More Xenophobic Nationalism
This time in Florida.
Via the NYT: Florida Universities to Stop Hiring Foreign H-1B Workers Under DeSantis Plan.
Gov. Ron DeSantis directed Florida education officials to “pull the plug” on the use of H-1B visas for foreign workers at the state’s universities, arguing that such jobs should go to Americans.
At a news conference at the University of South Florida in Tampa on Wednesday, Mr. DeSantis rattled off a list of jobs at the state’s colleges that he said should be filled by Americans: public policy professor from China, graphic designer from Canada, assistant swim coach from Spain.
“Are you kidding me?” he said. “We can’t produce an assistant swim coach in this country?”
I mean, the man has a point! Have you seen the Dodgers’ pitching staff? There are three Japanese guys and a Venezuelan! Can’t we produce pitchers in this country?
Are you kidding me?
This is basically the same logic as getting rid of foreign students at the Ivy leagues–the notion that “foreigners” are “using up” spots that could go to Americans. Instead of focusing on merit and bringing in the best we can attract, many of whom stay here and become Americans, these guys think that gatekeeping will open up opportunities.
To point out the obvious, nobody wins when standards end up being lowered to fill these spots.
And, as I’ve pointed out before, with girls outpacing boys in academic achievement in both high school and college, this probably won’t result in the outcomes people like DeSantis are hoping for.
How about a special H-1B visa to get a competent Florida governor, seeing as how Americans can’t produce one.
The problem with DeSantis is he looks up to everybody, so its going to take a long time for him to divide and conquer all those who refuse to stoop so low so as to not look down upon him.
The problem with DeSantis is he looks up to everybody, so its going to take a long time for him to divide and conquer all those who refuse to stoop so low so as to not look down upon him.
Only the best and the brightest, because Florida is so educated, ya know. Full disclosure: DeSantis and I went to the same high school, he was a freshman when I was a senior.
Only the best and the brightest, because Florida is so educated, ya know. Full disclosure: DeSantis and I went to the same high school, he was a freshman when I was a senior.
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Xenophobic NationalismRacism.Fixed that for you.
This goes to my previous post. Let’s call it what it is. Racism. People’s eyes gloss over when they hear “Xenophobic Nationalism”. It’s racist. Easy to understand.
@HelloWorld: I hope you gave him a swirlie. If not, please rectify this.
@EddieInCA: I think the nationalism is a very important part that makes the current Republican Party distinct from a lot of previous racist movements in the US.
I’d say that Jim Crow was racist, but not nationalist, for instance. There’s a firm racial hierarchy, but that’s our underclass (even if literal ownership was prohibited).
I hate the -phobic stuff though*, some variation of “racist nationalism” seems appropriate.
——
*: I’m afraid of spiders (and many Christians) — But I don’t want to prevent them from getting married, or working, or living in certain neighborhoods, because I’m not a bigot, just skittish.**
**: I grew up in a very white suburb, so lots of groups make me skittish, particularly if I am momentarily outnumbered. It’s something to acknowledge to myself and ignore, rather than pretend it doesn’t exist. Knowing it’s there removes a lot of its power.
@Gustopher:
That was my first thought, too, but can you imagine having to live with the possibility that your applied swirlie in school is what turned him to the dark side? Applying one now would certainly be fine, of course.
@EddieInCA: True. Heck, I’m okay with going with the even simpler “a$$holeish”. It covers so much of the GOP’s behavior. One of the biggest problems with Trump and the era we’re in is the elevation of a$$holes rather than shaming of them.
@reid: The increasingly antisocial behavior of many Republican political figures to me suggests they are very afraid of losing. It seems as though they have been colonized by Trump’s narcissism, along with drinking the kool-aid about how Democrats hate America and will ruin it.
The party that wants to run the government like a business, wants to exclude the best and brightest in the hiring practices, as businesses do.
@reid: I didn’t know him, but he grew up in this neighborhood called Spanish Trails, and I have friends that were his neighbors. He played baseball and was your typical rich kid jock (like in the Karate Kid or Just One of the Guys), probably giving swirlies.
@EddieInCA: There was a time when I reserved the descriptor “racist” for someone like Bull Connor.
I was schooled by people of color over a long period by their usage of the word, which described a more generic condition, a condition which was common, and likely to have some affect on every person who grew up in America, like I did.
As such, the word “racist” is actually a bit too tame for these guys. “Bigot” might do, but “xenophobic nationalist” is more precise, and more accurate.
If you were to draw a Venn diagram, with one circle being “Bigots” and another circle being “Xenophobic Nationalists” I would think that the second circle (XN) would be entirely contained in the first. And yes, there would be a much, much bigger circle labeled “racists” which contained them both.
That’s how I conceive of the terminology anyway.
@Jay L. Gischer:
My larger point is that Democrats suck at using basic language idiots can understand. The American Public™ is dumb as a bock of rocks, and “Xenophobic Nationalist” will be ignored because they have no idea what it means. Racist or Bigot work much better. That’s the point I was emphasizing. Democrats need to get back to a point where they’re treating the population like the idiots they are – not the college educated contemporaries they think they are.
@EddieInCA: Fair point. I frequently revise my language to make it simpler, which is also more direct. And that’s not just for the sake of politics, but in respect for the people I grew up with.
And yet, what is Steven’s audience? Who reads this blog? I am quite certain that exactly zero of my non-college classmates from high school do.
@Jay L. Gischer:
Preface: I grew up in a big Catholic family, it was a very conservative public safety family too. To my knowledge I am still the only Democrat among the ten of us. Most family friends are very conservative too.
And to your point I am mindful of the language and style of discussion that my family and their friends use. I tend to be more direct.
So … a few years ago, early in Trump’s 1st term, my father asked me what I thought of Trump, this surprised me because generally my family didn’t talk politics with me because I’m liberal. I didn’t answer with a Chuck Schumer style 5-point policy oriented objection to Trump. No, I told my father that in my opinion Trump was arrogant, crude and rude, a dishonest and very corrupt person. Probably the worst person I’d seen in politics in my life. Well, dad didn’t argue or contest my points, rather, he smiled and shrugged his shoulders in a sort of a ‘yeah, but I like him’ manner.
@Jay L. Gischer:
@al Ameda:
You’re both better men than I. I don’t have the patience any longer, and I don’t have any fucks left to give. Anyone stupid enough to ask me my opinion of Trump or any of his minions, gets a quiet, but determined answer of, ‘He’s a corrupt, lying, thrice-divorced, serial philanderer, convicted felon whom you chose to support, despite in your lifetime being opposed to most of what he represents, which makes you stupid, evil, or both.” Will change zero minds, but damn I love seeing the look of confusion as I walk away.
Had that exact conversation with my mother in law a few weeks ago, right after my wife had told her mother to never call her again.
Life is too short to put up with fascists, family or not.
@EddieInCA: I take the point, I really do. But as @Jay L. Gischer notes above, I am not writing to a largest common denominator audience. For that matter, I am not a spokesperson for Democrats.