I know this is a political and touchy subject but IMHO the new policies will be a defining moment for the USA and it is relevant for tech as US tech is so successful primarily because can access the whole world as a market and can attract all the talent it needs. The things happening in US is going to break this.

If stuff continues as is, USA will have $1T car company for 350M people, $2T company for search and online ads for 350M people and $3T company that tells tablets and phones to 350M people.

How is this going to work really?

USA is going to be fine overall I guess, the country has huge land and plenty of resources and some of the greatest talent out there but do you really want to change your economy in such a way? It will be painful, you will lose all your unfair advantage. I guess a fairer world is a good thing but why are you doing it?

>and some of the greatest talent out there

That's because so many of the talented people from here want to stay and so many talented people from elsewhere want (and are permitted) to come. Both are subject to change.

> do you really want to change your economy in such a way?

The dozen or so people it would make sense to ask this question to likely will not read this comment. There hasn't been democratic input to the economic policy of presidential candidates since reagan (bernie sanders aside, barely). We might be highly rated on the international index of democracies or whatever but I can't say I've ever been able to vote about economic topics that mean anything to me.

One of many policies that is detrimental. One thing that does not seem to be on tech's radar at the moment is what it could mean if Trump withholds US funding from WTO (https://borderlex.net/2025/03/27/alarm-bells-in-geneva-as-us...) and it's implications per TRIPs: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43490291

Yes! I can't understand why the media isn't talking about TRIPS and all of the other IP protections that the US baked into other the trade agreements. This is the only thing that matters.

If the US is going to break these agreements, other countries will decide that our IP is not worth protecting. All they need to do is revert to the laws they had before TRIPS and free trade with the US.

It's not just the tech industry. It's movies. It's pharma. It's biotech.

This will economically ruin us.

I personally think IP hobbles our economy by reducing competition. What's the argument in favor? American companies certainly rely on it to avoid meeting market demand. As a result, our lives are shittier and we pay more for the insult. Why would chinese (or russian, or nigerian, or venezuelan) companies not treat us better? Why are we supposed to overlook the obvious incompetence of domestic corporations when they don't want to even fund my healthcare? I say these companies would be better off burnt down.

I want an economy. Without IP there is no biotech. There is no drug development. There is no software.

I would agree that IP protections have gotten out of hand, and that shorter copyright would be beneficial.

But it's not beneficial when some country will decide that our drug patents are worthless because we attached them with tariffs.

Note: the headline is not talking about visas. What they're talking about is a status field the student visa sponsor, the university, maintains: "Yes, this person really is a student here". The student visas are contingent on the person continuing ongoing studies—a status the university certifies. The Administration is, as I parse it, fraudulently editing these fields through a backdoor, and then using that "They're not an active student at XYZ" status they forged as the basis for revoking the visas.

TFA:

> Samah Sisay of the Center for Constitutional Rights told Zeteo that one’s visa being revoked does not mean that their status would be too. Unlike student visas – which are entry documents that allow someone to enter the country – student statuses are what allow people to stay in the US. To maintain one’s status, a student has to fulfill certain requirements, like being properly enrolled in classes, keeping documents up to date, and following work restrictions.

It’s a seriously dark day in America when our government is weaponizing institutions to target political enemies

For me that’s not the scary part.

It’s the fact that the institutions e.g. Congress, Judiciary are not able or willing to push back. And so we are seeing retribution for First Amendment activities e.g. protests being widespread despite it being clearly unconstitutional.

Project 2025 was right in that if you flood the zone the system won’t be responsive enough to stop you.

What I want to know is what to do about this?

I'm seriously asking. Protest, write letters, call legislators, donate to legal organizations?

It feels like you can be doing all of this and it's not enough.

Seriously, what is the difference between USA and China?

When china used to disappear people for politics, there was a lot of gloating about how the west is better, America is better.

But is there any difference any longer? America is so close to a fascist single party that is just doing things by dictatorship and zero accountability or transparency. What is the difference?

Some would say that the difference is the USA (for now at least) has a free press?

> Some would say that the difference is the USA (for now at least) has a free press?

Does it? Because the white house has been retaliating against any press that doesn't show them in a good light - like Associated Press.

and for how long?

Only true free-speech advocates require students to swear fealty to Israel before getting a student visa in America

AFAIK calling for violence in support of terrorists does not constitute "free speech".

https://epaper.nationalpost.com/article/281642489828815