History keeps showing what happens when a country pushes away its scientists, teachers, and thinkers.
So the Nazis went to USA & are now sneaking back to Europe?
(The above was ofc sarcasm, but the rise of altrightbullshittery in EU is kinda scary.)
My personal opinion is that alt-right is rising world-wide because democratic governments forgot that the way we eradicated radical ideologies post-ww2 was through making life of average person bearable. Radical ideologies can’t find fertile ground among people who own their own homes, who can support whole family with a single job.
And if current solution to alt-right will be to just start wars, raise taxes and double down on policing… it will only give them more fuel.
Fascism is a top-down ideology. It happens when capitalists feel that ordinary people are close to demanding a more equitable society, and they use it to divide society and assert their own authority. It is often described as a petit-bourgoise ideology because that is where the fascist capitalists find the most fertile ground - people who used to be able to afford a good life, but who can’t anymore. Of course, the irony is that the reason they can’t afford a good life is because the capitalists are siphoning off more and more of the wealth.
I think (the reason to what are you describing, and that I agree with) it’s more to do with how in any democracy needs constant work from the people (not once evey few years a popularity contest) & how it’s always, at all times naturally threatened by individuals seeking power. If you one too many times don’t act in time you get an autocratic gov (that it might take a lot more than voting to defeat).
Basically oblivious demos vs the rich class radicalising political/pubic systems (deregulation etc) so serve their short-term financial gain.
I recently watched this NOVA bit about power struggles in Athens (something I knew about prob 30 years ago):
dailymotion.com/xa7xuecConstant work on democracy is not really possible for people who already spend way too much time of the day surviving, working.
And those who don’t need to work to survive probably aren’t that interested in democracy working…
Yes, that is what I was basically implying.
And that is due to wealth concentration:
I think you are mistaken here. While hardship is helping them, it is by no means essential for them to be successful. I think Austria is a good example to prove the case. It was one of the first countries to see the rise of what is nowadays called alt-right, back when it was still very taboo in most European countries. The “Alt-right” has not really changed in Austria but it has become much rarer to be criticized for it or being painted as a country full of Nazis, at least nowadays only hypocrites are still doing that.
Given that we have decades of track record in Austria and at least 2 boom and bust cycles, it draws a clear picture that the ability of “people who own their own homes, who can support whole family with a single job.” has a fairly poor correlation with the ups and downs of the FPÖ.
It has much more to do with anti-migration sentiment, independently from actual migration developments (as the FPÖ has been also successful with this in times of relatively low migration) and with a general and not really concrete fear of the future. The FPÖ has imploded twice, both times it had nothing to do with what others did, no matter if isolating the FPÖ, countering its points, trying to copy it, trying to address its points with more moderation or whatever. No, what really hit the FPÖ was its own corruption and lack of integrity but only when the pile of shame got so big that the the country lost billions over it or it got so bad that not even shouting “but the nasty foreigners” could redirect the debate. In both cases, FPÖ voters remembered the scandals for about one election, afterwards it was like it never happened and we were back to step 1.
Of course, nowadays we see how life is rather getting harder, and that does of course help populists that are simply promising whatever anyone wants to hear, but like I said, populists don’t require that, they merely benefit from it.
Interesting points, and while I am not convinced that all the far-right needs is just existence of “nasty foreigners”, I’d like to thank you for bringing this up.
Especially since the idea of “party going down and imploding under weight of it’s own corruption and incompetence” is something that in my country (Poland) happened already to all sides of political spectrum.
They don’t the “nasty foreigners” to exist either, they just need the sentiment against them. Why else would that kind of populism also work in places with barely any kind of foreigner in sight?
Of course, imploding under the weight of the own corruption is not unique to the alt-right but it is the one thing that I have seen that brings them down again, not a reduction in migration, not super harsh laws against immigrants, or anything of that kind. I have not seen something else so far. They are fairly immune to reality, and they are getting more immune by the day as their voters are increasingly migrating into their own party echo chambers and shunning any other sources. So who knows, maybe the FPÖ won’t implode the next time when the corruption piles up again. Its voters will defend it instead.
I know it may seem that way, but I think you have too much trust in EU. And I am living in the EU myself.
EU definitely is also playing around with totalitarianism and fascistic tendencies. It’s just they’re able to get away with it under guise of “think of the children”, which happens to actually be widely accepted argumentation in EU, as opposed to the US where you can literally befriend the most well known PDF file and still become the president.
Also, we have lots of doofuses here that legitimately adore the mango man and his crew. I’m really not sure why that would be, but it clearly is (go to any legacy social media and see it for yourself).
I think we’re in a stage of global regression of the mind. People starting to believe totalitarianism is necessary. The only country I’ve heard that actually firmly stands against USA here in EU is Spain.
The EU is not a single, compact entity. It’s some member states who are playing dangerously with far right forces. Which we must fight to defeat.
But even the proto-fascist Melloni is (by now) far away from the shit Americans have to endure.
Can you elaborate on how you think the EU is “playing around with totalitarianism and fascistic tendencies”.
It legit breaks my heart to hear stories of people like Jane Yang Wu (neuroscientist) and Wang Danhao (semiconductor researcher) killing themselves after facing racially motivated harassment from the government.
When I was young, I had this idealistic dream of getting into science for the benefit of all humanity. Racism has absolutely no place in science. Aside from having no place anywhere, it’s such a perversion of the ideals so many people hold. Of course it’s also stupid and self defeating because of brain drain.
The US seems to be fully committed to returning to mideval times.
DONT FOrget the red scare, at least for some chinese scientist, fled the state and developed fission-fusion hydrogen bomb for the ccp.
But this doesn’t necessarily mean that Europe has tons of science jobs to offer, esp. for the usually young people who use the fediverse.
Europe did set aside a huge chunk of funding to attract the fleeing American scientists
We’re doing our best to seize this moment and offer exactly that. Funds have been strategically released to benefit from this.
stem jobs are pretty much hard to come by , theres very little job market even in the states for fresh graduates, hence the unemployment problems, since alot of people go for CS, psych, bio/biotech(not nursing or teach). most of the current ones are looking for phd with experience, and everyones only looking for graduate degrees, because most employers rather not spend money/time to train a fresh graduate on low level work(very lazy), this is a catch22. there are jobs out there for undergrads, but its quite limited.
EU and countries (national funds or direct budgets) do have plans to invest in certain industries with perhaps more emphasis on manufacturing (which includes the war industry).
The plans are there & the funding discussions too (eg how to get financial industry like pension funds to invest).The big questions surround the big investments, like chip & (atm*) battery production (it makes sense to have one or a few big investments, but not like 10s od high-end chips manufacturers).
*battery manufacturing should at some point become an ezv standard, but not that soon
Jepp. While I know some Americans that came to European universities I know way more Europeans that went to china.
Because Germany decreased the research funding by quite a bit. It’s not like we take advantage of trump politics.
It’s not like we take advantage of trump politics.
Not quite true:
“In May 2025, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced the launch of the Choose Europe for Science program, with funding of approximately €500 million to attract American candidates.”
For all of Europe? That’s definitely not “huge”. Well, at least we’re willing. At the same time I guess any more than that might have attracted Trump’s negative attention and we don’t won’t that now, do we, Uschi?
500million is basically irrelevant.
So yes, they do something, but compared to the whole budget of research this doesn’t make a dent.
Ir should be an order of magnitude greater than that. But it’s better than nothing.
Got the musk picture perfect. He looks demented and incredibly stupid
funny thing hes an illegal alien that got his citizen ship through illegal means, but us doesnt follow on these types of things apparently.
Yet also how he probably imagined himself in that moment.
I wish it was easier to leave and immigrate. It’s actually incredibly arduous to get all the paperwork needed for a passport, work visas, international application, etcetcetc.
Especially if you have family. Especially if you don’t have a perfect little life. Needing to get documents or information from shitty relatives… Try getting birth certs when you don’t know where to look. You need that for a passport. Try getting a child a passport when their biofather is an absentee.
I’m assuming you’re from the US based on your post. If so, you should be able to obtain a copy of your birth certificate online directly from the state you were born in for a small fee. Search online for “(your state) vital records.” No shitty relative interaction required.
The passport thing for a child with absentee parents is a bit more difficult but can be done. I believe you need either a notarized affidavit or court order to accompany the child’s passport application. Good luck.
yea you can buy your certificate online, but you will have to be willing to give up more data about yourself than you like. i think your local city agency cost alot less. i gave up after i found my original , since the online one was in limbo because they couldnt confirm my moms maiden name for some reason, since she was born in china, it complicated things, because it ended up confusing them and they want more proof.
Well…they need to find the exact certificate. Of course they’re going to ask for more information. And it’s a legal document, of course they want to verify certain things.
I’ve ordered dozens of birth, marriage, and death certificates online(family tree) from different cities and different countries. Most are pretty painless and there was only one that has given me a bunch of shit for it and it’s Orange County in California.
Your situation I can definitely see adding more confusion into the mix and I’m sorry to hear that, but nothing you’ve said so far has been obscene from my experience.
i think you can try your states human services, or just type in how to get birth certificate, there is an online paid way, but it requires to pay more than in person, and give up more details about yourself. passports, you will have to schedule that asap(assuming you renewd within 10-15years) since appts are booked like weeks,months in advanced.
I somehow managed it a few years ago. Doing it during COVID wasn’t fun, say that much.
We desperately want out of the US so I’ve been trying to find a tech job in Ireland since 2024. I’ve had one interview in that time… how did you do it?
Have you tried recruitment agencies? They’re unusually popular here and might help you get over the hump.
I’ve sent emails to fourteen different recruitment agencies based in Ireland, places like:
redchairrecruitment.ie gcsltd.com/ireland randstad.ie
I used erfireland.com to search for recruitment agencies and just went down the list sending emails. The only one to respond was red chair and they essentially said “you’re in the US so you’re fucked, glhf”.
If you know of one (or twenty) I could try, please do send them my way!
It’s possible to get jobs in other countries with English-only. Sorry I don’t have specifics, and of course that isn’t a guarantee, but I know this to be true at least in the Nordics. Some companies even communicate in English internally.
Though if you do emigrate into a country where english is not the native language, still prepare to learn the local language(s), even if you can work in english. If you don’t, you’ll never be fully part of the society, and things are a lot harder
Yeah, my work in my non-anglophone country is all in English unless we’re in a non-recorded verbal meeting and confirm no foreigners present.
I have a British parent, got the passport about 15 years ago. Unfortunately my wife and child need visas to live here, we have to deal with that in a couple months again, and continue until they’re eligible for leave to remain. I think my kid can naturalize in a while, but my wife will need to seek citizenship if Reform gets into power.
Honestly, just get the citizenship now, rather than later (if feasible); I know it’s a different country so things certainly aren’t a necessary one-to-one but my mom’s side of the family is all immigrants and, while it might not be safe for much longer in the U. S., I’m thankful every day we’re not dealing with a much more immediate Hell because they all got their citizenship finally 10–15 years ago, when conditions were much less pressing.
You’re probably right. She’s still a little burnt out on high stakes testing after going back through uni for a new career, but we’ll probably seek it as soon as they’re both eligible.
I was watching a deep space nine episode about a Holodeck program where a spy character comes up against a super villain.
The super villain had captured the worlds top scientists and was destroying the planet to make a private island where he could and the scientist could start again. It was very Ayn Rand coded and reminded me of Elon Musk and other billionaire Capitalist Fascists ruining the planet.
Agreed, that EP had mad Ayn Rand vibes
Unfortunately, Europeans are as saturated with xenophobia as their American peers. And given their reflexive return to austerity and immigration restrictions, it’s going to be harder and harder for Americans to cross the Atlantic.
Poll Shows Majority of Swiss Support 10-Million Population Cap Initiative
‘We did everything they wanted’: The American families caught in Italy’s citizenship crackdown
France’s new government pledges hardline stance on migration as it cozies up to far right
Meanwhile…
In the race to attract the world’s smartest minds, China is gaining on the US
Mexico looks to US and beyond to recruit staff and students
The pathway out of the US is increasingly looking like a pathway into the Global South.
The pathway out of the US is increasingly looking like a pathway into the Global South.
Except we’re in the transitional period between American and Chinese hegemonies, so there’s not much demand for Western scientists just yet. Places looking to radically improve their standing in the new world order don’t quite have the demand for foreign scientists that the West does/used to have just yet. While cream of the crop researchers will be able to do pretty well for themselves, I think we’re about a generation away from a time when a “normal” above average Western scientist or engineer will be able to move to the (at this point former) Global South without taking a large hit to their quality of life.
Mexico looks to US and beyond to recruit staff and students
Just got on the way to universal healthcare and the tacos are pretty good too.
Yep
You’re absolutely right. What is this, the 1900s? Europe is old news - and I mean this literally, look at the demographics.
It’s more that the brain drain to the US is now stopping.
The very wealthy ivy league and other institutions have always attracted foreign intelligentia.Please Satan bring me a German tutor.
I’ve tried the Goethe A1 Deutsch app, Anki, actual German grammar primers. Self-directed learning is one of my weaknesses. Ive taken many other steps towards finding work there but learning the language has me stymied.
Why Germany? Other EU countries are more willing to communicate in English (professionally). Not France though. But definitely the Nordics.
All the Germans I’ve met speak English. Granted it’s all huge nerds in engineering but still, from what I gather, two or three languages isn’t uncommon.
Yeah but the country as a whole isn’t all that willing to accomodate non-German speakers, at least compared to the above mentioned.
Even if you can work and get by in english, you should still learn the native language. At least here in Finland you can’t fully become part of the society unless you speak finnish or swedish. It doesn’t mean you need to be immediately proficient though, but if you don’t put any effort into it, you can ever only scratch the surface of the country.
As a personal anecdote, it is also incredibly rude to travel into places and expect them to cater to your culture at the expense of their own, just because yours spread wider. Doesn’t matter who or where - if you plan to stay permanently or even just long-time somewhere, be prepared to learn the local language(s)
I get that, but the tenor of this thread is finding work.
Sorry for derailing! I’ve just seen a bit too many optimistic “oh you’ll do fine with only english” takes around (not just on lemmy) which I find misleading and in the need of a disclaimer
True, but jobs in general still require a relatively high proficiency in german.
For permanent residence you will eventually need to learn the native language though, that is a requirement in most (if not all?) countries.
I was raised in a region that leaned heavily into it’s German heritage. Americanized and bastardized yes, but for example my tiny high school only offered Spanish and German for foreign languages. I looked into citizenry by ancestry and found I didnt qualify because my most recent ‘German’ ancestor emigrated from Prussia in the mid-1800s. Said ancestor is buried in the cemetery of the village church I attended for kindergarten. Of course, none of that provides me any familiarity with modern Germany. I have a slight advantage with pronunciation and not much else.
I investigated Sweden first actually, and I’d be happy to end up there. I think Scandinavia fits my political and societal opinions better than Germany (plus has WAY better metal 🤘). I have a BSc in engineering and was looking into Master’s programs; University of Göthenburg has the faculty and research I’d like to pursue. The language barrier there was considerably more intimidating despite the reputation for accommodation you mentioned. Germany also has better resources for skilled foreigners looking for work.
I want out of the States. Wherever I end up I intend to pursue fluency and integration. Germany just seemed like the simplest route to me other than joining Ukraine’s foreign legion as an engineer.
That was an elaborate answer, thanks! I just hope it works out for you wherever you land. Maybe learning (any) new language will click for you eventually.
Hello, I’m a linguist and have done some hours as a German tutor ^^
Do you have any specific questions or is it a general problem?
Im German and i can tell you: learning this language must be a bitch. Here is a example: We have Articles: “der, die, das” Usually, “der” is masculine, “die” is feminine and “das” is for objects Lets try to use that knowledge for “Bus” (same word as in english), should be “das Bus”, right? It is a Object but it is called “der Bus” for some reason and that is not an exception. Every other Word is like “oops, we have rules for our articles but lets not follow them” and then some Germans get mad when you make mistakes like that
I speak 5 languages and have some basics in others but German, no.
While I speak Flemish/Dutch (also a notoriously difficult, illogical and unnecessarily complicated language) which is Germanic and closely related I had zero affinity with it.
I immediately said no, this isn’t going to work.The funny thing is: Gender has more to do with etymology and sounds than with actual meaning. “Der Bus” is masculine, because it comes from Latin “Omnibus”, which ends in -us and is therefore masculine.
Sick of being pissed on by Trump
Come join the Brian Drian
Oh good, time is still a flat circle.
That’s a common misconception, time is actually Jeremy Bearimy
