Comment by laxatives | Hacker News Reader

Comment by laxatives | Hacker News Reader

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There's a massive brain drain to look forward to in the next couple decades, especially in the US. Pretty much none of my best peers went in to a PhD program for many of the reasons you described. One of my roommates got his PhD in optical physics and is essentially living the life of a monk. Its so much easier to cash out for a pretty basic engineering role and get a lifetime (hopefully) of easy, stable income. Many skilled jobs are leaving the US (ie CGI leaving Hollywood for Canada and elsewhere) and political instability (ie immigration) is cutting out a big chunk of the upper quartile as well.

In addition, the average individual has most of their life decisions made for them via simple, accessible tools and the lower half has a fraction of the competence of their predecessors. I'd guess maybe 5% of my friends/peers spend any time reading. Maybe 60% over my friends outside of tech are seriously struggling financially.

Almost all of my coworkers are immigrants on O-1 visas and there's really nothing here for them long term, especially if they feel unwelcome. The moment another country provides a better offer, I bet 95% of them will go there instead. Probably many that are here now will go too.

Couldn't agree more.

On the other hand, the research salaries some of my friends are pulling in at the big companies are substantial. And everyone on this site knows what some of the premier software devs are pulling in. Similar dictomy in law, and I suspect many other fields.

This is why I'm currently obsessed with cyberpunk. There is a massive bifurcation happening in society right now. Haves and have-nots. Some who are reaping massive gains, and many who are barely getting by.

Why is CGI heading to Canada?

I know its common for TV to film up there for tax / government arts funding reasons. Is it a similar situation or something else?

CGI, like the rest of the film/tv industry, will go where the money is best. There is nothing in film/tv production that cannot be loaded into a truck and shipped elsewhere overnight ... people included. Work is moving to canada for the tax credits but you'd be surprised at how many "canadian" productions are actually filmed overseas. TheBorgias was canadian. Versailles, filmed in france with brit actors, is supported by the canadian government and RBC (my bank) no doubt for some tax advantage. Even the first season of the Doctor Who reboot in 2005 was a joint production with the CBC. Check the credits. No matter where it is filmed, canada supports it.

> There is nothing in film/tv production that cannot be loaded into a truck and shipped elsewhere overnight ... people included.

Once you include people, how many other industries would be any different? Mining, tourism, oil drilling seem tied to a set location, but assembling something? Tech or not, seems you could just ship the people and parts anywhere.

All reasource extraction. Tourism. Financial services (tied to jurisdiction). Much of the defense industry. Health care. Live entertainment. Hospitality (hotels). Transport. Infrastructure construction and maintenance. Environmental services. Real estate. Space launch. Government. .... not everything fits into trucks.

Space launch can be done in many different places, but the higher the latitude the more fuel you have to burn. But even staying at the lower latitudes, there's still a bunch of popular launch locations to choose from.

Real estate isn't worth much if your country's economy goes down the tubes.

Space launch is positioned first on the basis of local infrastructure. It requires massive local manufacturing facilities and extensive range equipment. If orbital mechanics was the primary driver every pad would be on the equator and russia wouldnt launch much of anything.

Yes, but my point is, there are already many different launch sites around the world, many of them outside the US. The US does not have anything approaching a monopoly on space launches.

Physical stuff needs transportation, rail, river, or ocean. Small, expensive, intensive things like processors Can be made wherever.

Well, after you invest the millions or billions to build the fabs and cleanrooms and other infrastructure needed to build them. That capital expenditure tends to location-lock that business pretty good.

Fabs are spread out over pretty much all the world. Americas, Europe, Asia, Russia etc. all have a bunch of them. Africa perhaps not so much.

And while it may be true that the investment in a fab locks that fab in place, the next fab can be again built wherever.

Even mining is in the process of reducing the number of people needed at the mining site by moving to autonomous control from a central office.

For example, http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-10-18/rio-tinto-opens-worlds...

>Many skilled jobs are leaving the US

Where would you (or other interested commentators) say the skilled jobs are going to?

India & China, where else? Here's a personal anecdote: my graduate supervisor retired a few years ago, and there was a reunion. His first students did extremely well, they were at places like Dow their whole lives. It went downhill from there, except for his last graduate student, who returned to China and started a contract research organization over there. The government with all its wisdom wouldn't issue him a visa, though.

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