The only place I'll offer a counter-view is on the topic of H1B Visas in this video.
This comes from the perspective of being an analytics consultant and IT business owner for close to 30 years.
We could never get the appropriate resources - for software/mobile development, test/test automation/devops, analytics/datawarehousing/etc through just a US labor force. Since I coach high school tennis now, I also get to ask a lot of students what they plan on studying in college.
Almost none are picking STEM degrees - preferring business, marketing, finance, psychology, etc.
*** Now - side point - I do not even advocate for college education any longer (even though my wife and I both got nursing/engineering degrees...and both of our daughters got degrees). I prefer technical school - and wish our labor system had more of an apprentice-style approach for new employees entering the work force. Employers get inexpensive labor that they can train to their specifications - employees get paid while also avoiding college debt.
So this dearth of STEM education has resulted in a dearth of analysts/developers/testers in IT. Not enough bodies for the work to be done, so we had to augment with H1B.
This is a nuanced issue because I also interviewed many people who were unqualified and - in some cases - were sent to me by a body shop that produced false copy/paste resumes. They also paid those consultants pennies-on-the-dollar relative to their US counterparts. Our broken money system, incredible asset inflation, sense of entitlement, and understanding that they are a scarce (citizen) commodity has our US born job applicants asking for SIGNIFICANTLY MORE in regard to W2/1099 bill rate. When a client is driving down your proposal costs, and your competitors are willing to drop theirs, it becomes a work of art to build a team of US-based citizens as well as supplementing with H1B.
Now - back to that dearth of STEM candidates. You do NOT build a backlog of them in a day...a year...arguably 5+ years. I think Trump came to that painful realization between when he said "no more H1B", to we need to have H1B to keep our universities open (don't care on that one) and our factories with a competent labor force.
I very much want to reshore our manufacturing, and become self-sovereign as well as better national defense without dependencies upon our adversaries, but we will need to wean off of H1Bs over years while strongly encouraging our youth to get STEM/trade school education.
We also need to Fix the Money, Fix the World...so employees do not have to constantly ask for raises that prices them out of the market (and perpetuating the vicious asset price inflation loop). We need more employers paying in bitcoin - and employees financially savvy enough to at least convert into bitcoin, so their hard work is not debased.
Please share this post a little more - interested in driving the discussion to get other opinions. We do NOT get to recover in 1-3 years what took 40-100 years to corrupt. I would love to see folks like nostr:nprofile1qy2hwumn8ghj7etyv4hzumn0wd68ytnvv9hxgqgdwaehxw309ahx7uewd3hkcqpqs05p3ha7en49dv8429tkk07nnfa9pcwczkf5x5qrdraqshxdje9sgew2ua nostr:nprofile1qy2hwumn8ghj7mn0wd68ytndv9kxjm3wdahxcqg5waehxw309ahx7um5wfekzarkvyhxuet5qqsw4v882mfjhq9u63j08kzyhqzqxqc8tgf740p4nxnk9jdv02u37ncdhu7e3 nostr:nprofile1qyxhwumn8ghj7mn0wvhxcmmvqywhwumn8ghj7mn0wd68yttsw43zuam9d3kx7unyv4ezumn9wsqzp382htsmu08k277ps40wqhnfm60st89h5pvjyutghq9cjasuh38q7t6dtc and nostr:nprofile1qyxhwumn8ghj7mn0wvhxcmmvqyehwumn8ghj7mnhvvh8qunfd4skctnwv46z7ctewe4xcetfd3khsvrpdsmk5vnsw96rydr3v4jrz73hvyu8xqpqsg6plzptd64u62a878hep2kev88swjh3tw00gjsfl8f237lmu63q8dzj6n weighing in on this one...those latter two specifically because they also ran (much larger than my 100+ person shop that got acquired and grew to about 2,500) tech companies. That combined 2,500 employee company had an onshore/nearshore/offshore model to suit client demands.
I would not accept payment in Bitcoin, but much like cash, I doubt that's a choice I get to make when the time comes.
You speak on H1B, college education, and financial products, but the statement that resonates strongest "We could never get the appropriate resources."
I retired early when the stress became overwhelming. For my last 3 years, I was more of an account manager for this acquiring company...vs more of an architect/developer/project manager previously...which meant I was making promises to my clients that we had the people (because my company leadership and recruiting/HR told me we had the resources). I then had to come BACK to the client and say
1) we do not have the resources...because we literally did not have a bench and we couldn't find anyone on the open-market,
2) the price of the resources rose faster than a dozen eggs in 2024, so their budget...or our fixed price proposal...couldn't support the price increase, or
3) client wants lower costs...even if it meant predominantly H1B...and the ones we could find proved to be "less than competent or fraudulent with their credentials"
If I conducted 10 resource interviews for a job position...maybe 2 were US citizens because they aren't taking the hard path of STEM education and continuing education to survive in a tech role. They also wanted more money and more demands (work from home, Mon/Thu travel days if remote)...and were generally less qualified technically.
Basically - I got tired of apologizing to the clients for over-committing. I uncovered false resumes constantly - and even had two scenarios where someone off-camera answered the interview questions on a Zoom call...and the candidate basically did "watermelon...watermelon" with their lips!
I then did my own consulting for awhile, but shut it down during COVID and focused on becoming a tennis teaching pro and high school tennis coach. Was always frugal, diligent saver for 30+ years, so took early retirement and subsidizing with the coaching.
The US NEEDS more STEM-educated youth if we ever want to become self-sustaining again...vs rely on H1B. And our youth need to be willing to work. Obviously, this is broad-brushing it...but I know what I experienced working in the industry as well as knowing a LOT of youth and their employment goals. And often the highest performing students academically - in the groups I've worked with - sons and daughters of H1Bs or 2nd generation from green card. I am an American - TEXAN - I would much rather we get back to "rolling our own" when it comes to our country's success. But it requires...proof-of-work and time.
This discussion is beyond me because the opinions of what people need is a personal desire unique to each individual; not something I can speak on. I can assure you tho, the Sentinelese tribe have done a fair job sustaining themselves without any technology, science, engineering or math majors. I doubt they even have an economic model, but it most certainly doesn't involve Bitcoin.
I don't mean to be blunt or apparent, but you aren't even taking your own opinions seriously. Possessing the knowledge and experience of running an IT business to coach tennis. Have you ever considered teaching others what you've learned?
For myself, the resource I lack the greatest are mentors and guidance; because there is no lack of information online.
Regarding a tribe not needing technology or bitcoin - sure, I can believe it. Get a small enough scale, you can go back to a barter system or trading with a currency that is worth what the participants say it is worth. Oh, and step away from the tech...touch grass, love others, and probably have a much happier life.
I have strong opinions, loosely held...which I take seriously.
I mentored many consultants and taught anything from project management to data modeling/data warehousing, ETL, and data visualization to consultants AND clients. And that spanned a generation in business (Gen X and Millennials).
I then decided to give back - and mentor the NEXT generation. I have reasonably priced tennis lessons year round, but I also coach two high school teams for a stipend that amounts to coffee and gas money.
I spend many hours EACH DAY building skills, competitiveness, and belief and self-esteem - all from a positive approach (which is in stark contrast to the coaching I received as a south Texas football player). This has built the trust between student/coach to allow me to also ask about what their life goals are...as well as discuss with students AND parents about bitcoin. I have volunteered my time to speak to individuals or groups about bitcoin.
I walked away from a lucrative career - to the disbelief of many - to fulfill my passion of teaching/coaching/encouraging. Many people can do what I do in the IT world...less can do (or desire the do or have the "means" to do) the much simpler - but I would argue more impactful - mission that I do now.
In my own opinion, of course.
