4 ms·

I can see that being smart, but even after the influx of tech Austin is still a way lower cost of living than CA and their campus is close to a few good stem un

I can see that being smart, but even after the influx of tech Austin is still a way lower cost of living than CA and their campus is close to a few good stem universities. Plus, if everyone educated leaves the place it will just perpetuate. Then again, climate change will probably make it unlivable anyway.

kibwen 4y ago
> their campus is close to a few good stem universities From Scott Aaronson's blog today: https://scottaaronson.blog/?p=6518 https://scottaaronson.blog/?p=6518 "Most obviously for me, the continued viability of Texas as a place for science, for research, for technology companies, is now in severe doubt. Already this year, our 50-member CS department at UT Austin has had faculty members leave, and faculty candidates turn us down, with abortion being the stated reason, and I expect that to accelerate."
- carrionpigeon 4y ago
  This strikes me as wildly implausible. The US broadly has very permissive abortion laws compared to most of Europe, but I have never once heard of anyone migrating to the US over greater abortion access. It's always economic/opportunity concerns. Going further back, during the Soviet era when abortion was widespread (i.e. 2-3 abortions per live birth in the 60s-70s), did anyone want to migrate to the Eastern bloc for it? My understanding is that it was overwhelmingly the other way around, again for economic reasons. I think if people turn down jobs in states because of restrictive abortion laws, it's because they have so much choice in desirable employers that they can select on issues that almost everyone else would live with, whether they personally approve or not. And lastly, if anything is going to undermine Austin universities in terms of science research and education, it's the rampant devaluation of academic standards, excessive bureaucratization, grade inflation, and churning out of degrees in exchange for tuition money. Abortion will have little if anything to do with it.
  - kibwen 4y ago
    > The US broadly has very permissive abortion laws compared to most of Europe According to Wikipedia: "Most countries in the European Union allow abortion on demand during the first trimester, with Sweden and the Netherlands having more extended time limits." That's the same as what was once guaranteed in the US under Roe.
    - proxyon 4y ago
      Incorrect. Roe guaranteed till viability (e.g. the day of birth). Very different and most people completely disagree with it.
      - djur 4y ago
        Viability as defined by Roe was 28 weeks at the time of the opinion and (due to technological improvements) 24 weeks in recent years. Not "the day of birth".
    - carrionpigeon 4y ago
      It's still like that in most of the US. And until today, abortion into the 2nd trimester was legal in the entire US, minus some delta in one state as this case reached the Supreme Court. Also, some consideration is needed for lack of abortion access in some states though abortions themselves were technically legal. Still, 2nd trimester abortions are very uncommon to be legal in Europe. Is there any evidence to suggest that the liberal abortion laws in the US up until today attracted people from Europe to take jobs in the US instead of their home countries with more restrictive abortion laws?
      - rsynnott 4y ago
        Second trimester abortions, except where medically required (in which case they are legal in most European countries) are also very, very rare. And this decision is arguably the canary in the coal mine; note Thomas’s concurrence. Things could get very, very dark in the more right-wing US states.
  - 4y ago
dillondoyle 4y ago
That perpetual motion machine is one of my top fears as well - and sadly perhaps part of their calculus. I work in D politics and don't think TX will be Dem anytime within the next few cycles. But the trend is there; especially if young people move in. GA is closer IMHO. FL is slipping away and illustrates this compounding effect that the GOP has engineered. Florida's GOP SCO-FL (?) just allowed a really gerrymandered CD map put out by DeSantis, a break with norms. The map is clearly undemocratic IMHO. 20 of 28 are now pretty safe R. That's very lopsided for the perennial swing state. Even trending +3% R, it should be a toss up. State and local level is the same story, often worse. More than people moving away, stopping immigration of young people has a big affect. That's big reason my state of Colorado has turned from purple to fairly solid blue. Attacking women, queer people, non-religious people, POC, makes the state unwelcoming and even dangerous. Being a bully gives them more power, which allows them to create more levers and enshrine more advantages to this power. They have set themselves up to rule a divided states of America where they maintain extreme authoritarian power against the absolute majority. You're also right in that global warming doesn't give a damn. Sadly again their blocking of even sensible actions is just another example of what should be a minority party by #s literally killing people who have little power over this situation.

kibwen 4y ago

> their campus is close to a few good stem universities From Scott Aaronson's blog today: https://scottaaronson.blog/?p=6518 https://scottaaronson.blog/?p=6518 "Most obviously for me, the continued viability of Texas as a place for science, for research, for technology companies, is now in severe doubt. Already this year, our 50-member CS department at UT Austin has had faculty members leave, and faculty candidates turn us down, with abortion being the stated reason, and I expect that to accelerate."

carrionpigeon 4y ago
This strikes me as wildly implausible. The US broadly has very permissive abortion laws compared to most of Europe, but I have never once heard of anyone migrating to the US over greater abortion access. It's always economic/opportunity concerns. Going further back, during the Soviet era when abortion was widespread (i.e. 2-3 abortions per live birth in the 60s-70s), did anyone want to migrate to the Eastern bloc for it? My understanding is that it was overwhelmingly the other way around, again for economic reasons. I think if people turn down jobs in states because of restrictive abortion laws, it's because they have so much choice in desirable employers that they can select on issues that almost everyone else would live with, whether they personally approve or not. And lastly, if anything is going to undermine Austin universities in terms of science research and education, it's the rampant devaluation of academic standards, excessive bureaucratization, grade inflation, and churning out of degrees in exchange for tuition money. Abortion will have little if anything to do with it.
- kibwen 4y ago
  > The US broadly has very permissive abortion laws compared to most of Europe According to Wikipedia: "Most countries in the European Union allow abortion on demand during the first trimester, with Sweden and the Netherlands having more extended time limits." That's the same as what was once guaranteed in the US under Roe.
  - proxyon 4y ago
    Incorrect. Roe guaranteed till viability (e.g. the day of birth). Very different and most people completely disagree with it.
    - djur 4y ago
      Viability as defined by Roe was 28 weeks at the time of the opinion and (due to technological improvements) 24 weeks in recent years. Not "the day of birth".
  - carrionpigeon 4y ago
    It's still like that in most of the US. And until today, abortion into the 2nd trimester was legal in the entire US, minus some delta in one state as this case reached the Supreme Court. Also, some consideration is needed for lack of abortion access in some states though abortions themselves were technically legal. Still, 2nd trimester abortions are very uncommon to be legal in Europe. Is there any evidence to suggest that the liberal abortion laws in the US up until today attracted people from Europe to take jobs in the US instead of their home countries with more restrictive abortion laws?
    - rsynnott 4y ago
      Second trimester abortions, except where medically required (in which case they are legal in most European countries) are also very, very rare. And this decision is arguably the canary in the coal mine; note Thomas’s concurrence. Things could get very, very dark in the more right-wing US states.
- 4y ago

dillondoyle 4y ago

That perpetual motion machine is one of my top fears as well - and sadly perhaps part of their calculus. I work in D politics and don't think TX will be Dem anytime within the next few cycles. But the trend is there; especially if young people move in. GA is closer IMHO. FL is slipping away and illustrates this compounding effect that the GOP has engineered. Florida's GOP SCO-FL (?) just allowed a really gerrymandered CD map put out by DeSantis, a break with norms. The map is clearly undemocratic IMHO. 20 of 28 are now pretty safe R. That's very lopsided for the perennial swing state. Even trending +3% R, it should be a toss up. State and local level is the same story, often worse. More than people moving away, stopping immigration of young people has a big affect. That's big reason my state of Colorado has turned from purple to fairly solid blue. Attacking women, queer people, non-religious people, POC, makes the state unwelcoming and even dangerous. Being a bully gives them more power, which allows them to create more levers and enshrine more advantages to this power. They have set themselves up to rule a divided states of America where they maintain extreme authoritarian power against the absolute majority. You're also right in that global warming doesn't give a damn. Sadly again their blocking of even sensible actions is just another example of what should be a minority party by #s literally killing people who have little power over this situation.