Jusy listened to author Steve Case getting interviewed about a book he just finished writing recently. Here is a good link to a description of some of its themes: amazon.com/Rise-Rest-Entrep … =1&depth=2
I recommend that everyone here scroll down that page to begin to read the sample of this rather-well-written little book, titled THE RISE OF THE REST, by the initiator, then - about 40 years ago – of America Online (AOL],a pioneering internet provider. In the book he has a good argument for the need of Immigration Reform as a way to stimulate innovation; but do you think it has much of a chance with the Republican Party in control of the House of Representatives for the next two years??
He was invited to work for the Obama Administration and accepted the experience to work for, encourage, and to implement, what Mr. Case believed the country needed, and still does. Obama founded Start-Up America, and arranged for 8 Entrepreneurship Hubs to be set up around various areas in the nation.
From studyint THE RISE OF THE REST one may learn that Carnegie-Mellon University is now a leader in AI and robotics research; and thus assisted, with a lot of help from immigrants, Pittsburgh to rise up from bankruptcy to a thriving metropolis today. Same with Detroit. And learn how Atlanta became the greaat aeronautics center it is today – altho located inwhat was not too long ago a sort of backwards state. Case’s book is based upon a bus tour he took. He visited cities that had lots of immigrants: in Arkansas, and stopped in Wichita, Chatanooga, Detroit, etc.
What do you think of the state of Immigration Reform, and of the argument Steve Case makes for it? Give us your views. {Although Pres. Trump was quite harsh on Mexicans and on Muslims from the Middle East and from Africa, you will note that within the next two years Pres. Biden will campaign for Reform in the area of immigration, and will promote that something be done about it, even if no legislation ensues, andhe has to resort to an Executive Order (an EO.)
i new this new this one guy who came here when he was a little kid, who was like in his mid 20s and went to school and college here and everything. didn’t even speak spanish. i guess his parents or whatever never dotted all the i’s or crossed all the t’s just right or something, and he ended up getting a dui during the bush jr admin and they legit deported him to colombia and he had to go and stay with his aunt who he’d never met and he never got to come back. for his entire life he was for all intents and purposes an american, and he wasn’t the one who brought himself here because he was just a little kid. i get what you’re saying and all, like it’s easy to say “deport all the criminals”, but there’s a lot of nuance involved if we’re to have a just immigration policy.
when i was in college i worked at a restaurant with this dude and he ended up marrying a chinese girl who went to the same college as us and everything was fine and then one day they went to china to do a chinese wedding with her family in the funny chinese outfits and all that. then because she started off here w/ a student visa, and ended up staying on that trip to china like 2 or 3 days too long, they wouldn’t just let her come back. so he had to hire an attorney and pay 1000s of dollars and it took almost a year then the attorney told him, “everything is done and you’re all set…you just have to wait 18 months and then she can come back”. so he ended up doing the english teacher in china thing for 18 months then they both came back and now they’ve got kids and all that. but what a fucked up situation.
Why does it need to be someone’s own fault? I feel bad for the guy, sure. But I don’t see how my feeling bad translates into effective political policy.
Getting a DUI is pretty serious, he could have killed someone. People are killed every day by illegal immigrants who shouldn’t even be here. Just saying. I suppose no one cares until they know someone who it happened to.
I have no problem letting immigrants here, just follow the process. I know that process is shit, it should be fixed. Doesn’t mean we open the flood gates and let in the whole third world until that happens.
another guy i know who was brought here as a kid and didn’t even speak spanish ended up dating this one bitch i used to know and they were gonna get married and all that. had been together for like a few years. had 2 kids but she kept him strung along and never pulled the trigger on the marriage thing because it allowed her to leverage his citizenship thing against him. then one day she got mad and decided fuck this guy i’m done with him and she turned him in because he hadn’t gotten all his paperwork done and he got deported and now she’s just living her life and he’s probably never going to see his kids again.
Then again the other part of me is like, you know what, fuck it who cares, just let everyone in. Anyone who wants to come here, ok cool, come here. Why not?
i don’t think “just” and “effective” have to be mutually exclusive. we should consider both of those things in any policy proposal. i don’t disagree that dui can be serious. but again, nuance. he didn’t crash or hurt anyone and we punish potential harm differently that we do actual harm in most cases. we should also not ignore the proportionality of the sentence. lots of people get dui’s. almost none of them end up having to go to a country they’ve never been to since they were 2 years old, to live with strangers and learn a new language and be permanently barred from what they always considered their own country since they were a small child.
i think most people agree that everyone should follow the rules. that’s an easy thing to say. and most people agree that the process is shit…but i wonder to what extent they really understand just how shitty it is.
Try dating a girl from Asia and see how fucked up the processes is. That’s why part of me is just like, who cares man, open the damn borders. Let people come here. It might all collapse in the end but it’ll be a fun party until that happens.
right now i’ve got these 2 guys from Kabul who are 19 and 20 years old and dont speak normal arabic or english. they’re literally in alabama speaking farsi. they’ve never had jobs, they were born post 9/11, and they’re here on refugee status because the taliban killed their dad and uncle a few months ago. they’ve been in the US for less than 90 days and got shipped to birmingham and sponsored by a local group that helps out w/ this sort of thing.
the fucking immigration service fucked up one of thier birthdays on the paperwork so it doesn’t match his passport. the social security administration gave them both the same social security number.
they have to get bank accounts and driver’s licenses right? think about how fucked up that is for these 2 kids. paperwork all fucked up. they got 90 days of rent paid and they need to find some work. the clock is ticking. i took them to the DMV 3 times already and to the social security office once and have to take them again this week.
there are no driver’s license study materials in farsi in alabama, so i got them the booklet from california and am using google translate to answer their questions.
i went on a beer brewing spree a few years back and would make the nastiest stouts. have to switch to champagne yeast to get the alcohol content up high enough to make them suitable for aging.
i don’t have much to do and probably have too much free time. there’s something funny about dragging some afghani dudes around alabama and getting all the weird looks.
6 years ago i helped a couple from Aleppo come here after their shit got all bombed out. mom, dad and 2 daughters under 6 years old. they finally got their citizenship and are all tied up in the american banking system. they got a 7000 sq ft house, 2 million in debt, and a restaurant. the american dream. last month i took the dude to a bass pro shops right up to the counter and in his broken english with his new american passport and his foreigner driver’s license i helped him get a brand new sig 9mm the one w/ the 20 round clip.
imagine bringing a syrian into a gun store in alabama and guiding him through the process of getting armed to the teeth. i also showed him how to fill out a credit card application so now he’s got world elite mastercard perks and 15k limit. living the dream.