3 ms·
One of his arguments in my opinion is invalid. He tries to suggest that if USA would simply invest in education, especially in middle America, then USA would pr
by kozikow 14y ago
One of his arguments in my opinion is invalid. He tries to suggest that if USA would simply invest in education, especially in middle America, then USA would produce enough engineers to not have to import engineers from abroad.
However, my view is that not everyone, regardless of education, can be good software engineer. Almost all software engineers I know used to be very top at mathematics and science since the very first year of primary school. They didn't receive any superior education, but researched and learned things by themselves, very often against a lot of things that stood in their way, like no access to internet or much more obligations (like helping family on the farm) than kids in America.
Nowadays, when it is getting much easier to learn anything being anywhere in the world, just being born or educated in the USA loses it's value.
Remember, that USA is just about 5% of world population.
- fyi80 14y agoAnd everyone who could be a good software engineer is succeeding? None of that talent is wasted on excessive obligations, or crime, or malnourishment?
- potatolicious 14y agoIt's not a zero-sum game. Even if the American school system miraculously stopped failing overnight, and we solve the trifecta that is American poverty-race-criminality instantaneously, it will be decades before the labor force sees the full benefit. We can, and should, be improving the domestic situation - but even going full-bore on that front there is still a gap in labor supply that won't solve itself for decades to come. There is also a national competitive angle here, which is that every talented, highly-paid individual not working in the US is working somewhere else, enriching another economy, paying (copious) taxes to someone else, and nudging the American trade deficit just a bit in the wrong direction. Worst case scenario they're working on things that directly threaten the US (see: space programs, military tech, economically disruptive tech, etc) when they instead could be working for you threatening some other poor country. The most prime example of this at work is the entire history of the US space program.
- deleted 14y ago[deleted]