François Chollet on Twitter: "Meanwhile brexit and Trump are helping fix the brain drain, too… "

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Smerity‏ @Smerity 2 Jan 2018

Replying to @zacharylipton @negar_rz

I have discussed with friends about leaving the US @zacharylipton and I know of some friends who were going to come to the US who haven't. I judge myself more and more harshly every day for not leaving. Financial pressure from conferences is minimal but knowledge transfer is not.

3 replies 2 retweets 16 likes

Smerity‏ @Smerity 2 Jan 2018

Replying to @Smerity @zacharylipton @negar_rz

To expand on this, the next chapter of my life went from "very likely in the US" to "could/should I avoid the US?". In discussion with a close friend (note date + how much worse it has gotten), I started really reflecting on this question. I am complicit. I don't want to be.pic.twitter.com/bhWzt71BIB

I'd like to float something to you, which you don't necessarily have to accept but should consider
You remaining in the US after this election and thereby contributing to its economic effectiveness is the same as being complicit in whatever actions Trump is going to take.

Take it from someone who comes from a country that no longer exists, and lives in one where this particular course of events has played out before
Learn from history. The normalizing statements being made by people right now are terrifying

5 replies 3 retweets 25 likes

Smerity‏ @Smerity 2 Jan 2018

Replying to @Smerity @zacharylipton @negar_rz

I'm not the only one voicing doubts, both public and private. Upon reflection: - I am driven by greed - I am driven by my existing life in the US - I take solace that @Salesforce/@Benioff are against many of Trump admin's policies Every day the scale tilts more towards not enoughpic.twitter.com/uhY4LefhzH

I am trying to reason through and think about such things. From global consideration to local greed.
- Is working for a company that's against the actions in any way pushing back on complicity
- Is working for an American company overseas being complicit
- Other than being a single data point, does me leaving make a difference
- I'm in a state that, by composition, is strongly anti-Trump

4 replies 0 retweets 8 likes

agibsonccc‏ @agibsonccc 2 Jan 2018

Replying to @Smerity @zacharylipton and

I can also say that I like hiring from anywhere in the world and increasingly hire abroad (for many reasons) a big one being overlooked talent that can't move to the US. I hope more talent becomes globalized like this to drive competition. The US has been complacent.

1 reply 0 retweets 3 likes

Smerity‏ @Smerity 2 Jan 2018

Replying to @agibsonccc @zacharylipton and

+1 :) This is a major issue with friends back in Sydney. I know talented engineers + researchers far brighter than me who would command top dollar in SF whilst working on their passion that are stuck with mediocre pay and at best tangentially related work at home =[

1 reply 0 retweets 9 likes

François Chollet‏Verified account @fchollet 2 Jan 2018

Replying to @Smerity @agibsonccc and

A solid startup ecosystem is the way to fix that. Takes a long time to get going and the US has several intrinsic advantages there though

2 replies 0 retweets 8 likes

Smerity‏ @Smerity 2 Jan 2018

Replying to @fchollet @agibsonccc and

Smerity Retweeted Smerity

Agreed, though it's a hard path to begin with and worse for Australia due to ease of brain drain to the US. The Australian government are idiots when it comes to innovation but I assume that's common to most govts.https://twitter.com/Smerity/status/948455561007218688 …

Smerity added,

Smerity @Smerity

Replying to @adropboxspace

Canada has a similar double edged sword to Australia - an easy visa path to the US. As such, brain drain is a persistent disease that impacts us even worse than other countries. The AU only E3 (like the H1B) has never hit capacity and can renewed indefinitely, takes days to get.

1 reply 0 retweets 4 likes

Smerity‏ @Smerity 2 Jan 2018

Replying to @Smerity @fchollet and

It also means that the "seed" start-ups who move outside of the intrinsic advantages of the US tech ecosystem are generally working against their own interests. If the local government doesn't step in to support you (and even if they do), you're disadvantaging yourself.

2 replies 1 retweet 5 likes

agibsonccc‏ @agibsonccc 2 Jan 2018

Replying to @Smerity @fchollet and

Ironically that worked for us in Japan. We're even helping them change immigration requirements. (Baby steps people it's japan)- we had gov support in china as well. This is actually where I see EU stumbling. It only worked for us because we came to east asia rather than EU.

1 reply 0 retweets 4 likes

François Chollet‏Verified account @fchollet 2 Jan 2018

Replying to @agibsonccc @Smerity and

I can't speak for other EU countries, but the startup ecosystem in Paris has considerably strengthened since I left and it's now the best in Europe. We also have a smart government that increasing "gets" tech and helps it grow. One step at a time

2 replies 0 retweets 5 likes