Immigration is a touchy subject.
There are many reasons it is so contentious, as there are cultural issues, employment issues, language issues, crime issues.... blah blah. But, there are also many reasons that immigration is necessary in some countries, with aging populations and skill gaps for employment.
But I was thinking....
What if there was only relationship-based immigration?
(This is just a thought experiment)
I see employment-based immigration as a bit of a problem, because while an employer might need a skill gap filled, that same employer pretty much does nothing to help their newfound employee integrate into society or culture. The employee might network or not, but it is also likely that they will find people similar to them, from their background, language group or whatever, so it becomes a hurdle. Another problem is that the company doing the hiring is only looking to fill the position they need and care nothing for whether the individual, or society benefits from that type of person, other than generating an income. This means that there can be a lot of people who come into a country, that aren't suited to the culture, nor would be invited otherwise.
Should corporations be driving the immigration demographics?
A lot of people would say yes, because we want immigrants to work and add value to society. But, these are the same corporations that will feed us poison, get us addicted to a screen, and encourage us to behave poorly - because it makes a profit for them. Should we trust them to decide who deserves to be in the country?
So....
What if to move to a country, one has to be in a viable relationship with someone, or be looking to be in a relationship with someone locally. Not like a green card situation like in the US, but some other process where countries that are looking for people to join their population, aren't just evaluating them on their skillset, but also on their ability to integrate and add value to society beyond paying tax.
Inter-Tinder
Mechanical Engineer, long walks on the beach, want three children.
Since everyone is so keen to use apps to find partners, why not have a blended version of Tinder and LinkedIn, where prospects can find partners who are both attractive to the person, and could potentially fill a skill need in the country. Perhaps then, the companies who need certain people would also take an active role in matching people up with someone local, who is a suitable match, wanting to start a family locally. That way, the person being employed will immediately be part of local society, earning and
This causes many problems.
However, there are already many problems. And one of the biggest issues is that a lot of local people don't feel they have a choice in who comes into their country. If in order to come in the immigrant has to be matched with someone suitable, it means that there is a type of sorting process that means that a local has approved them - and not based on their skills to work, but on whether they are the kind of person they want to spend the rest of their lives with.
I know, it sounds bizarre and dystopic.
Yet, we are already living in a bizarre and dystopic world, where profits are valued higher than people. Where wellbeing is continually reduced in order to create more wealth. Where a small group of people globally, are making the decisions that are going to affect the lives largely negatively of eight billion locals. The system we "employ" is already so fundamentally broken in regard to generating wellbeing, that it is hard to do worse - but we are continually doing worse.
Think of a company that fires a thousand people and replaces them with automation and AI. Are they thinking what is best for the country or society, or are they making their decision based on maximising wealth for shareholders. Think of the shareholders who celebrate the firing as it increases their dividends, are they thinking of what is best for the country or society? We can say it is about efficiency, but ultimately, human wellbeing should be the point of optimisation, not profits.
Is it right for humanity?
No? Well don't fucking do it.
If love is the most important thing for human experience, perhaps that should be the guiding principle for all of our actions, including our hiring decisions, our immigration decisions, and our government policies. While it seems like it is too complex a thing to be able to use as a metric, I suspect that it isn't quite as complex as we have made it out to be, especially with all the data insights we could draw upon now. It is just that we have decided that where we put all of our metric investment, is into the numbers for making monetary profits.
Love relationships, innovation and technology, business and even making profits don't have to be mutually exclusive, because they can all work together. They do work together already. However, a lot of the problem with modern relationships is that they are tethered to financial circumstances, where people have to do a lot of meaningless tasks to make money, to be able to maintain a relationship. If relationships and human wellbeing were the guiding force behind business, the businesses that would succeed and attract profits, would be those that support us as humans, not those who undermine us.
This might seem like a very silly thought experiment, but I hope you will put a little of your own thought into what is important in this world, because what we are currently spending our resources on, is not very important.
If someone is employable, but unlovable - do you want them as your neighbour?
A company doesn't care what you think.
Taraz
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