Netizen: immigration

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Friday, August 01, 2025

The Antichrists of Tech: Billionaire Instincts, Disenfranchised Targets, and the Death of Empathy

The Antichrists of Tech: Billionaire Instincts, Disenfranchised Targets, and the Death of Empathy

In a world dominated by data and dollars, the billionaire instinct often follows a predictable path: go where there is no organized resistance. Go after the disenfranchised. After all, they don’t vote. They don’t fund campaigns. They don’t write op-eds. They are the easiest to dispossess because they have no formal power.

This instinct is not new. But in the era of technology oligarchs—when code is law and capital is god—it’s more dangerous than ever.

Elon Musk vs. USAID: The Optics of Powerlessness

Consider Elon Musk’s ongoing war with USAID and the broader aid establishment. Why? Because the recipients of USAID’s services—refugees, impoverished rural communities, marginalized populations in conflict zones—have no lobby. They are voiceless in American politics.

Musk’s political instincts are finely tuned, not toward justice, but toward leverage. He knows that while defense contractors have their champions in Congress and oil executives fund campaigns, starving children in Sudan or displaced women in Haiti do not.

Yes, it is true that the aid industry has its flaws. The NGO-industrial complex headquartered in Washington, D.C., often ends up enriching consultants more than communities. But this isn't unique to foreign aid—compare it to the bloated defense spending or the revolving door between Wall Street and the Treasury Department. Yet billionaires don’t attack defense spending. Why? Because that budget has powerful allies.

Attacking USAID is political theater, not reform.

Peter Thiel, Palantir, and Deportation as Efficiency

Meanwhile, Peter Thiel’s Palantir is aiming to “optimize” deportations. As if human beings are defective packages to be sorted, tagged, and shipped away. In this worldview, the immigrant is not a dreamer or a worker or a survivor. He is a logistical problem. A data point. An anomaly to be corrected.

But let’s question the logic here. If the purpose of government is to save lives—why not deploy Palantir to prevent road deaths? Why not go after the 40,000+ lives lost annually in U.S. traffic accidents? It is technically possible to monitor every car that speeds, send tickets automatically, and deduct fines from bank accounts in real-time.

But we don’t do that.

Why? Because the car-owning middle and upper classes do vote. They do complain. They do have representation. If you try that level of surveillance and automation on them, there will be lawsuits and elections will be lost.

But immigrants? Undocumented ones? They are the perfect target. No representation. No voice. And so the billionaire instinct kicks in.

The Fictional Warning: ‘Deported’ and ‘Empty Country’

This instinct to erase the disenfranchised is not only a policy—it’s become a narrative. In the novel Deported (https://a.co/d/b8ypLha), the main character Aurelian Sol is a stateless, voiceless man who is bounced from country to country like contraband. His invisibility makes him expendable. But instead of vanishing, he builds something new: a sanctuary, a sovereign hope built on empathy and resistance.

Similarly, in Empty Country (https://a.co/d/1tbWdUq), we witness a surreal reversal. All undocumented workers in the U.S. suddenly leave—and the country begins to collapse. Infrastructure cracks, harvests rot, cities slow. It’s a haunting reminder that the invisible hands running the machine are not disposable.

Fiction helps us imagine what the data obscures: the humanity of those who are targeted by the “efficiency” of empire.

Tech Without Empathy Is a Wasteland

Let’s be honest. A ride to Mars will be miserable. No amount of branding or billionaire charisma will make it a pleasure cruise. It’s six months in a tin can, where cosmic radiation and claustrophobia are daily companions. But the metaphor is more important than the trip: it represents the techno-elite’s desire to escape the world they helped break rather than fix it.

Why solve inequality when you can leave the planet?

This is not vision. It’s abdication.

Reorganizing Our Priorities

Instead of building deportation engines or escaping to Mars, what if we reorganized our world—from the ground up?

In A Reorganized UN (https://a.co/d/6YsXach), we explore how international governance must be rebuilt to represent people, not just powerful nations.
In Rethinking Trade (https://a.co/d/ac95v1i), we imagine an economy that serves the many, not just the few.
In A 2T Cut (https://a.co/d/d7U4DtR), we propose a radical restructuring of global budgets—diverting military spending to health, education, and sustainability.

These are not utopias. They are blueprints for survival.

Conclusion: Empathy Is the New Efficiency

The true measure of civilization is not how fast you can deport someone or how far you can flee the planet. It’s how deeply you care for those with no vote, no money, no microphone.

Billionaires may have instincts, but humanity must have conscience.

📚 Further Reading:

Deported – https://a.co/d/b8ypLha
Empty Country – https://a.co/d/1tbWdUq
A Reorganized UN: Built From Ground Up – https://a.co/d/6YsXach
Rethinking Trade: A Blueprint for a Just and Thriving Global Economy – https://a.co/d/ac95v1i
A 2T Cut – https://a.co/d/d7U4DtR

टेक्नोलॉजी के प्रतिपक्षी: अरबपतियों की प्रवृत्ति, वंचितों पर हमला, और सहानुभूति की मौत

आज की दुनिया में, जहाँ डेटा और धन सर्वोपरि हैं, अरबपतियों की प्रवृत्ति एक ही दिशा में जाती है: वहाँ जाओ जहाँ कोई संगठित प्रतिरोध नहीं है। वंचितों पर निशाना साधो। आखिरकार, वे वोट नहीं करते। वे चुनावों को फंड नहीं करते। वे अखबारों में लेख नहीं छापते। उनके पास कोई औपचारिक शक्ति नहीं होती।

यह प्रवृत्ति नई नहीं है। लेकिन टेक्नोलॉजी के वर्तमान दिग्गजों के युग में—जहाँ कोड कानून बन गया है और पूंजी भगवान—यह प्रवृत्ति और भी खतरनाक हो गई है।

एलन मस्क बनाम USAID: सत्ता के बिना लोगों पर हमला

एलन मस्क और USAID के बीच चल रही जंग को ही लें। क्यों? क्योंकि USAID के लाभार्थी—शरणार्थी, ग्रामीण गरीब, संघर्ष क्षेत्रों की महिलाएँ—अमेरिकी राजनीति में एकदम आवाज़हीन हैं।

मस्क की राजनीतिक समझदारी न्याय की ओर नहीं, बल्कि ताकत की ओर केंद्रित है। वह जानते हैं कि जैसे रक्षा कंपनियाँ कांग्रेस में मजबूत पकड़ रखती हैं और तेल कंपनियाँ चुनाव फंडिंग करती हैं, वैसे ही सोमालिया के भूखे बच्चे या हैती की विस्थापित महिलाएँ ऐसा कुछ नहीं कर सकतीं।

हां, मानते हैं कि विदेश सहायता क्षेत्र में खामियाँ हैं। वॉशिंगटन डीसी में बसे NGO नेटवर्क कभी-कभी परामर्शदाताओं को गरीबों से ज़्यादा लाभ पहुँचाते हैं। लेकिन यही बात रक्षा बजट और वॉल स्ट्रीट से जुड़ी नीतियों पर भी लागू होती है। फिर भी अरबपति उनका विरोध नहीं करते। क्यों? क्योंकि उनके पास शक्तिशाली मित्र हैं।

USAID पर हमला करना सुधार नहीं, बल्कि राजनीतिक नाटक है।

पीटर थील, पलान्टियर और निर्वासन का "कुशल" मॉडल

अब देखते हैं पीटर थील और उसकी कंपनी पलान्टियर को, जो निर्वासन (deportation) को “कुशल” बनाना चाहती है। जैसे लोग कोई गड़बड़ माल हों, जिन्हें छाँट कर बाहर फेंकना हो। इस नज़रिया में अप्रवासी कोई सपना देखने वाला या श्रमिक नहीं होता—वह बस एक डेटा पॉइंट है, एक समस्या जिसे “सुलझाया” जाना है।

लेकिन अगर सरकार का उद्देश्य जीवन बचाना है—तो पहले सड़क दुर्घटनाओं को क्यों न रोका जाए?

हर बार जब कोई वाहन गति सीमा पार करे, तो उसका नंबर प्लेट स्कैन कर जुर्माना सीधे बैंक खाते से काटना आज की तकनीक से संभव है।

लेकिन क्या हम ऐसा करते हैं?

नहीं। क्यों? क्योंकि जो लोग कार चलाते हैं, वे वोट करते हैं, शिकायत करते हैं, और उनके पास प्रतिनिधित्व होता है। उन पर निगरानी थोपोगे तो बवाल होगा।

लेकिन अप्रवासी? खासकर अवैध प्रवासी? उनके पास न वोट है, न वकील, न आवाज़। इसलिए अरबपति का शिकारी स्वभाव यहाँ सक्रिय हो जाता है।

काल्पनिक चेतावनी: ‘Deported’ और ‘Empty Country’

यह मानसिकता केवल नीति नहीं है, अब यह कहानी बन गई है।

Deported (https://a.co/d/b8ypLha) में मुख्य पात्र औरेलियन सोल ऐसा व्यक्ति है जिसे कोई देश नहीं चाहता। उसे इधर-उधर घुमाया जाता है जैसे कोई अनुपयोगी वस्तु। लेकिन वह अंततः एक नई जगह बनाता है—एक आश्रय, एक नई आशा, जो सहानुभूति और प्रतिरोध पर आधारित होती है।

इसी तरह Empty Country (https://a.co/d/1tbWdUq) में एक असाधारण कल्पना है—अगर अमेरिका के सभी अप्रवासी एक दिन अचानक चले जाएं तो क्या होगा? देश ठप पड़ जाता है। फसलें सड़ जाती हैं, निर्माण रुक जाता है, शहर सुस्त पड़ जाते हैं। यह दिखाता है कि जिन हाथों को अदृश्य मान लिया गया है, वही असल में अर्थव्यवस्था को चलाते हैं।

कल्पना हमें वह देखने की शक्ति देती है, जिसे डेटा छिपा देता है: मानवता।

बिना सहानुभूति की तकनीक एक बंजर भूमि है

चलिए ईमानदारी से कहें—मंगल ग्रह की यात्रा कष्टदायक होगी। कोई भी ब्रांडिंग या अरबपति का आकर्षण इसे सुखद नहीं बना सकता। यह छह महीने का एक टिन के डिब्बे में बंद जीवन होगा।

लेकिन असली सवाल यात्रा नहीं है, बल्कि मानसिकता: ये टेक अरबपति एक ऐसे संसार से भागना चाहते हैं जिसे उन्होंने खुद ही तोड़ा है।

वे इसे सुधारना नहीं चाहते।

यह दृष्टिकोण नहीं है—यह पलायन है।

अब ज़रूरत है पुनर्गठन की

निर्वासन इंजन या मंगल मिशन बनाने के बजाय, क्यों न हम अपनी दुनिया को जड़ से पुनर्गठित करें?

A Reorganized UN (https://a.co/d/6YsXach) में हम अंतरराष्ट्रीय व्यवस्था को फिर से गढ़ने की बात करते हैं, ताकि यह आम लोगों की भी प्रतिनिधि बने।
Rethinking Trade (https://a.co/d/ac95v1i) में हम एक ऐसे वैश्विक व्यापार मॉडल की कल्पना करते हैं जो न्यायपूर्ण हो।
A 2T Cut (https://a.co/d/d7U4DtR) में हम सैन्य बजट को काटकर शिक्षा, स्वास्थ्य और सतत विकास में निवेश की बात करते हैं।

ये यूटोपिया नहीं हैं—बल्कि अस्तित्व के लिए ज़रूरी नक्शे हैं।

निष्कर्ष: सहानुभूति ही सच्ची दक्षता है

सभ्यता का असली मापदंड यह नहीं है कि आप कितनी तेज़ी से किसी को निर्वासित कर सकते हैं या कितनी दूर अंतरिक्ष में जा सकते हैं।

सभ्यता का मापदंड यह है कि आप उन लोगों की कितनी परवाह करते हैं जिनके पास कोई वोट नहीं है, कोई पैसा नहीं है, और कोई आवाज़ नहीं है।

अरबपतियों के पास प्रवृत्ति हो सकती है—लेकिन इंसानियत के पास विवेक होना चाहिए।

📚 और पढ़ें:

Deported – https://a.co/d/b8ypLha
Empty Country – https://a.co/d/1tbWdUq
A Reorganized UN: Built From Ground Up – https://a.co/d/6YsXach
Rethinking Trade: A Blueprint for a Just and Thriving Global Economy – https://a.co/d/ac95v1i
A 2T Cut – https://a.co/d/d7U4DtR

3/
Yes, there are excesses in the NGO world. But the DC lobbyist-industrial complex is far worse.
The richest U.S. counties are around Washington, not Silicon Valley.
Politics > Tech. @biz @jack
— Paramendra Kumar Bhagat (@paramendra) August 1, 2025

5/
If saving lives is the goal, why not start with speeding-related deaths?
We can use tech to ticket every speeding car automatically and deduct from bank accounts.
But we don’t.
Why? Because drivers vote. @Oprah @realDonaldTrump
— Paramendra Kumar Bhagat (@paramendra) August 1, 2025

8/
In Deported (https://t.co/KrjKa39cyP), a stateless man is bounced between nations like lost baggage—until he starts a new one.
It’s fiction, but it rings true:
The invisible must build their own visibility. @kanyewest @tim_cook
— Paramendra Kumar Bhagat (@paramendra) August 1, 2025

10/
So what do we do?
📘 A Reorganized UN (https://t.co/hxkKyMIu1M): We rebuild global governance from the ground up.
📘 Rethinking Trade (https://t.co/8aGH1Vh2WL): We create just economics.
📘 A 2T Cut (https://t.co/0dstvf42WG): We slash defense budgets to fund humanity. @AOC
— Paramendra Kumar Bhagat (@paramendra) August 1, 2025

12/
Humanity must have a conscience.
Even if billionaires don’t.
/End @lexfridman @joerogan
— Paramendra Kumar Bhagat (@paramendra) August 1, 2025

Saturday, July 26, 2025

26: Immigration

The Protocol of Greatness (novel)
Liquid Computing: The Future of Human-Tech Symbiosis
Velocity Money: Crypto, Karma, and the End of Traditional Economics
The Next Decade of Biotech: Convergence, Innovation, and Transformation
Beyond Motion: How Robots Will Redefine The Art Of Movement
ChatGPT For Business: A Workbook
Becoming an AI-First Organization
Quantum Computing: Applications And Implications
Challenges In AI Safety
AI-Era Social Network: Reimagined for Truth, Trust & Transformation

Remote Work Productivity Hacks
How to Make Money with AI Tools
AI for Beginners

Sunday, July 20, 2025

20: Immigration

The Drum Report: Markets, Tariffs, and the Man in the Basement (novel)
World War III Is Unnecessary
Grounded Greatness: The Case For Smart Surface Transit In Future Cities
The Garden Of Last Debates (novel)
Deported (novel)
Empty Country (novel)
Trump’s Default: The Mist Of Empire (novel)
The 20% Growth Revolution: Nepal’s Path to Prosperity Through Kalkiism
Rethinking Trade: A Blueprint for a Just and Thriving Global Economy
The $500 Billion Pivot: How the India-US Alliance Can Reshape Global Trade
Trump’s Trade War
Peace For Taiwan Is Possible
Formula For Peace In Ukraine
A 2T Cut
Are We Frozen in Time?: Tech Progress, Social Stagnation
The Last Age of War, The First Age of Peace: Lord Kalki, Prophecies, and the Path to Global Redemption
AOC 2028: : The Future of American Progressivism

Listen to "Comparative Eschatology: Prophecies of End Times and Divine Nature" by Tech, Politics, Business And Faith. https://t.co/FEaBZo1pQ5
— Paramendra Kumar Bhagat (@paramendra) July 20, 2025

Listen to "Prophecy, AI, and the Age of Abundance" by Tech, Politics, Business And Faith. https://t.co/RAiDL6TG3z
— Paramendra Kumar Bhagat (@paramendra) July 20, 2025

The Economics of Immigration and Deportation Immigration has been good for America. Mass deportation will be a disaster........ The Trump administration is going after immigrants, and not just those in the country illegally. Trump is seeking to expel immigrants who have been in the United States for decades. His Justice Department says that it is prioritizing “denaturalization,” stripping immigrant citizens of their citizenship. ICE is clearly engaged in racial profiling, as legal residents and citizens have been arrested and detained in ICE raids based on their “physical appearance.” .......... So the first thing I should say in this post is that human rights and the rule of law are by far the most important things at stake right now. Having the secret police — because that’s what ICE has become — assault and kidnap people, accuse them of trumped-up crimes, hold them incommunicado from legal representation and their families, and fail to give them proper medical care or food is a lot more important than the impact of these actions on GDP. Trump seeks to dehumanize immigrants, by calling them rapists, murderers and thieves. Yet, in fact, immigrants are on average more law-abiding than native-born Americans. ........... I include imprisonment because it looks increasingly likely that many of the people seized by ICE, rather than being sent out of the United States, will be incarcerated in inhumane facilities like Florida’s “Alligator Alcatraz.” ........

overall economic effects of immigration have been generally positive

............ one area that is somewhat up for debate — the impact of immigration on the wages of less-educated native-born citizens. There is, however, no ambiguity about the effects of Trump’s mass deportations, which will have a devastating economic effect.

Saturday, January 25, 2025

25: Deportations

Thursday, December 01, 2011

Shakira Or Hydroelectricity?

Cover of ShakiraSeveral months back I mentioned at this blog that I had been approached by a group in Kathmandu who wanted Shakira perform there. But they never really followed through. I think they considered her too big a ticket item and perhaps not affordable, or whatever.

Doubling Down On Tech Consulting
US Royalty: Staying Together

But recently I have been approached by another group that wants to build a six plus megawatt hydroelectric dam in Nepal north of Kathmandu pretty close to the Chinese border. This is a bigger, better deal than the Shakira deal might have been. And done right this could be the first of many deals. If you know investors who might be interested in hydroelectric dams in Nepal, let me know. This also allows me to be part of Nepal's economic revolution, its next challenge after the political revolution of a few years back.

Why do I mention this?

I blog profusely. But I don't want the label of a blogger, a writer. I am a consultant with a few different hats who happens to blog. Blogging is working out for the mind and I recommend it to everyone. I exercise regularly, but I don't want to be called a bodybuilder. I think everyone but everyone needs to exercise. The networking I have done so far in the NY tech ecosystem I could not have done if it were not for this blog.

March 8, 2012: Next Immigration Court Date

I am going to be a tech entrepreneur once the immigration gestapo in this fucking country finally lets me, but until then I consult. And it has been interesting. Primarily I do tech consulting. But I stay open to business opportunities otherwise. An entrepreneur is a jack of all trades who assembles masters in their specific fields. I be Jack.

Image via Wikipedia
Cruise Ship Coding
Looking For Holiday Parties To Go To

Nepal is second only to Brazil in terms of hydropotential. And it is a country mired in massive power cuts. And neighboring India growing at China like rates has a massive thirst for electricity.

March 8, 2012: Next Immigration Court Date

Image by Markusnl via FlickrUgh. I don't believe this. They have a court date for me. No, it is not in Chicago. No, it is not after a gap of two years from the last scheduled court date. Why, it is as early as in 2012!

Paul Graham, Brad Feld, Me, BBC
Reluctant Video Blogger
Ugh, Immigration (4)
Questions Prepared By My Lawyer For Immigration Court Date Tomorrow
Immigration Court Date: June 6, 2011: Prepared Statement
Immigration Limbo
Immigration Mess/Humiliation And Window Shopped Tech Entrepreneurship

Doubling Down On Tech Consulting

Shakira at the Rock in Rio concert in 2008.

Image via WikipediaThe immigration bureaucracy in this country is so fucked up, it's not even funny. It is like getting in line for a land line with the state ownned telco in Nepal before I left the country. It took years. Now they have mobile phones, easy to purchase, but the immigration bureaucracy in this country continues to stay fucked up. Bajeezus fucking Christ.

I once quoted Lincoln on immigration. "I will prepare and perhaps my time will come." I felt like I was about to get the paperwork sorted out. But no, they went ahead and postponed the court date.

I guess I get to double down on tech consulting and plot to become my own angel investor when the time finally arrives, if it ever does.

I also recently got approached by someone to help take Shakira to Nepal to perform for a hefty commission. I am tempted to branch out beyond tech consulting.

Bryan Adams In Kathmandu

As for tech consulting, I have three associates in NYC looking daily for projects - it is not easy - and I have three teams in India always ready to get the work done. I could so scale at both ends. This is not bootstrapping, this is flying by your pants.

I guess fate will have it that I end up my own angel investor.

Using Political Contacts To Beat The Immigration Beast
Ugh, Immigration (4)
Immigration Court Date: June 6, 2011: Prepared Statement

Wednesday, July 06, 2011

Subhash Chandra Bose

Finally the British said, "You want independence? Okay, you can have independence. But you are going to have to give us Subhash Chandra Bose, dead or alive."

Using Political Contacts To Beat The Immigration Beast
Ugh, Immigration (4)

@azipaybarah @NYGovCuomo Hello. I am here! http://t.co/8d2bpSS @jeffkurzonless than a minute ago via web Favorite Retweet ReplyParamendra Bhagat
paramendra

Immigration Limbo

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Bloomberg On Immigration

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg opening ...

Image via WikipediaI am a living martyr to the cause. The immigration laws in this country are so fucked up, it's not even funny. We might as well bring back Jim Crow to take race relations to new Tea Party heights.

Ugh, Immigration (4)

I understand racism. I understand the need to keep people away from your dinner table. But that is not what is going on. The current immigration laws in this country are designed to keep food away from the American tables.

Paul Graham, Brad Feld, Me, BBC

For the past few years I have been flapping my wings on the beach like one of those birds that became victims to some oil spill while lesser tech entrepreneurs have swam into the ocean depths, flown into the sky. How much window shopping can you do? I wear the glorious title of tech consultant.

Independent For Bloomberg

The immigration bureaucracy in this country moves at Third World speeds. They had me disappear the precise day the national primary ended in 2008. They feared I might miss the message. Fuck the machine. We are the machine now. My guy is in the White House. When they released me six months later, they gave me a court date in Chicago. They still feared I might miss the message. A change of venue for something like that is automatic, but they would not grant me that. In June 2009 they gave me a court date for June 2011. That too has been postponed. If they give me a new court date for 2013, I am going to think there is a Tea Party conspiracy going on.