See updates through January 5, 2025, at end of post.
I have to doubt that this is over:
“So basically the right split into two factions, tech right and right right, and the tech right is like ‘hey we need h-1b visa people to do the jobs,’ and the right right was like ‘no you need to hire americans,’ and the tech right is like ‘but you guys are retarded,’ and the right right is like ‘well you don't train us,’ and the tech right is like ‘you can't outtrain being retarded,’ and while all this was going on we learned some people *really* don't like Indians.”[1]
The H-1B visa program is one of a few factors that contributed to my very, very long (over 23 years) lack of gainful employment. It enables high technology oligarchs who constitute our aconstitutional broligarchy-in-waiting to hire technical people from overseas. Between it and so-called ‘free’ trade (when you see the word ‘free,’ always ask for whom to do what to whom, at whose expense), a lot of U.S. workers have been frozen out of gainful employment, often not because we lack the skills, but because we are deemed too expensive and insufficiently subservient.
The H-1B program has been controversial from the beginning (in 1990). It entered my consciousness with the dot-com crash in 2001, the beginning of my very long, long travails in the job market, as I came to realize that jobs under capitalism would only last until capitalists found someone cheaper—often anywhere in the world, especially where living costs are lower—to do them.[2] It, along with the ease of relocating operations overseas, puts U.S. workers at a disadvantage in competition with workers from almost anywhere else not in the Western world.
So when white Christian nationalists don’t like the H-1B program,[3] guess who’s on their side. Yes, me, absolutely without hesitation.
That’s not to say the broligarchs don’t have a point. Especially since moving to Pennsylvania, I have seen an emphasis on sports that far exceeds any on scholarship. I have seen the toxic masculinity around Pittsburgh that is all about cruelty for the sake of cruelty. Especially among Donald Trump’s base. And I have long realized that this country is profoundly—and even more so recently—anti-intellectual. This is indeed not a culture that seems to be a promising source for any intellectual work.
But, for example, it’s not like Carnegie-Mellon University, with a strong emphasis on engineering programs, is lacking for students (some of whom come from overseas). Such universities exist all over the country. There are highly skilled people in this country and there are a great many who’ve been forced into other fields because the broligarchs prefer H-1B workers. The least that can be said of the H-1B program is that it is susceptible to abuse and it is inescapable that at least some companies are almost certainly abusing it.[4] In short, Trump’s base has a point.
So it was interesting when a ‘civil war’ between that base and the broligarchs arose, with the broligarchs insisting that H-1B visas are essential to keep U.S. companies competitive and the base insisting that those broligarchs need to hire more U.S. workers. The question was whether Trump would choose the broligarchs or his intensely loyal base and others who voted for him in the hope of a better deal than they were ever going to get from Democrats.[5]
Trump went with the money.[6] He risks alienating the very folks who voted for him because the Democrats do little besides make excuses. I don’t see how he isn’t repeating the Democrats’ mistake.
I don’t know how this will play. But I’ll be watching.
Update, December 30, 2024: I am remembering that when Donald Trump boasted of the COVID-19 vaccines that were developed during his first term as president and said that he had received the vaccine and a booster, he was booed at his own rally.[7]
There is indeed a mostly true argument that Trump’s base will blindly follow him,[8] even over a cliff. But the backlash to the COVID-19 vaccine that he wanted his movement to take credit for[9] shows that there are limits. Limits we’re seeing even now with Trump’s endorsement of Mike Johnson to retain his speakership, which is likely needed for Congress to certify Trump’s election victory on schedule.[10]
And the question, very much for the moment, is whether Trump’s endorsement of H-1B visas, which it seems may not be all it appears,[11] has breached those limits. There are signs that it might have as Steve Bannon and Laura Loomer appear undeterred in their criticism of the program.
Update, January 5, 2025: The ‘civil war’ among Republicans over the H-1B program[12] may have subsided, at least for now, while the drama over re-electing Mike Johnson as Speaker of the House of Representatives played out,[13] but not before Bernie Sanders got in a final word: “If there is really a shortage of skilled tech workers in America, why did Tesla lay-off over 7,500 American workers this year – including many software developers and engineers at its factory in Austin, Texas – while being approved to employ thousands of H1-B guest workers?”[14] Sanders also noted relatively low starting salaries for guest workers, which he said “don’t sound like highly specialized jobs that are for the top 0.1 percent as Musk claimed this week”[15] and accepted the framing of these workers as ‘indentured servants.’[16]
[1] Autism Capital [pseud.], “So basically the right split into two factions, tech right and right right . . . ,” X, December 26, 2024,https://x.com/AutismCapital/status/1872408010653589799
[2] Ben Berkowitz, “Musk calls MAGA element ‘contemptible fools’ as virtual civil war brews,” Axios, December 27, 2024, https://www.axios.com/2024/12/27/elon-musk-contemptible-fools-maga-doge; Nicole Torres, “The H-1B Visa Debate, Explained,” Harvard Business Review, May 4, 2017, https://hbr.org/2017/05/the-h-1b-visa-debate-explained
[3] Ben Berkowitz, “Musk calls MAGA element ‘contemptible fools’ as virtual civil war brews,” Axios, December 27, 2024, https://www.axios.com/2024/12/27/elon-musk-contemptible-fools-maga-doge; Pranshu Verma and Cat Zakrzewski, “A MAGA ‘Civil War’ on X between Musk and the far right over H-1B visas,” Washington Post, December 27, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/12/27/h-1b-visas-elon-musk-trump-immigration/
[4] Ben Berkowitz and Mike Allen, “Trump sides with Musk in H-1B fight,” Axios, December 28, 2024, https://www.axios.com/2024/12/28/musk-war-h1b-racists-maga-doge; Nicole Torres, “The H-1B Visa Debate, Explained,” Harvard Business Review, May 4, 2017, https://hbr.org/2017/05/the-h-1b-visa-debate-explained
[5] Ben Berkowitz, “Musk calls MAGA element ‘contemptible fools’ as virtual civil war brews,” Axios, December 27, 2024, https://www.axios.com/2024/12/27/elon-musk-contemptible-fools-maga-doge; Pranshu Verma and Cat Zakrzewski, “A MAGA ‘Civil War’ on X between Musk and the far right over H-1B visas,” Washington Post, December 27, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/12/27/h-1b-visas-elon-musk-trump-immigration/
[6] Ben Berkowitz and Mike Allen, “Trump sides with Musk in H-1B fight,” Axios, December 28, 2024, https://www.axios.com/2024/12/28/musk-war-h1b-racists-maga-doge; Nandita Bose, “Trump sides with Elon Musk in H-1B visa debate, says he's always been in favor of the program,” Reuters, December 28, 2024, https://www.reuters.com/world/us/elon-musk-vows-war-over-h-1b-visa-program-amid-rift-with-some-trump-supporters-2024-12-28/; Will Oremus, “Trump backs H-1B visas, aligning with Musk on immigration,” Washington Post, December 28, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/12/28/trump-h1b-musk-immigration-debate/
[7] Jill Colvin, “Trump reveals he got COVID-19 booster shot; crowd boos him,” Associated Press, December 20, 2021, https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-health-donald-trump-coronavirus-vaccine-74abcd4e6833835f5df445fe2142e22b
[8] Sarah K. Burris, “‘Such a stupid fight to pick’: GOP strategist bemused about new MAGA battle,” Raw Story, December 30, 2024, https://apple.news/Aa__VI01EQ6yD3LODVJiWLQ
[9] Jill Colvin, “Trump reveals he got COVID-19 booster shot; crowd boos him,” Associated Press, December 20, 2021, https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-health-donald-trump-coronavirus-vaccine-74abcd4e6833835f5df445fe2142e22b
[10] Brad Reed, “Second House Republican signals defiance of Trump's Mike Johnson endorsement,” Raw Story, December 30, 2024, https://apple.news/At64Zrl0TSmmmyslDmTZvcw
[11] Andrew Prokop, “Elon Musk is on a collision course with Stephen Miller,” Vox, December 30, 2024, https://www.vox.com/politics/392864/elon-musk-vivek-h1b-visas-trump-stephen-miller
[12] Ben Berkowitz, “Musk calls MAGA element ‘contemptible fools’ as virtual civil war brews,” Axios, December 27, 2024, https://www.axios.com/2024/12/27/elon-musk-contemptible-fools-maga-doge; Ben Berkowitz and Mike Allen, “Trump sides with Musk in H-1B fight,” Axios, December 28, 2024, https://www.axios.com/2024/12/28/musk-war-h1b-racists-maga-doge; Nandita Bose, “Trump sides with Elon Musk in H-1B visa debate, says he's always been in favor of the program,” Reuters, December 28, 2024, https://www.reuters.com/world/us/elon-musk-vows-war-over-h-1b-visa-program-amid-rift-with-some-trump-supporters-2024-12-28/; Corbin Bolies, “Steve Bannon Escalates MAGA Civil War With Call for ‘Reparations’ Over H-1B Visas,” Daily Beast, December 30, 2024, https://apple.news/AZQ5tfFKITvSH-JfwfIM9DQ; Sarah K. Burris, “‘Such a stupid fight to pick’: GOP strategist bemused about new MAGA battle,” Raw Story, December 30, 2024, https://apple.news/Aa__VI01EQ6yD3LODVJiWLQ; David Edwards, “Laura Loomer escalates MAGA feud: Elon Musk using Trump to ‘establish a monarchy,’” Raw Story, December 30, 2024, https://apple.news/AB-hTr3Y6T16nmhzHXr_hWA; Grace Harrington, “Loomer Slams ‘Welfare Queen’ Musk in Surging MAGA Civil War,” Daily Beast, December 30, 2024, https://apple.news/AlGe8smQeRpycBpxAckIsrQ; Nico Hines, “Republicans Admit MAGA Civil War Is a Total ‘S***show’—and It’s Only Gonna Get Worse,” Daily Beast, December 31, 2024, https://apple.news/A8FLKYOkHRJ-bIBYskR1zyA; Amethyst Martinez, “Steve Bannon Ramps Up MAGA Civil War With Graphic Threat to Elon Musk,” Daily Beast, December 31, 2024, https://apple.news/ATKE24SK4Qq6XBNojhoLxrA; Will Oremus, “Trump backs H-1B visas, aligning with Musk on immigration,” Washington Post, December 28, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/12/28/trump-h1b-musk-immigration-debate/; Andrew Prokop, “Elon Musk is on a collision course with Stephen Miller,” Vox, December 30, 2024, https://www.vox.com/politics/392864/elon-musk-vivek-h1b-visas-trump-stephen-miller; Pranshu Verma and Cat Zakrzewski, “A MAGA ‘Civil War’ on X between Musk and the far right over H-1B visas,” Washington Post, December 27, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/12/27/h-1b-visas-elon-musk-trump-immigration/
[13] Aaron Blake, “4 takeaways from Mike Johnson’s dramatic speaker win,” Washington Post, January 3, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/01/03/mike-johnson-speaker-vote-how-won/
Tom Boggioni, “House Republicans facing 'more embarrassing disarray' despite Trump interference: report,” Raw Story, January 1, 2025, https://apple.news/AY49nrSCBQ2mmr-7zvQw5Tg; Naomi LaChance, “Mike Johnson's Reign as Speaker Under Threat Despite Trump's Support,” Rolling Stone, December 31, 2024, https://apple.news/Ao-GdII4WQKmWNuVvikpLUg; Brad Reed, “Second House Republican signals defiance of Trump's Mike Johnson endorsement,” Raw Story, December 30, 2024, https://apple.news/At64Zrl0TSmmmyslDmTZvcw; Brad Reed, “GOP 'doomsday prepping' for 'monumentally stupid' speaker fight: report,” Raw Story, December 31, 2024, https://apple.news/AiSqb5_0_SOSEBLVhrvx94w
[14] Bernie Sanders, quoted in Erik De La Garza, “'Elon Musk is wrong': Bernie Sanders gives blunt takedown of Trump ally,” Raw Story, January 2, 2025, https://apple.news/A-3iDUszOTdGe7FUU5qE7bA
[15] Bernie Sanders, quoted in Erik De La Garza, “'Elon Musk is wrong': Bernie Sanders gives blunt takedown of Trump ally,” Raw Story, January 2, 2025, https://apple.news/A-3iDUszOTdGe7FUU5qE7bA
[16] Erik De La Garza, “'Elon Musk is wrong': Bernie Sanders gives blunt takedown of Trump ally,” Raw Story, January 2, 2025, https://apple.news/A-3iDUszOTdGe7FUU5qE7bA