emeraldx's comments

As far as I know, there is a minimum salary requirement for the Blue Card visa. So this blows the 'Cheap-talent-taking-over, Reduced-average-wages' argument out of the water.

IMO, the reason this is happening is simple. 1) H1-B visas have an arbitrary numerical limitation every year, which is not tied to reflect the actual dearth of talent, and hasn't been updated since years.

2) They're extremely unreliable. You can only apply once a year, and it's a lottery. So employers aren't even sure if the candidate currently interviewing can get a work permit if hired. And the wait time to reapply is one year. Very inefficient.

3) The EU/Canada/Australia have a very streamlined visa process, allowing qualified candidates to quickly get a visa. Easy to attract and retain talent.

If done right, these countries will benefit hugely like the US did in past decades. The new workers means more taxes, more demand/consumer spending and hence boost to the economy.

Also, I must mention the low birth rates in EU (as normally happens in developed countries) which will start to show next generation onwards. If not for these new immigrants and their tax dollars (euros/francs/kronas) it'll be hard to keep up with the social benefits and expenditure. If not for immigration these countries will end up like Japan with an old population and in massive, compounding debt.

I feel your motivation is misdirected.

A Masters/PhD thesis should be in something you're interested in and deeply care about. More than getting a job, it should be about advancing the frontiers of available knowledge in a given field.

If you do really well employers would line up to hire you.

Yes, but to make up those lower profits Acme Inc. could just reduce compensation for its employees. And I think that is what TheRealDunkirk was trying to say. That when corporate taxes are levied, eventually it is the employees who end up taking the burden.

> Worker productivity is incredibly low (too many meetings with people who have nothing to do there), lack of individual leadership/initiative, and "cluelessness" is rather the norm than anything else.

I agree with this. Mainly because of the belief that 'working hard' is working long hours. Lack of initiative is because being innovative and coming up with something new is considered as not having faith in what you already have and seen as betrayal or being disloyal to your cause.

But, it is certainly true that most people will satisfy their job requirements with utmost possible excellence and perfection. Not because they have to but because they want to. I still remember walking into a conbini (a term for convenience stores like 7-11) and buying two onigiris for me and my girlfriend, who was at the time browsing the store and not with me at the cashier. When she and I were exiting the store together, the cashier who saw us leaving came running towards us and handed a paper napkin. She thought I was alone and put only one paper napkin in the bag but noticing it's two of us now she had to give us another. I'd never expect see this level of observation and dedication to one's job in the US. This was just one instance, but I have several such anecdotes from my time spent in Japan.

> How about their excellence at using English, by the way? Their attention to detail when it comes to using other languages? I hope you realize how wrong it is to make blanket statements.

This is just anglo-centic racism and nothing else. Language is not a part of their job. You cannot expect one to do EVERYTHING in their daily life with attention to detail. If a Japanese person's job is to teach English or use English in a very professional setting where they are expected to speak correct English (and not just to get the point across) then they will learn it as required. They may still retain their accent but they'll speak with correct grammar. It can be extremely hard for a non-native English speaker to pick up the language. Grammar rules, pronunciations and exceptions are all over the place. It's unfair and very inconsiderate to judge someone based on this unless their job requires perfect English.

Yes, precisely the reason I try to avoid it as much as possible. I've been flying across the Atlantic and further East for 25 years now through multiple airlines. These years have taught me to stay away from Heathrow unless it can't be helped. I've missed my connecting flights just way too many times due to mismanagement, and when I didn't, I lost my luggage.

When going from [Point A] -> [Point B] -> [Point C], I only care if Point B is connected to my destination at Point C. If B is connected to many other destinations then it only means I'll face a larger crowd with more chaos and confusion which I'd love to avoid.

As a traveler, I prefer airports that take me to my destination with minimum hassle and maximum convenience or comfort. I do not care if it the most connected airport.

Nice

Can confirm. I too noticed these through the Japan App Store.

I'd recommend finding a local Gurudwara (their place of worship) and visiting there during Langar. Langar is when they offer free meals to all visitors of the temple, no questions asked. People volunteer to cook these meals, serve them to people, doing the dishes etc.

I'd recommend first visiting the temple and seeing it yourself.

> 15 - Fission power supplies "well over half of the power needs of humanity" - no

I soo wish this were true. Don't how the support was for Nuclear power back in the day. But wish it were mainstream today. Nuclear engineering would've been one of the most sought after disciplines and more innovation and research could've gotten us much closer to sustained fission.