Once in a while, and I think this has happened to all of us, we are confronted with two opposed opinions, both of which we want to believe. Evidence piles up on one side, but we're not comfortable with it, maybe someone we respect is on the other side, maybe there's a pile of evidence over there too.
For example, is the surge in Iraq working? Part of me doesn't want to give any credit to the Bush administration for anything (not that one right move in a sea of bad ones compensates), the other part wants to believe that we can bring about meaningful change, that our lives and money won't have been thrown away in vain. How do I end up making that decision? I tend to look at where we are versus where we were in 2004, and realize that we've made no real progress on establishing an independent multi-factional government or in training Iraqis to take over their own security. In other words, I duck the question, try not to isolate and evaluate the surge, but fit it into a larger context.
This conflict is a basic one, one that we see portrayed time and again in culture and in life. The Debra Winger - Tom Berenger movie Betrayed [1988] is essentially about that, as Winger's character (and the audience) is forced to square the Berenger we see with the Berenger who's revealed to us. (Thumbnail review: Starts out great, with building tension and a sense of Winger's struggle, second half more routine.)
I haven't written too much about H-1B visas (those that allow technical people to come from other countries and work here), though it's a topic about which I am passionate. Having worked in the tech field for many years, I've worked with quite a few H-1B holders, and they're average. Some are good, some aren't. They are far from being the highly-motivated geniuses that Bill Gates and others would have you think they are, they're just...OK. And I don't talk much in this blog about my own job woes, that would make it something that I don't want it to be; suffice it to say that I have been mightily affected by offshoring and H-1B visas.
But Uncle Bill, fount of all technical and business wisdom, has gone to Congress again to stump for the expansion of H-1B visas. I won't talk about that, at least not today; Carrie's Nation and the Programmers Guild, among others, are covering his ludicrous testimony and similar issues quite well (actually, you need only be well-versed in logic to be disgusted by what Mr. Genius had to say, but Citizen Carrie quite accurately limns the issues in this post).
My problem is, that in looking around the Web at various H-1B-concerned sites, I found a strong opinion that Robert Reich, Clinton's Secretary of Labor, is one of the villains behind the program. For example, this 2005 post that contends that Reich believes Americans are stupid and need to be educated to compete. (For an eloquent putdown of this notion, see here.)
If you have read this blog over the past month or so, you know that I have become a fan of the writings of Reich (see my review of his most recent book here). I have some reservations about some of his conclusions in Supercapitalism, but most of it is surprisingly realistic, given his status as a political insider. And his blog is similarly non-conventional wisdom (look for his recent series on whether we're heading for a depression).
And there are people who are vehemently against the H-1B program who praise Reich (see this article from 2001 that excoriates the H-1B program in words that, sadly, still hold up today). So I'm left wondering: Is Reich the scourge of all of us who have been affected by the H-1B culture (meaning all of the American-hating baggage that comes with support of the program), is he one of the few voices with any influence who is speaking some version of the truth, or is he both, having changed since working in Washington?
I guess I can't answer that, so I'll have to continue to read what Reich has to say, and make up my mind on a case by case basis. That goes against a basic tendency to pigeonhole (Coulter - BAD, no reason to read her), but I'll try to deal with that complexity.
For example, is the surge in Iraq working? Part of me doesn't want to give any credit to the Bush administration for anything (not that one right move in a sea of bad ones compensates), the other part wants to believe that we can bring about meaningful change, that our lives and money won't have been thrown away in vain. How do I end up making that decision? I tend to look at where we are versus where we were in 2004, and realize that we've made no real progress on establishing an independent multi-factional government or in training Iraqis to take over their own security. In other words, I duck the question, try not to isolate and evaluate the surge, but fit it into a larger context.
This conflict is a basic one, one that we see portrayed time and again in culture and in life. The Debra Winger - Tom Berenger movie Betrayed [1988] is essentially about that, as Winger's character (and the audience) is forced to square the Berenger we see with the Berenger who's revealed to us. (Thumbnail review: Starts out great, with building tension and a sense of Winger's struggle, second half more routine.)
I haven't written too much about H-1B visas (those that allow technical people to come from other countries and work here), though it's a topic about which I am passionate. Having worked in the tech field for many years, I've worked with quite a few H-1B holders, and they're average. Some are good, some aren't. They are far from being the highly-motivated geniuses that Bill Gates and others would have you think they are, they're just...OK. And I don't talk much in this blog about my own job woes, that would make it something that I don't want it to be; suffice it to say that I have been mightily affected by offshoring and H-1B visas.
But Uncle Bill, fount of all technical and business wisdom, has gone to Congress again to stump for the expansion of H-1B visas. I won't talk about that, at least not today; Carrie's Nation and the Programmers Guild, among others, are covering his ludicrous testimony and similar issues quite well (actually, you need only be well-versed in logic to be disgusted by what Mr. Genius had to say, but Citizen Carrie quite accurately limns the issues in this post).
My problem is, that in looking around the Web at various H-1B-concerned sites, I found a strong opinion that Robert Reich, Clinton's Secretary of Labor, is one of the villains behind the program. For example, this 2005 post that contends that Reich believes Americans are stupid and need to be educated to compete. (For an eloquent putdown of this notion, see here.)
If you have read this blog over the past month or so, you know that I have become a fan of the writings of Reich (see my review of his most recent book here). I have some reservations about some of his conclusions in Supercapitalism, but most of it is surprisingly realistic, given his status as a political insider. And his blog is similarly non-conventional wisdom (look for his recent series on whether we're heading for a depression).
And there are people who are vehemently against the H-1B program who praise Reich (see this article from 2001 that excoriates the H-1B program in words that, sadly, still hold up today). So I'm left wondering: Is Reich the scourge of all of us who have been affected by the H-1B culture (meaning all of the American-hating baggage that comes with support of the program), is he one of the few voices with any influence who is speaking some version of the truth, or is he both, having changed since working in Washington?
I guess I can't answer that, so I'll have to continue to read what Reich has to say, and make up my mind on a case by case basis. That goes against a basic tendency to pigeonhole (Coulter - BAD, no reason to read her), but I'll try to deal with that complexity.
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