Panda Express didn’t sign up to represent generational failure



Panda Express and Chipotle have unintentionally become memes for mediocrity and failure. While their food might be unhealthy and has occasionally caused food poisoning, labeling the restaurants as symbols of decadence seems unfair.

Similarly, it was unjust to blame old shows like "Saved by the Bell" and "Boy Meets World" for corrupting white American youth and causing them to fall behind their Asian American peers academically.

Zoomers need to take active steps to improve their own lives. This means putting down the phone, engaging with the real world, and fostering spiritual growth.

This reflects today’s public discourse, which often simplifies ideas into memes for easier, more entertaining consumption. Unfortunately, this approach obscures genuine disagreements and turns clear, reasoned debates into a tangled mess of bad arguments.

In what feels like a sequel to the recent H-1B visa brouhaha, another discussion has emerged that deserves attention. As before, both sides present valid points and would likely agree on solutions. Yet, in the pursuit of content and audience engagement, participants continue talking past each other and trading potshots.

The current debate focuses on Zoomers — those in their late teens and 20s — and their ability to succeed in today’s America. One side argues that this generation faces insurmountable obstacles to success. The side claims the workplace and academia have become toxically feminized, and the gerontocracy leading our institutions suppresses the rise of younger generations.

Demands for ever more credentials have reached absurd levels, while the American dream of a spouse, children, and homeownership has become prohibitively expensive. Adding to this, older conservative voices seem oblivious to these challenges.

As a teacher working with Zoomers, I would add that online pornography and smartphones have taken a massive toll on the generation coming of age. These influences directly affect the libidos and social habits of young people entering adolescence. They have also created an anti-social culture marked by paranoia, crippling anxiety, and self-loathing. Most interactions between young people now occur online, limiting shared realities and empathy. This dynamic has wrecked the dating scene and stifled the formation of real friendships.

In addition to diminishing job opportunities and upward mobility, older generations have left Zoomers with a world of universal loneliness. This began when they handed children tablets and smartphones with unrestricted internet access. While parents rationalized these devices as tools for learning and self-improvement, the reality was far darker. These gadgets acted like a drug, poisoning children’s minds and damaging the culture at large.

The opposing side in this debate contends that a decent life is still achievable if young people were to stop making excuses and put in the effort. This is where Panda Express comes in. A motivated Zoomer could work his or her way up to managing a fast-food restaurant. While not glamorous, these roles offer honest work and could support a family with disciplined, frugal living.

Supporters of this perspective often share testimonials to back their claims. These stories highlight individuals who worked hard, avoided the usual vices, fell in love, started families, and now live fulfilling lives as popular influencers. Their message is clear: If they could succeed, so can anyone else.

To this, I would agree that Zoomers technically have access to all the resources they need to succeed. I’ve seen stumbling blocks turn into stepping stones, helping some of my students become far more accomplished at their age than I ever was. They have the tools to teach themselves nearly anything and engage in discussions once reserved for older generations.

However, what is possible isn’t always probable. Most people aren’t intellectual prodigies capable of instantly achieving fame and fortune. And more importantly, they shouldn’t have to be exceptional just to enjoy the same quality of life their parents once had.

Many Millennials in their 30s and 40s fail to see the significant generational gap between themselves and Zoomers. What was achievable for Millennials no longer holds true for Zoomers, who have borne the brunt of woke ideology and elite mismanagement.

For Millennials, hard work and basic credentials still could guarantee decent-paying jobs. Relationships and friendships formed naturally, and housing was relatively affordable. This is no longer the case for Zoomers, and dismissing them as “whiny brats” who spend too much time online fails to acknowledge the unique challenges they face.

To address or mitigate the struggles of this younger generation, both sides of the debate must acknowledge the validity of the other’s arguments. Leaders should adapt to modern realities by ending the reliance on cheap labor, curbing excessive public spending, streamlining regulations, breaking up monopolies, reforming education, prioritizing American workers, regulating addictive technology and online pornography as public health issues, and incentivizing marriage and parenthood.

At the same time, Zoomers need to take active steps to improve their own lives. This means putting down the phone, engaging with the real world, reading meaningful books, gaining work experience, and fostering spiritual growth. These efforts can help them build friendships, find partners, accumulate wealth, and create stability. While this path may not lead to glamorous jobs or extravagant homes, it is far better than resigning to a life of aimless frustration and online trolling.

Donald Trump’s return to office offers hope for both sides of this debate. If he fulfills his promises, conditions will improve. At the very least, the current decline will pause for a few years, giving Americans time to adjust and steer their course toward a brighter future.

As with the H-1B debate, this conversation is productive. These arguments have long been overlooked, and younger generations have endured the worst effects of this neglect, living in a world filled with unnecessary dysfunction. Beyond sharing memes and entertaining ourselves, we must address these challenges seriously, take constructive action, and leave fast-food chains out of the blame game.

India agrees to take back illegal migrants to keep H-1B floodgates open



India has reportedly offered to repatriate all of its citizens who are currently residing illegally in the United States.

While India has historically complied with the U.S.' repatriation flights, New Delhi is signaling early cooperation with President Donald Trump's administration to avoid potential visa restrictions and stricter trade policy, a Tuesday report from Bloomberg revealed.

'Both sides are engaged in a process to deter illegal migration.'

India seeks to ensure its citizens can continue to enter the U.S. with student visas and through the H-1B program. According to government data, 72% of the H-1B visas granted in 2023 went to Indian nationals.

U.S. officials have reportedly identified more than 18,000 illegal Indian nationals for deportation. However, the figure could be significantly higher, sources indicated to Bloomberg.

Customs and Border Protection data reveals that agents encountered more than 18,000 Indian nationals in the first three months of fiscal year 2025. The previous year, nationwide encounters of Indian nationals exceeded 90,000. Yet, immigrants from India account for only 3% of total illegal crossings.

A report from the Department of Homeland Security estimated that there are roughly 220,000 Indian nationals in the U.S. illegally as of 2022.

On Tuesday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar. A Department of State press release indicated that the two discussed illegal immigration concerns.

Rubio and Jaishankar "affirmed a shared commitment to continuing to strengthen the partnership between the United States and India," it read.

"They discussed a wide range of topics, including regional issues and opportunities to further deepen the U.S.-India relationship, in particular on critical and emerging technologies, defense cooperation, energy, and on advancing a free and open Indo-Pacific region," the press release continued. "Secretary Rubio also emphasized the Trump administration's desire to work with India to advance economic ties and address concerns related to irregular migration."

Randhir Jaiswal, spokesperson for India's Ministry of External Affairs, told Bloomberg, "As part of India-U.S. cooperation on migration and mobility, both sides are engaged in a process to deter illegal migration. This is being done to create more avenues for legal migration from India to the U.S."

"The latest deportation of Indian nationals from the U.S. by a chartered flight is a result of this cooperation," Jaiswal stated, referring to an October repatriation flight that returned more than 100 illegal aliens to India. During the previous 12 months, over 1,100 Indian nationals were returned to their country of origin.

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The H-1B brouhaha: Here's what you need to know



Recent infighting over H-1B visas came up after Trump chose Indian-born Sriram Krishnan to be his adviser on AI.

While some see the controversy as a cynical attempt to divide the MAGA movement, the two primary points of view are simple: the populist, nationalist Bannon wing, which wants to cut H-1B visas and boost the domestic workforce, and the Big Tech, Elon Musk, Vivek Ramaswamy wing, which wants to maximize skilled immigration and H-1B visas in order to “win.”

More often than not, the incentive lies not in a worker's exceptional talent but in his or her desperation.

In a recent bizarre post, Ramaswamy claimed Americans are raised by a pop culture without a good work ethic and thus deserve to be replaced by harder-working foreigners.

A 'complete scam'

Krishnan seeks to remove national origin caps on green cards to make it easier for H-1B recipients from countries like India to become American residents and citizens. He has also repeatedly talked about and focused on how difficult and Byzantine the U.S. immigration system can be for legal immigrants.

Musk has promised to “go to war on this issue,” crediting the H-1B with his own immigration and American success story.

Bannon has said H-1Bs are a “complete scam” and promised that he and the base are going to “rip your face off” if Musk and his allies think they can get away with supporting immigrants taking American jobs.

The left has gloated over the conflict, with former CNN host Don Lemon calling Musk and Ramaswamy “dumb f***ing idiots” and laughing about tech bros who are seeing Trump’s base turn against them in the “MAGA civil war.” Claiming this is just a fight over “white jobs,” Lemon admitted, “I just f***ing love it.”

Trump's temptation

Trump has been in favor of limiting or ending H-1Bs in the past, saying they are granted for the “explicit purpose of substituting for American workers at lower pay.” However, Trump now says he agrees with Musk that H-1Bs are a valuable tool for increasing American economic greatness, claiming this has always been his view.

Trump’s 2024 victory was helped greatly by the money and influence of Big Tech backers like David Sacks, Musk, and the Winklevoss twins. But his base is still deep-red Americans who don’t want to hear about how foreigners getting jobs helps some abstract idea of America or striving foreigners who barely speak English landing cushy tech jobs in Austin or San Francisco.

It’s understandably ridiculous to hear that America is just about GDP numbers and not about the generations who have lived and died as patriotic Americans.

H-1B 101

A look at what H-1B visas are and how they work helps dispel the canard that America lacks a skilled, disciplined workforce.

Anyone holding a bachelor’s degree or above and who has “highly specialized knowledge” can apply for an H-1B. If granted, it gives them the right to work in the U.S. for three years and apply for an extension up to six years. Officially, the wage paid to H-1B workers has to be equal to what would be paid to an American worker.

H-1Bs have existed since 1990 and are especially popular for foreign students in the U.S. who want to get hired at an American company and eventually get citizenship. These visas are liberalized legislative descendants of the H-1 visa of 1952, which excluded most applicants from Asia.

H-1Bs have been widely used by Silicon Valley to recruit graduates from India, China, and elsewhere, ostensibly to address the lack of qualified native-born Americans. The government can issue 85,000 H-1Bs per fiscal year via a lottery system. Much rarer visas like the O-1 are not used nearly as often.

Indentured servants?

But how exactly do H-1B visas help companies?

More often than not, the incentive lies not in a worker's exceptional talent but in his or her desperation. While an H-1B employee can theoretically change jobs, the process is quite difficult; the best chance of staying in America is keeping the current boss happy. At the very least, this makes for compliant workers; in some cases it essentially amounts to indentured servitude.

Instead of offering more and more foreign workers a path to citizenship, we should be helping the citizens we already have participate more fully in the American economy. The Trump administration must focus on preparing Americans to get and excel at the jobs of the future, rather than reinforcing the cheap labor pipeline.

FACT CHECK: Did Chippendale’s Get A H1-B Visa For a Dancer in Las Vegas?

A post on X implies that the Chippendale’s show in Las Vegas received a H1-B visa for a dancer, proving abuse of the system. H1B MALE STRIPPERS (PAUSE) pic.twitter.com/bkzR71MsLY — The_Real_Fly (@The_Real_Fly) December 27, 2024 Verdict: False Chippendale’s applied for the E-3 visa, not an H1-B visa. Fact Check: Abuse of the H1-B visa became […]