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The fact that you aren't considering asian or jewish immigrants to be American is somewhat telling of your view of America in general. Immigrating to the US for

The fact that you aren't considering asian or jewish immigrants to be American is somewhat telling of your view of America in general. Immigrating to the US for better economic opportunities isn't the US building "on the shoulders of others" as you put it. Those immigrants are Americans, and they are almost exclusively why America sustained technical dominance post WW2.

sudosysgen 6y ago
They are Americans now, but they weren't when they decided to come to the US, and were it not for some disaster they likely would have stayed or left in much lower numbers.
- djohnston 6y ago
  Sure, if everyone was content no one would look for opportunities. I don't see the point.
  - sudosysgen 6y ago
    The point is that the gradient of discontent is no longer as harsh in the western direction, and that the OP theorizes that this is a reason for the decreasing share of the productivity growth focused in the West/US. There is some empirical evidence for those theories. The US and the West in general have profited of disruptions they caused or partially helped, from scuttling research projects using political pressure and then hiring the researchers into the US up to arming rebellions and indeed military intervention.
- yostrovs 6y ago
  The fact that America does not suffer from the kind of disruptions that cause other countries to lose their talent may be the reason for its winning advantage. Why not look for what that is instead of blaming a country for giving refuge to those that need it and benefiting from the natural rewards that come.
  - sudosysgen 6y ago
    I didn't see the parent doing that. The parent was theorizing that the reason why US/Western tech is in some kind of stagnation is because the world is more stable and so the stability advantage is reduced. Also, it is an undeniable fact that the US and the Western world in general were in no small part the causes, or certainly exacerbating factors, of these disruptions.
    - djohnston 6y ago
      Agreed on the latter point, and the burgeoning global software industry will likely break stagnation even further, but all the examples of breaking stagnation in the article are American companies. Anyways I don't want to come off as some flag-waving nationalist, I just dont think that the story of immigrant success in the United States should be painted as America exploiting these people's talents at their expense.

sudosysgen 6y ago

They are Americans now, but they weren't when they decided to come to the US, and were it not for some disaster they likely would have stayed or left in much lower numbers.

djohnston 6y ago
Sure, if everyone was content no one would look for opportunities. I don't see the point.
- sudosysgen 6y ago
  The point is that the gradient of discontent is no longer as harsh in the western direction, and that the OP theorizes that this is a reason for the decreasing share of the productivity growth focused in the West/US. There is some empirical evidence for those theories. The US and the West in general have profited of disruptions they caused or partially helped, from scuttling research projects using political pressure and then hiring the researchers into the US up to arming rebellions and indeed military intervention.
yostrovs 6y ago
The fact that America does not suffer from the kind of disruptions that cause other countries to lose their talent may be the reason for its winning advantage. Why not look for what that is instead of blaming a country for giving refuge to those that need it and benefiting from the natural rewards that come.
- sudosysgen 6y ago
  I didn't see the parent doing that. The parent was theorizing that the reason why US/Western tech is in some kind of stagnation is because the world is more stable and so the stability advantage is reduced. Also, it is an undeniable fact that the US and the Western world in general were in no small part the causes, or certainly exacerbating factors, of these disruptions.
  - djohnston 6y ago
    Agreed on the latter point, and the burgeoning global software industry will likely break stagnation even further, but all the examples of breaking stagnation in the article are American companies. Anyways I don't want to come off as some flag-waving nationalist, I just dont think that the story of immigrant success in the United States should be painted as America exploiting these people's talents at their expense.