***Special last-minute addition***: 2b: H1Bs
We can all agree that we don’t want mass immigration, but what about “skilled” immigrants? Our tech overlords still want those guys. H1B discourse exploded onto the timeline on Christmas Day, and it’s the most fascinating Twitter phenomenon you’ve ever experienced. The world's most powerful people bickering with filthy anons, literal nobodies — a monster they created — revealing divergences and motivations that would be otherwise concealed, exposing dark machinations they don't even recognize as supervillainous, opening up deeper questions about what America is, what nations are for. It's unprecedented, that they are even bothering to respond to criticism instead of just doing what they want with a backroom handshake. That may still happen, but for now it's exhilarating to see it play out in the open like this, and over Christmas break, a weird liminal zone where we've got bellies full of pie and nothing to do but dive into the discourse, the only game in town, the one conversation that's happening. Beats watching TBS.