollywood area (movie jobs). My uncle lived in the Bay Area from the ’60s or so (MS then PhD tech student then corp jobs then citizen and electronics industry entrepreneur), and whenever he came to visit us in India, his talk about CA life was generally glowing in nature about the lifestyle (though of course there were issues too, including some discrimination).

        1. JLM

          .California is one of the most beautiful states in the US.It is all the quality of life issues – taxes, cost of living, cost of housing, politics, traffic, density – which is driving folks to other places.JLMwww.themusingsofthebigredca…

          1. Vasudev Ram

            Yes. I can’t speak much about US domestic politics since I don’t follow it much, but many of the other points are issues all right. I keep reading on HN about the crazy cost of living in SF for example [1], which is where most of the startups seem to be these days, whereas earlier they were spread out more over the wider Bay Area.[1] From what I’ve read, the only way many people from out of state, who go to SF to work, seem to manage, is by sharing small houses with roommates. Not a good option for everyone.

          2. PhilipSugar

            We have “borderless” within the U.S. and people are leaving CA in droves for not only TX but AZ.It will go broke just like IL and MI.

          3. Vasudev Ram

            That’s amazing. What exactly does it mean / imply when a state goes broke? Not clear. I had read something similar about the US Govt. earlier – that it would shut down (temporarily) or some such (probably not exactly that, must have got some details wrong), but it was about a lack of funds of some kind, or a deficit or something. That may have been a year or so earlier. It was during Obama’s time.

          4. PhilipSugar

            https://www.usatoday.com/sthttp://www.nytimes.com/1994…There is a vicious cycle when you start running out of money. Ask any poor person, it is expensive to be poor.All of a sudden you don’t get credit your prices get jacked and it is a whipsaw.As Fred correctly was Thankful for we have had a ten year run of good times here in the U.S. That will sometime end.

          5. Vasudev Ram

            Got it, thanks for the links.

    2. PhilipSugar

      Let’s get real on this: Less than 5,000 people left the U.S. last year. Let’s put that into perspective, and those people were wealthy like me.So that is 1 in 100kCompare that to undocumented workers in the U.S. 12mm. About 240k% more.Now I have no hate in my heart for those undocumented workers, plain and simple our economy doesn’t work without them.I believe every accredited STEM degree should have a Green Card attached.I eat at least three times a week where I have to have a student translate for me.Let’s get real here.I think I travel more than anybody else here. We have 50 people in KL because they are so cheap compared to MN or DE (I disagree)I was in Hangzhou.Now let’s really drop some knowledge on people. Yes, the rich there live like, us, yes, she can afford to fly her child, yes, if you work super hard and are smart you can be borderless. Yes my Volvo was assembled in Daquing.You know what it is for the rest of people? A fucking shit-hole, and that is why the super rich can have such a good life.Sure when you get your nice tour from the back of the executive seat of a car and talk to people that are willing to kiss your ass, because the lint money I throw on the mattress (you do that right?) is worth more than their salary for the day. My car has a special filter because the air is so dirty. The right passenger seat has full control over anything. Why? Because if you can afford it you don’t drive. Hell you don’t open or close your door.It is utopia for rich people, not so much for the others. And they don’t begrudge rich people, they just hate those that are pompous enough to tell them eating a shit sandwich is good for them.Pollution? Living on top of each other? Getting paid a non livable wage? U.S. and British citizens were pissed off. Trump and Brexit.I give my kids $10 a day to tip in the DR. You know that is??? Two days wages and that is 12 hour days and six days a week.

      1. JLM

        .Brutal but true.Well played.JLMwww.themusingsofthebigredca…

        1. PhilipSugar

          I tell my kids you say yes and thank you the workers in the DR. While you might give someone a wet dollar bill we take these home trade them in with me. They work so much harder than you. That is why they do manual labor with me. They watch others not even recognize them as human. And those people wonder why we https://uploads.disquscdn.c… always get treated better

        2. PhilipSugar

          It is brutal and I don’t think people get it. I went and bought Bologna I bought the cheap brand because it does not have garlic which is bad for my dog.The person behind the counter said, but this brand is a bit better for just a little more, I’ll give it to you at that price, there was somebody with a special needs person that agreed they would chip in.My wallet is flush. How do I tell these people I am buying lunch meat for my dog?Here is the car feature: https://www.volvocars.com/i…Think if you are riding a bike you get this? That is why you see masks in Asia.

      2. sigmaalgebra

        Green card with STEM degree? Maybe I should have had a green card, whatever the heck that is. I am a native born US citizen, and I have three excellent STEM degrees, BS “With Honors in Mathematics”, an MS in Mathematical Sciences, and a Ph.D. in Engineering (applied mathematics) with a terrific background in computing, and more than 100 miles away from the Washington Monument I’m next to unemployable for ANYTHING, including stocking shelves at Wal-Mart (never arrested, never used drugs, healthy, etc.), or at least anything that would have permitted me to buy a house. And within 100 miles of the WashingtonMonument, buying a house is not so easy, either.So, I’m supposed to pay taxes to give scholarships to people from outside the US to make me unemployable? Some politician expects me to vote for that?But, I understand plenty enough about business, have a terrific background in applied math (to me, data science, AL,and ML look like baby talk, often silly baby talk), have well proven ability to do high quality original research, have shipped some of the highest quality production software, and, so, am ready, willing, able, and eager to do a startup and am.A LOT of total BS, including immigration, Viet Nam, Iraq, Akrapistan, bubble blowing, deliberate sabotage of the US (Obozo) cost me a LOT — house, home, love, family. I’m WAY beyond PISSED.BELIEVE ME, you won’t find immigrants with better backgrounds, talent, or track records in applicable applied math.Green cards for STEM degrees? Over my dead body.The whole immigration thing is about just a new version of slave labor. We fought a civil war over that, and since we learned that slavery is, in total, just too darned expensive.

      3. LE

        and that is why the super rich can have such a good life.My wife worked with a female doctor from India a few years back. She lived in a big house here but was telling my wife she might move back to India. I asked ‘why would you do that?’. She would live even better she said. In India she could have ‘slaves’. Yes that is the way she referred to them. People who would wait on her hand and foot. Multiple ones.

        1. PhilipSugar

          You think you drive in India? Cook in India? Clean in India? I am great with bringing others up, but we are letting our middle class down.

          1. LE

            There are to many people in the worldwide to be helped and even doing things for a fraction of them means it will impact those who are already here. It is really that simple.One of the problems with my previous marriage was that my ex wife put everyone else and what they thought and what mattered to them above what was good for the family. For that matter my parents did a version of the same thing. Walk into synagogue late? What will others think? If you don’t go to synagogue with me, (says my father) what will my brother think? Didn’t care about the impact on someone closer, his sone. Just on what it felt like to him if I was not there and he had to ward off the evil eye. Inverse ‘party in the brain’ [1][1] Part of it was not his fault being raised in a small town overseas where it really mattered what people thought because you may need them someday. (Kind of like your Amish …)

          2. PhilipSugar

            Maybe I’m just cranky today. What a great day to be working outside on the East Coast. I got the WTF are you renting a wood chipper? (they saw my house because I am not allowed to drive a https://www.toro.com/en/pro… on the trailer, they have to deliver, and then I can drive so they saw my house)I went out to the docks and the guy was struggling mightily as the were pulling piers and I helped move with my diesel.

          3. pointsnfigures

            @philipsugar:disqus I should have been more clear and apologize for not being so. US people aren’t leaving the US. US people in the 20s-50s would move all over the country looking for opportunity. That’s changed until recently.

          4. PhilipSugar

            You certainly don’t have to apologize. I was cranky. I was working on my boat with a guy that has the day off, he was talking about Black Friday and I say I don’t go I hate those crowds and he says well without buying those specials and doing side jobs like mine on his day off there is no Christmas at his house.The next guy is a bit late to work on the yard, but he says I got a nine point (deer) and I am putting away some good meat for the winter.This “borderless” stuff is crazy talk. Sure it would be good for me. No taxes, I can live like a King. If I showed this video to either of those guys they’d break the screen. It is like showing porn, it’s something they never are going to have. Sure they can go to work in Malaysia, and sleep on a dirt floor.The fact I can’t understand it’s promoted by the “liberals”, if you do this where is the money for UBI (horrible idea) coming from? The tooth fairy? Not from me.It’s tough out there.Now there are many aspects.But a big one is that somebody is willing to take your job for a ton less money, and with communication, computers, and container shipping that is totally possible for people that make “stuff”For young people they were used to living with their parents and that lifestyle and now have to adjust.Don’t get me wrong, if you look at the old working class neighborhoods anyplace you will see just how small the houses were and the fact that there were one car garages. People expect more.As far as undocumented. What we have now is the least worst solution. Bottom line is because they have no safety net they do the work that nobody wants to do at a low wage, because they have to, sorry that is the hard talk people don’t like.You think Trump’s hotels run without undocumented workers? Even if he doesn’t hire them he does through subcontractors. I’m realistic I do on my house.I see them out here where they work on the horse farms and nurseries. Boss man comes in late Saturday afternoon and loads up ten cases of Corinitas and bags of ice (well actually one of his guys does). I ask the liquor store lady what is that about? Is that why you have so much of them? Yes, I sell 100 cases a week. they are a reward for a really hard days work, when they are doing an especially heavy or dirty task he comes in an buys, and they relax after working a ten hour day.No borders. Everybody other than the privileged few are reduced to nothing.And I don’t like that. I love working and living with people that make a decent wage.

          5. LE

            So you rent it because you only nominally need it but enjoy equipment? You need to be in a business where you can be around machinery. I had that and it was great. I really liked that. Nothing like the sound of the machine running smoothly (really). Nothing like keeping it running. Or am I missing your point?When I did RC Helicopters one of the things I liked about it was that it was a glow engine (‘gas’). The electrics just don’t do it for me. The gas engine had to be tweaked and you could take it apart and I loved the smoke that came out and the sound. That is one of the reasons I am not a Tesla fan. I like engine noise and the vibration that goes with it etc.

          6. PhilipSugar

            No, I too don’t want to own. I don’t need to. But I like to work. Was down on the docks this morning as they dredged.This is an outlet, so is working on stuff.

          7. LE

            Not saying you do this because I know you don’t but I always had this theory that men who cut the lawn do it because that way the wife doesn’t give them a job to do which they would like less.This is actually one of the concepts I’ve tried to teach the stepkids that I learned growing up working for my dad in the warehouse. Always appear to be busy. If you aren’t doing something the boss will assign you a job that you might not like. So pick the job that you like and do that. Also the boss (I was like this) doesn’t want to spend time having to think up things for you to do. They just want you busy if they are busy.My sister used to work for me and was a great worker. But she would work fast and complete a task and then she would ‘idle’ doing nothing. So I had to find something for her to do otherwise her labor seemed to be a waste. I used to hate that.

      4. Vasudev Ram

        In which place or country do you mean about the air being dirty?

        1. PhilipSugar

          China. Although KL and Mumbai are not very good either. But I don’t think I’ve seen the Sun in Shanghai. And LA can be bad to when the inversion layer is bad.I was lucky that my brother who is an executive at Volvo could get me an S90. I’ll spare the details. See my other post, I was what is this clean air zone?

          1. Vasudev Ram

            A bit surprised but not shocked to hear that about KL. Had been there several years ago on work, and noticed the air was quite a bit better than India (Pune, forget Mumbai, where pollution was bad from the time I was a kid, in fact that is why my parents and us kids left there long ago, though otherwise in many ways it was a good place to live and work – lots of events and work opps). Coming back to the topic of KL, when I returned from there to Pune, I could distinctly feel the drop in the air quality level, and my mouth felt dusty / dirty for some days till I got used to that level again (after a while you stop noticing it, which is not a good thing, IMO). In fact I was wondering off and on since that KL visit, how the KL air would have changed over the years; now I know from you that it has got worse. I liked the place and people. Still might visit again some time.

          2. PhilipSugar

            I love all of those places. I have never been to Pune. It looks very nice. I hear the East Coast of India also is very nice.I love beaches I have only been to India for business.I think the pollution comes from both the factories and the ubiquitous two cycle scooters.You are right pollution is relative. I live on the Chesapeake Bay where the wind comes in from hundreds of miles of water, and there are mostly farms.Today there is not a cloud in the sky it is what we pilots call “severe clear” It was 0C last night and it will hit 15C today. The only smell you get is from the falling leaves and the last of the grass being cut. Sometimes when the catfish are spawning you can smell them but that is about it, other than if I take my daughter to the horse farm where she rides and does some work, but well, it is a horse barn.So probably it is the same as you remember. Just very different for me.

          3. Vasudev Ram

            I haven’t been to the East Coast of India (but have been to Bengal), but yes, I’ve read some about it. Had read about the Chilika lake and it sounds interesting, maybe roughly like the Chesapeake Bay area in a way (huge land-meets-sea area). Had read a good long article about the Chesapeake bay in an issue of National Geographic some years ago. Very interesting and great photos of nature.I love beaches too.>I think the pollution comes from both the factories and the ubiquitous two cycle scooters.Yes, and from cars and trucks too.Very cool description of the area where you live.

          4. PhilipSugar

            My town is the top one in this list. My house is out of the very right of the picture.https://theculturetrip.com/

          5. Vasudev Ram

            Great scenery.

          6. PhilipSugar

            Yes, you can see as you go past the 300 houses situated near the harbor (which they are dredging right now) it is nothing but fields, forrest, and marsh. I get to big cities often, I am 1.5hr from both DC and NYC and 45 min to Philadelphia Airport (very big) It is so small when my daughter took the dog for a walk she said she had several people comment about my new Volvo. But my office is on a 25k student campus you can get any food you want. Delaware is about 10% Indian and we have 10% First generation Indians, and 5% second generation there. The other major immigrant population is Chinese. 2 of the kids on our Lego League that only speak Mandarin at home. We had to make a rule only English at Lego League because when they start bickering we can’t understand. The 2 Indian kids only use English because one speaks Hindi and the other Telugu. The other 2 are our kids. We have 2 girls. I love diversity, I love the fact that I can go to a Chinese restaurant and eat truly authentic food Although I don’t go for truly, truly authentic because that is only written in Chinese and when I asked a student to translate the best thing I could eat would have been beef trachea. I don’t do brain, kidneys, tripe, or duck feet. He laughed and said yeah they put that in Chinese because that grosses out white people. We all laughed and said but we never eat from the American Chinese section of the menu.I make the comment about the Philadelphia Airport because I had an assistant in London ask me how she could get her boss to visit the office. I said we are only 35 minutes from the Philadelphia Airport. She said how does he get there? I said by plane? She said but connect through where? I said there are eight directs a day from Heathrow, Shana said Philadelphia could never be a contender for Amazon HQ East because of the airport. Four directs a day to Seattle.

          7. Vasudev Ram

            I like the look of that forest area with the marsh. I’m into hiking and the outdoors. And that forest seems big.Yes, diversity is great, and so is food diversity. We get some of that diverse food here in India (not much of foreign food except Indianized Chinese, except a bit more in the posher areas of big cities, where you can get some Western / Italian / Middle East / Iranian, and other cuisines, not always authentic). I’m not talking about the diversity of Indian cuisine itself, which you can of course get a lot of (regional differences) if you go from one region or state to another. When I was in KL there were food courts there in the malls, and you could experience a lot of different world cuisines in a short span of days, and not very expensive either. Good stuff. I tried out Chinese, Thai, Japanese, Malay, Indian (Malaysian version of Indian food, as well as an original South Indian thali – that last one was in Bangsar, an expat / trendy area, and tasted mostly like the real thing you get in India), even Australian or New Zealand stuff, IIRC. Good experience.

          8. Vasudev Ram

            You’ve mentioned Delaware a few times before, as being where you live, but the town (Chesapeake City) you linked to earlier, is in Maryland? So are you located on the border of the two states?

          9. PhilipSugar

            Delaware has a 12 mile circumference from the county courthouse. https://en.wikipedia.org/wi… That is 19km. Meaning at the absolute farthest you are 19km from Pennsylvania, Maryland and New Jersey. I have properties in all but New Jersey. I cross through Pennsylvania into Delaware each day on my 25 minute commute to work from Maryland.

          10. Vasudev Ram

            Got it now. Being into maps and geography, I’ve noticed and found it interesting how geographical boundaries are sometimes determined by various reasons such as politics, history, etc., and how those lead to boundaries (between political entities such as counties, provinces, states or countries) that one would think are non-intuitive (such as odd or irregular shapes – that are not due to contours or other geographical reasons).

  3. Jeremy Robinson

    “Would that it t’were so simple!” That comic line from “Hail Caesar” is the first thing that popped in my brain as i was watching this sweetly intentioned video. That thought was a cousin of a thought I had about Pete Singer’s mission to clean up the Hudson River years ago. i thought Pete had finally lost it. And guess who was wrong? SO- maybe big dreams and moving out comfort zones does drive change at times? Maybe coordinating a Singing Revolution can take place when people move from thought to risk-taking. Maybe we’re all spending too much time in the US listening to crazy politicians instead of making our own plans? Maybe we need to live more in what may be?

    1. LE

      Pete Singer’s mission to clean up the Hudson River years ago. i thought Pete had finally lost it. And guess who was wrong?Thoughts related to conventional wisdom are usually right, not wrong the majority of the time.Not to mention that today with attention all spread out as well as the changed news cycle it’s hard to believe that what Seeger did would have the same results and impact if done today.

  4. @mikeriddell62

    Nothing can ever beat place-based communities.

  5. curtissumpter

    Is this a worthwhile talk?It seems to be a talk from someone simply painting the world in a language that supports their own world view. There was no data or statistics supporting anything she said. At all.It was just one global citizen (of whom there are desperately few) spewing her unfounded ideas with the TED imprimatur behind her.Open borders? Who exactly is doing this? Europe? Not really. Angela Merkel is arguable in trouble because of this now. China? Ha! Japan? Lol. Do we want open borders with Mexico? The corruption in Mexico runs to the very presidency and the rule of law is virtually non-existent.What she fails to say and easily so is that borders protect us. The Canadians (everyone’s light upon a hill) believe in borders, very much. Who doesn’t believe in borders? The global corporate citizen. That’s it.Little do these people know that as they push a hyper capitalism they endanger the thing that they love. 50%+ of millennials no longer believe, BELIEVE, in capitalism. This is not something to scoff at but is important as open borders, “free” trade, and hyper capitalism and the philosophy that underpin is no longer supported by the masses.The times are changing. And this speech is now outdated.

    1. JLM

      ,The term “open borders” is a shibboleth to the left which is right up there with unicorns and utopia. It is what one says when they don’t have any understanding of the underlying problems and are too lazy to study and master them.The real issue is immigration from parts of the world which are in the business of exporting cheap labor, sharia law, totalitarian rule, and terrorism.There has never been a more important period of time for the US to effectively manage its immigraton policy (opening and expanding it in some places) to ensure the prosperity of America.This requires the same enforcement mechanisms as any secure site, which includes a southern border wall or fence.We need controlled and effective immigration, not a bums rush.JLMwww.themusingsofthebigredca…

      1. LE

        It is what one says when they don’t have any understanding of the underlying problems and are too lazy to study and master them.And it’s actually more than that. It’s a way of thinking whereby someone has no empathy for another person or family impacted by loss of a job in our country. Because all they see is that someone is suffering in their country but they don’t realize that there will be a person suffering in this country (who they don’t see) as a result of that labor which wasn’t there before. [1]I am sure Amazon with their warehouse and delivery network would love to get their hands on hungry immigrants who are willing to work under any conditions anywhere to get to live in this country when juxtaposed against where they came from.[1] In other words the ‘bogeyman’ is not identifiable like it was when unions were formed and supported by the same type of person.

        1. sigmaalgebra

          An illegal immigrant working for cash in the US can have a fairly good deal: Work for a few years; sleep on a cot or the floor, save the cash, and THEN return home with the cash and, due to the exchange rate, live relatively well. The US worker that immigrant put out of work can’t do that.

          1. LE

            And this is exactly why we had unions. To prevent someone willing to take a lower salary for the work not necessarily an immigrant but anyone who would take less pay if there were not enough jobs to go around. Why pay for the ‘deadhead’ if there is a driver that is willing to work the route without that pay?

          2. sigmaalgebra

            Yes, unions.Sure, back then, capital wanted cheap labor. That is, in old political economy terms, there was land, labor, and capital, and land was cheap and capital wanted labor also to be cheap.So, the US went to Africa, bought slaves, and brought them to the US. We fought a war over that, killed 600,000+ US soldiers and no doubt more civilians than that. Time has shown that, net, slavery costs too much.Then the US welcomed people from Europe — Ireland, Sweden, Germany, Poland, Russia, Italy, Greece, etc.But the US workers were not much interested in all that immigration. Hmm.So, we got unions.Now somehow we’ve mostly gotten rid of the unions. One reason is what the unions did to Detroit. There was no excuse for that: To change a light bulb, had to call a union light bulb guy; he climbed a ladder and held the bulb, and four other guys rotated the ladder or some such.Finally much of US business concluded correctly “If we get a union, then it was because we deserved it.”. E.g., the Japanese and Germans ran US car manufacturing plants without unions and with relatively happy workers.But politicians going back at least to the 1960s were really eager to bring in foreigners, help them get US college educations, jobs, etc. Amazing: US tax payers were/are struggling to pay for college educations for their own children, but those tax payers are forced to pay taxes to pay for US college educations that cost thousands or tens of thousands of dollars a year for some foreigners where back home their families were making ballpark $1000 a year. Bummer.So, money-mad, disloyal, essentially treasonous US politicians force US citizen tax payers to give away expensive US educations and hard won US STEM knowledge, business courses, etc. to foreigners to use directly against the strong financial interests of just those same US citizen tax payers. Really big time big bad bummer. Not just stupid but shooting the US in the gut.That was sabotage to US workers and, really, all of the US, capital, national security, standard of living, seriously lowered the US birth rate, seriously raised the US poverty and crime rates, etc. Bummer.Ah, we get tuberculous, intestinal parasites, several serious communicable disease we had long since gotten rid of, semi-smart things like that.In recent years W, Obozo, Pelosi, Schumer, Ryan, McConnell, likely McCain and Romney, were all big on immigration, even flatly illegal immigration.So, US capital got a lot of cheap labor and, along the way, a lot of cheap products.Yes, there was a lot of hypocritical papering over, stuff about the inevitability and high morality of globalism, the economic optimality of free trade, all the “good” the generous US was doing for the world, etc. Huge pile of bull going number 2.If Russia had cooked up all that to weaken the US, then they did a brilliant and brilliantly effective job.So, the US balance of trade went into the sewer, took much of US business with it, and put 90+ million US citizens involuntarily out of the labor force. Bummer.But now we have Trump, can’t be bought, telling the voters the real story.Now Pelosi, Schumer, Ryan, McConnell can no longer concentrate on donated dollars from big money interests and, instead, must concentrate on getting votes from struggling US citizens. That’s why we have the democracy our founding fathers gave us.Appropriate principles include “Hire American. Buy American”. “America First.” “Make America Great Again.”.NYC, SF, and DC can gripe, but they will lose.Not complicated. Instead, just dirt simple and long overdue.

          3. PhilipSugar

            Ok, I don’t usually respond, but you are just plain wrong:http://www.jaw.or.jp/e/https://en.wikipedia.org/wi…Both countries have strong unions.STEM Grads? Hell most coddled teens don’t want to put in the work.Sure if you come off as a bitter old man I’ll never hire you, but jobs for those that don’t?? Come with a 20-30% headhunter commission.

          4. sigmaalgebra

            You totally failed to make any case at all that I was wrong in any sense.A good college education in the STEM fields can help people make solid arguments.E.g., I sent resumes, on paper or e-mail. They were long, short, beautifully done with TeX and PDF or just text in e-mail etc. Sent 1000+. I didn’t hear back hardly at all and never with anything at all significant.The dirty name you called me was totally impossible to see and, thus, valid or not, irrelevant.You are claiming that German and Japanese unions unionize workers in US manufacturing plants owned by German and Japanese companies? Last I heard, the Honda plant in Ohio was not unionized. Last I heard, a big reason for putting auto manufacturing plants in Tennessee is that it’s a “right to work” state.Bluntly, heavily, US citizens are no longer wanted in STEM field work. They are not wanted by US employers even when the resume is on their desk for free and they could save the 30% you mentioned. The employers want HxB, etc. Few or no US citizens need apply.When I worked at IBM’s Watson lab, due to costs of living and transportation, net, I actually lost money. Heck I saved money at GE, FedEx, as a grad student, and a college prof; I’m good at saving money.Now I’m doing my startup; at least I’m not losing much money; I’m losing less than I did working as a Research Staff Member at IBM.STEM field jobs in NYC, Silicon Valley, Boston? Sounds like a great way to work hard and, net, actually LOSE money. No thanks.

          5. LE

            I think he is right on a few points. Like this:Now somehow we’ve mostly gotten rid of the unions. One reason is what the unions did to Detroit. There was no excuse for that: To change a light bulb, had to call a union light bulb guy; he climbed a ladder and held the bulb, and four other guys rotated the ladder or some such. This is generally true. I remember this growing up from personal experience. And who hasn’t seen a road crew with multiple members standing around because the union won’t allow them to do anything but a specific job. Closest I ever came to this was my ex girlfriend who worked for me not wanting to go out and pick up my dry cleaning because she thought she was above doing that. She wasn’t. If she was she wouldn’t be working for me.Also yes we do educate foreigners with reckless abandon. While there may be a benefit in doing that yes it does take away opportunities for US citizens both work and slot wise at the school.http://www.latimes.com/loca…This is like what airbnb does for rental rates. Drives up the price of the product. For example it’s easier to get into a state school from another state because the school gets ‘full load’ tuition. And that takes away a slot for an in person (or more broadly a US person with a foreigner) that would like to attend.One of my daughters went to a private college and one went to a state school which is considered (get this) ‘a public IVY’. The most difficult state school to get into in the state. And I have to tell you the student body at that school really seemed to be a cut above what I wouldn’t have thought goes to a state school. Seemed quite high caliber. Well my daughter took a slot away from a person living in that state as did many others.Agree with your STEM statement re american born. My step daughter had two friends sleep over last night. One daughter of russians one daughter of Indians and I have to tell you that I was impressed with how serious and on the ball these girls appeared to be. One even said that her parents give her the ‘we suffered to bring you to this country’ lecture whenever she gets out of line. I think one of them (at age 13) is already angling to get into Oxford.

      1. curtissumpter

        Yeah because half the next generation of Americans is worthless???Is that your insinuation??A. The days doesn’t support your assumption that these two halves are the same people.B. This type of rhetoric is what’s often used against all marginalized groups and if millennials were a different race it’d be racist.C. I bet you would say you’re a patriot. I love people that claim to love America but also hate Americans.

        1. PhilipSugar

          Not at all. I think the next generation has skills I never imagined. I think they are very different than me, and that is great. I think they have it a ton tougher than me. I think they have been coddled a ton more than me.

        2. JLM

          .You are not likely old enough to have been alive during the 1960s and 1970s, when ALL young people were worthless.We were being compared to the guys who won World War II. (Truth be told, we did suck.) They did it in 3 1/2 years and invented the bomb.The draft, an unpopular war, sexual revolution, and dicey prospects.In those days, we had riots. Big, muscular riots where, tragically, people were killed.Millenials will turn out just fine. You have technology and, yes, like my generation, you do suck. But y’all will outgrow it and have the next generation to blame things on.It is the cycle of life. Still uphill both ways.But you know what, I’d trade half my net worth to be your age. The world is entering one of the greatest ages of growth and opportunity.Deal?JLMwww.themusingsofthebigredca…

          1. LE

            You really can’t make comparisons. We were raised on practically no dining out in restaurants and takeout (and it wasn’t for money reasons) and super super infrequent vacations. Prizes were not for everyone and good grades were achieved by almost everyone. And while kids can veg out on their cell phone or laptop today constantly when we were growing up with mechanical clunker tv set tuners and wood framed black and white tubes parents actually limited how much time you could spend doing watching that ‘entertainment’.The hard working kids growing up where we live? Typically the offspring of immigrants actually.But you know what, I’d trade half my net worth to be your age. Why only half though? I gave up over half (55%) just to break free of my first wife. And boy was that the best decision I ever made. Quickest and cheapest divorce ever. I can always make more money.We were being compared to the guys who won World War IIExactly. (We were compared (in my family) to people who survived concentration camps. Or died in them or were sexually abused by the guards in those camps. )

          2. sigmaalgebra

            TV? I was shocked at the newsie images yesterday of people rushing to buy 40″ TVs. I can’t think of anything on TV worth 40″!Back when I was guessing that TV was good, I accumulated three. I use one fed by a VCR player to watch old movies on VCR just before sleep. The other two haven’t been powered up in years. My cable company gives me TV for free in a ‘package’, and the last time I turned it on was for the first Republican primary debate and not for years before that.One of the TVs is in a room with my exercise bicycle and good for watching while I get exercise. I’m too busy for exercise now so don’t use that TV either!I can’t understand how people can like TV.Okay, maybe get the NBA finals on DVD and then watch the crucial parts of the action one frame at a time.Netflix? I don’t have it.

          3. sigmaalgebra

            One of my guesses at why my wife died of fatal clinical depression, well known to be caused by fear, is that she was terrified beyond belief and got that from her mother who got that in the US Great Depression. We’re talking really terrified. The mother and all the daughters seemed to believe that in public they were walking on eggs and if they broke one where anyone could see they would suffer a fate too horrible for contemplation.The Great Depression seriously hurt a lot of people, in the US, Europe, and Asia.

          4. LE

            I dated two women who were ‘nuts’. Both were high functioning. I actually enjoyed the difficulty of predicting and avoiding the moving target of their emotions. One of them was always looking for what I call ‘the answer’. She got overwhelmed very easily and couldn’t process what ‘normal’ people could.One example is when I picked her up at the train station (in Princeton) where she had traveled from NY. I had this book or article that I had read which I thought would be helpful for her job. She immediately rejected it and said that she had no interest and was ‘exhausted’ from just taking the train ride. She would also freak out and with no predictability over events and words even. We once had a fight over the expression ‘it doesn’t make sense’. Also the word ‘insidious’. My point is I don’t think your wife died because what you are saying my dad had great mental health and he suffered much greater in the camps and my mother also went through the depression as well. My point is your wife could not handle the load the same as a ‘normal’ person generally can just like some people can handle pain etc or jealousy etc.

          5. JLM

            .Tough act to follow – the concentration camps. Wow!In the 1970s when in the Army, I visited three camps.The aura of all pervasive evil was palpable. To this day, it makes me shiver.My father saw them right at the end of WWII and never spoke of them to me until I was in the Army myself. I never saw him so impacted.JLMwww.themusingsofthebigredca…

      2. LE

        So much for having fun experiences, following your passion, and not worrying about anything but how you feel now. No sense of ‘suffer now, enjoy later’. Also having the type of parents (that are fun enough to be around) that it doesn’t bother you to continue living under their roof. A perfect storm.

  6. JLM

    .The most important message in this talk is the difference between capitalism — which has made this story possible — and Russian Communism/socialism.Within capitalism, all is possible because the individual controls their labor and capital. The individual is able to write their own story.In other forms of governance, the individual’s labor is owned by the state.There is an attempt to make this message a soft, lefty, liberal message when it actually reinforces the necessity to ensure that borders — national borders — are reinforced to ensure that the purity of capitalism is not diluted by the creation of a nanny state.One needs to know the history of that part of the world in which Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania were pawns caught between the Germans and the Russians. The Russians physically deported natives and replaced them with Russian populations which accounts for the affinity of the modern Russian state for “regaining” control of their native Russian populations.Venture capital is a great proxy for the spread of capitalism.Nobody is trying to break into Russia to start a business or to live.JLMwww.themusingsofthebigredca…

    1. sigmaalgebra

      For a while, Mom was parish secretary at a well off Episcopalian church in Memphis (not the Washington National Cathedral which was later). The janitor was a great guy, socially polished, psychologically mature and solid, always smiling, great with people, spoke fluently about every Western European language and English. How come? He had been a high end banker in Latvia and recently immigrated to the US! Gee, now Goldman Sachs should have him selling securities all over Europe!The Baltic (not to be confused with the Balkans) countries produce some really nice results:http://www.youtube.com/watc

    2. PhilipSugar

      Here is the brutal part that the privileged don’t understand:If you are not forced to stand and fight there are three alternatives:1.You get to leave because of open borders2. Somebody that is willing to do it for you out of goodwill or self interest: U.S.3. You get to live in a shit hole, because 1 and 2 don’t apply.

      1. JLM

        .We are at an all time low in those with “skin in the game” as it relates to our freedom, liberty, and priveleges as a nation.The other day, I tried to explain the draft to some twenty-somethings. They were incredulous.JLMwww.themusingsofthebigredca…

        1. PhilipSugar

          Honestly I think we should bring back the draft. Not a lottery, not just for men, but for everybody, I am all about equality and I say that not tongue in cheek. Maybe only a year instead of two.

  7. sigmaalgebra

    Teenage boys might need an explanation of part of what is going on with this TED talk:(1) First, as from an expert, “Of COURSE, women are MUCH more emotional than men. That’s the cause of all the problems,”(2) Human males communicate with friends by communicating information. Human females communicate with friends by communicating emotions.So, in that TED talk, she’s very emotional and communicating her emotional feelings.Teenage boys need to know such stuff or, e.g., get frustrated trying to take such a talk as some useful, serious, rational thought which it very much is not. That should be a lesson in Girls 101 for Dummies — Boys.

  8. PhilipSugar

    Ok. Let’s really get real here. She is talking about wings at Wong Ah Wah. They are mighty good. They cost about $10. That is a day’s wages for a worker in KL.Let’s put that in perspective. That is $200 for a person that earns the average $40k a year here in the U.S.I don’t think there are many people reading this that can imagine making $40k.So that picture while adorable is with two super rich kids.Oh, and the flight from NYC was a half of year’s salary back in coach.

    1. sigmaalgebra

      > I don’t think there are many people reading this that can imagine making $40k.You found a plot where a lot of bulls went number 2.Not so many years ago, I sent 1000+ resumes and couldn’t get a job that would pay enough to qualify for a loan on a house. And the resumes didn’t get me offers at $120,000, $60,000, $40,000, etc.The US STEM field economy is total BS.In high contrast, early in my career, in one two week period, I sent a few resume copies, went on seven interviews, and got five solid offers. Soon I was making in annual salary six times what a new, high end Camaro cost. Then, for a few years, I could have bought a house, especially if my wife had not decided to get the Ph.D. the stress of which threw her into a fatal clinical depression.Dad got a Masters in education, got married, got a job teaching, bought a house, and had my brother. No problem. Instead, I’ve struggled all my life to buy a house, have nearly never been able to qualify for a loan, and never have bought a house. I never really could support a wife and family, not working for the US Navy, GE, FedEx, as a prof, IBM Watson lab, etc. — Dad did both right away.The only way I can hope to buy a house is to have my startup successful. That if it is successful it should be worth $1T+ is just a small matter of picking a problem with lots of users and doing some good applied math. My real goal is to buy a house, get a kitty cat, etc. I gave up on a wife and family.Thanksgiving? I ate hot dogs and wrote some software, some silly software to solve a system management problem. Christmas? It will be the same.Heat? Just one room, for the computer.I don’t mind. I can do the work.But reality is, a job? Not a chance.I blame LBJ, Nixon, Clinton, W, and Obozo.

      1. David C. Baker

        It strikes me that there might be some other issues at work, here, of which you are not terribly self-aware.

        1. sigmaalgebra

          Naw: The job hunt situation stopped after I sent 1000+ resumes and got back nothing good and next to nothing at all.I made sure that the resumes were essentially the only input the employers had about me. E.g., so that a Google search would turn up next to nothing, only a few good things and nothing bad, I took my name off my high school’s alumni page and used false names on social media.So, no, there were no subtle problems: The resumes alone were flops, whether they were long, beautifully formatted in TeX and PDF or just short in text in e-mail, the results were the same: High qualifications in applied math and computing with a lot of business experience were total flops. Period.My credit score was fine; e.g., I had zero debt over 30 days old. I’d never been arrested, never divorced, etc. I’d held US national security clearances at least as high as Secret, maybe once Top Secret.Really, my career as an employee worked well only within 100 miles of the Washington Monument and there mostly for problems in US national security. For a guy in his first jobs, that career worked quite well. E.g., soon my annual salary was six times what a new, high end Camaro cost. My wife and I had big times at Thanksgiving, Christmas, plays, concerts, French restaurants, Georgetown French wines and cheeses, good picture taking with my sack of Nikon pieces, vacations in Shenandoah, etc.I was plenty effective, quite broadly, and that effectiveness was appreciated.E.g., I was at a software house, and some Navy guys needed some software but, it turned out, also some major help on power spectral estimation and for stochastic processes and, then, synthetic generation of such processes. So, quickly I got smart via Blackman and Tukey, rushed to write some illustrative software, showed the Navy guys, and our company, presto, bingo, got sole source on the contact. E.g., saving FedEx from going out of business twice got me a promotion, a raise, and an office next to the founder, COB, CEO, F. Smith. As a new college prof in a B-school with some way out of date computing, I led in getting up to date computing for the school. I made my first proposal after just two weeks on campus in a few words, and 12 months later exactly that was in place and running. I was appointed Chair of the college computing committee and to other committees on computing on the campus as a whole, 55,000 students.Before my Ph.D., I taught computer science at Georgetown University.The national security work did better, still.When I was sending those resume copies, I was a much better shot as an employee than when I went on seven interviews and got five offers. The difference wasn’t that I was less good but that the job market for applied math and computing away from US national security just sucked.Yup, that’s being “self-aware”.I’m saying that the US job market in the STEM fields and computing sucks.The current situation of computer hard/software and the Internet provides me with the terrific opportunity of my startup, butm for a job with a salary, f’get about it. It just ain’t there.Yes, it’s easier to conclude that the headlines are correct and I’m wrong. So, it’s easier to make accusations and then do a charge, trial, conviction, sentence all in secret with BS data and when I’ve done no such thing and nothing wrong.That was a big theme in The Big Short.An advantage of applied math with theorems and proofs and with running software with that math is that those two are quite solid and, thus, make those core parts of the business effort solid and the whole business effort more solid. As in that movie, just look at the lower level data and see the actual, solid reality. The headlines don’t do that.

        2. PhilipSugar

          I had to look you up because I thought you must be British from that understatement of the year. I think I’ve seen you speak years ago, at a YPO conference, maybe I’m wrong.

          1. David C. Baker

            Probably so, Philip. I handled the programming for that YPO conference held at the NASCAR Hall of Fame with Mike Maddock (Chicago) and my oldest Jonathan Baker (Atlanta). Was that the one? Small world! Most recently I’m at http://www.expertise.is

          2. PhilipSugar

            Yup

  9. Shoe On Head

    great talk as it annoys the right people.the increased globalisation of R&D activities by US multinational companies over the last several decades is a striking trend.getting left behind is not an option. three words: human capital flight.talent will simply leave for greener pastures.

    1. PhilipSugar

      And will gut the inner cities.

  10. Bob H

    The talk was about opening minds as much as borders. Since the majority of comments defaulted to immigration – legal and not, think about this. If conditions in a country – any country – were such that you could not feel and be safe, from government fiats, changing political winds, religious and ideological conflicts and wrath, and deadly military force – wouldn’t you move on to try to find safe havens.Caveat, The way things are going, we could find ourself going in search of safer havens that offer us the “chance” of better life, peacefully and economically.As the saying goes, “No man is an island.” Same goes for countries. We need each other.

    1. PhilipSugar

      No, because then you don’t have to clean up the problem, you just go.

  11. Chris Phenner

    Enjoyed that lots, thank you.

  12. Joseph K Antony

    If corporations like IT companies can absorb qualified migrants in a structured way, cannot towns and too define their requirements in a similar calibrated fashion? Bottom up from the lowest level. Shops and houses too. Let them choose and be responsible for the migrants that are let in. Allow them to choose so the social structure is not ruptured. It can also be designed to put pressure on them to absorb the local human surpluses which are piling up due to automation. Whetted by authorities and not exceeding limits.This is could be the first step toward a gradual movement to the open borders we need. Lets not forget, humanity developed through global migration out of Africa and there is no need to view this as nothing more than a hiccup in the natural progression of things.The closure of overland travel to India was the probable trigger for the great voyages of discoveries of Magellan to Christopher Columbus. In similar contrast, the current artificial restriction could be yet another trigger for technologies like VR/AR, which obviates the need for a physical presence for many activities, to truly flower. Sweet are the uses of adversity…