August 12, 2011
By ANAND GIRIDHARADAS
CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS — The American jobs that vanished don’t appear to be returning. The stock market is plunging. Seemingly everyone, from the guy at the corner bar to the U.S. Treasury Department, is in debt. The country’s credit rating just got knocked. Smart people on television are speaking of a looming “lost decade.”
Throughout history, for millions of people in less prosperous societies, the solution to such circumstances has been obvious: You sail away.
So could America, that great nation of immigrants, become in harder times a nation of emigrants? Could the metropolises of China one day have Americatowns?
Imagine a bustling one in the heart of Beijing. Local Chinese stream past, scratching their heads at those Americans who come just for money, never learning China’s language or customs, living in their own little world. The signs are all spelled out in Roman letters — even for local outfits like Zhongguo Jianshe Yinhang (China Construction Bank) and Hong Gao Liang (Red Sorghum, a fast food joint).
These American immigrants have strange manners, as the Chinese see it. They never share food, and they finish everything on their plates. They always ask locals they meet, “How many children do you have?” — even though the answer is always “one.” They are always inquiring about politics.
But they thrive. They put their energy, skills and family networks to work; they reap great success. They run burgers-and-fries joints, English-language academies, fitness centers and even an intercity transport service known as the Americatown bus.
In “The Warmth of Other Suns,” the author Isabel Wilkerson has written feelingly of “what humans have done for centuries when life became untenable — what the pilgrims did under the tyranny of British rule, what the Scotch-Irish did in Oklahoma when the land turned to dust, what the Irish did when there was nothing to eat, what the European Jews did during the spread of Nazism, what the landless in Russia, Italy, China and elsewhere did when something better across the ocean called to them.”
Yes, she says, “They left.”
A considerable number of Americans already live and work around the world. But to meet them in Bangkok or Bogotá or Sydney is to encounter, for the most part, an educated elite that has emigrated out of choice — or members of the diaspora who straddle two lands. They usually had good options in America, but still chose to leave for the thrill, or a higher paycheck, or the chops of investing in a hot new market or renewal after divorce or other failure.
What has not happened is a pattern of working-class emigration out of America, as one sees out of Mexico or Ghana or Cambodia.
Until lately, the reasons for this were obvious enough.
“The calculation that most emigrants make is that they can do better in another country,” said Audrey Singer, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington and a scholar of human migration. “For most Americans this is unimaginable. Most only speak English, rates of home ownership are high, and most do not have close ties to others in another country.”
And yet some variables in that calculation are changing. Driving from central Pennsylvania to Massachusetts, for example, you see an American heartland slowly emptying of opportunity: roads and bridges crumbling even without the recent spending cuts, once-confident businesses shuttered, “now hiring” signs eerily absent.
It is hard to escape the feeling of bygone opportunity when the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics says that half of the 20 fastest-growing occupations in the nation involve caring for the sick, because of the surge of baby boomers into old age.
And yet it is true: It is hard to imagine Americans emulating, in reverse, those peasants from Sichuan Province in China who came and made restaurants in middle-of-nowhere American towns.
But if Americans ever became willing to leave en masse, one could imagine them owning foreign Burger King franchises or opening small restaurants to take their cuisine to the world, bringing sorely needed upgrades to the authenticity of barbecue ribs and coleslaw from Mumbai to Buenos Aires.
American emigrants might possess a special talent for salesmanship, working as real estate agents or car dealers to sell to the world products so closely associated with American liberty. Laid-off American factory workers might make terrific foremen in China and India, where entry-level labor is plentiful but the pool of potential managers is woefully thin.
To be sure, many developing countries are not easy to navigate. They can be corrupt. There is no modern history of people “becoming Chinese,” in the way that so many millions of people have become American. The wages, though rising, are lower than what most Americans would expect. Above all, in the American psyche, leaving has never meant overseas — in part because the United States offered many new frontiers of its own.
“This is such a big country that, for most of our history, emigrating has meant leaving one pressed-down section for another with more chances to get ahead,” said Ms. Wilkerson, whose book chronicles the northward migration of African-Americans in the 20th century.
“Emigrating out of one’s country is often a last-chance act of near desperation for poor and working people and takes a great deal of forethought and a near-total break from all that one has known,” she added. “I don’t see mass emigration on the basis of the current recession. It would take a great deal more than that.”
What a timely article. I came to the US for higher education and career opportunities but now feel that all the best, most exciting work is being done in Asia. I constantly think of career options that will take me back to India or Singapore. As you say, en masse migration is not going to happen, but you may see more and more Ivy League educated professionals move to Asia to work. It is certainly happening in my circle.
Great article. I’ve begun to wonder this aloud, with friends and in comments at nytimes.com. However I think your speculation about unemployed Americans becoming prized foremen in China or India needs revision considering the inherent racism in China, the historic mistreatment / exploitation of Chinese immigrants to the US, and the colonial legacy of India. What nationalist businessperson in either country would voluntarily put an American in the position of boss? When Americans pick up sticks and “up and leave” the US, they are going to be surprised at what they find and how they are treated. As an immigrant, one is always in a disadvantaged position.
We left 10 years ago, and have thank God, managed to make a life for ourselves abroad. It isn’t easy, but I feel where we live now is home.
I don’t see that happening in the near future and perhaps not in the not so near future either. En mass emigration by a population requires them to be well informed about the foreign country they plan to move to. Most Americans have not felt enthused or compelled to do so in the last so many decades; it is only now with he economy in shambles that Americans have started to acknowledge that there may be another place out there where there may be better opportunities for them. However, mere acknowledgment will not galvanize an emigration so we have to wait for that something else that will push us into action and have us start applying for passports and VISAs!
A highly speculative write up, but definitely one that would catch attention of currently despairing and depressed Americans.
Hi!,You have just mentioned what I have been suggesting young Americans during last two years. Off course,I did not say emigrate but to look for opportunities out side America, and go at least for a short duration. You will be surprised to know that young girl recently told me:I am planning to go to Japan. Said it could be a good choice but what will you offer? She said “I will teach English”.What is needed is:Though one has hopes;the moving-out must be unconditional. No preferential treatment is possible. Almost a decade back I happened to meet a prof.of macro-economics. He seemed to be interested in knowing: what salary may be offered if he opted for Indian Institute Of Management or Indian Institute of Technology. I told him not as much as in the U.S., but then India is not as expensive also. I think as time goes many belonging to the types you have mentioned may follow the opportunities provided they are young. Sorry, over 45 years old may look to do something else.-Himanshu Muni.
People have got to always be ready to move on to the next big thing. America might not be it, even though I hate to say it.
By the way, you really take a way from your journalism credentials by making this sight look like a Model shoot. Are you working for Armani or do you want to be respected in journalism?
I migrated to the US way back in 1975 when America was still in the throes of the oil shock of 1973. It was scary then, but I coped, and hung on to experience multiple recessions in multiple industries – automotive, nuclear, telecommunications (I functioned as an engineer in all of them), until finally I broke in 2005 and went back to India (I was 53 then and still employable). At 59 I’m still able to function independently as a consultant. I’m now part of the “diaspora” straddling between India, the US and Africa. I had no option – the situation in America is scary and my skills are badly needed elsewhere. The pay is not bad, and contrary to what Himanshu said I think you can be 70 and still contribute outside India.
Perhaps there will come a time when more Americans move abroad to seek better opportunities, but I highly doubt China or India will ever become attractive to potential immigrants. China alone has 1.3 billion people that compete with one another for limited space, limited water, and limited opportunities. To imagine China allowing an influx of foreigners, particularly Americans whose standard of living I assume they’d try and import, seems pretty difficult considering how much strain there is on the system already. Additionally, convincing Americans to move to a country more polluted, more crowded, more intolerant of foreigners, less developed, and less open than their own would be a pretty hard sell.
I came to China nearly eight years ago and lived here for six years as a teacher until I went to America to teach for a year. After a year in an American school I fled back to China like a refugee. The system there is based on politics and public persona and money. Its a system that dangles a teacher by a thread in the classroom and keeps them constantly in fear of losing their job lest they tow the line.
In China, you’re treated like someone who knows what they’re doing. Yes, it can be dirty and insane, but an American school is a place with endless potential squandered on racial, religious, and political maddness that leave much greater scars than any level of poverty ever could. I had to come to the other side of the world for job security and respect in the classroom.
Great article ! but maybe a bit extreme for now and certainly plausible over a longer time-frame. I myself am an expat in Asia, working for an American Company and am glad to have chosen this direction about 7 years ago. But I have made the US my permanent home 22 years ago when i came as a Grad student and I must say that if there is one country to bet on to fix itself it will be America So it will be interesting to review the trend in about 5-10 years ….
for those who in any way doubt what this article says, you should fly down to kuwait. we have had americatowns here since the first gulf war, entire blocks of towns inhabited solely by americans, with any america. restaurant you can ever imagine, and i’m not talking about mcdonalds, ihop, shake shack, krispy kream, and five guys is opening soon. the first carribou coffee store outside minnesota was in kuwait, theres an american lady who cooks and serves at her ‘early bird’ diner, and PF Changs is fully american staffed. it used to be the oil that brought them here, but now its the financial catastrophe. i came across an american at a guitar store strumming some chords really proffessionaly, so i stopped and asked him how he learned to play so well. he told me he actualy had a band in the US and got some record deals. when i asked why he’s in kuwait, and he suddenly stopped and said ‘u guys have got the cash’.
-sulaiman
americatown, kuwait
THe US is a great country. A free market democracy which has welcomed people across the world with open arms. I hope you guys get your act together and sort out your problems. Good Luck!
Border, cross-border migrations and economic compulsions are relatively recent issues. Thanks, primarily, to the natural resources of this usurped land and politico-economic turmoils in the Old World, America had attracted countless immigrants. Now that it seems to be a bit frayed (along the collar-fold and the cuffs), the question of reverse migration has been raised. The first to look for greener pastures would perhaps be the late-comers to the US of A, if there are willing acceptors. Sons and daughters of America are unlikely to, but time alone can tell. We all came out of Africa once, or so we’re told; are we now willing to return to Africa as it is? If we want to, will Africa or its constituent nations accept us?
I have my doubts if we Americans pack up our things and emigrate en masse to an Asian country such as China or India. You kind of assume I guess that American society is a decaying society with a dark future just because we are passing through a difficult time. There is something special about America. You travel a lot and please ask any young fellow in a different country if given a choice which country he would choose to chase his dreams. Respect for the law, admiration for the hard working, equal opportunities and more are so deeply embedded in our system they provide a very strong anchor. Warmth of Other Suns may turn out to be too hot to bear.
The America that we think of as prosperous was really just a small span of time. After WWII, we were basically the world’s only fully functioning industrialized country (except maybe Canada, but they had massive debts due to being part of the Commonwealth). When a country has that much power, it is easy to demand anything it wants. Also, during the Cold War, was the world’s economic epicenter along with USSR. When the USSR failed, the U.S. again was left as the world’s largest economy and the most politically influential country.
Now, the U.S.’s monopoly on the world’s economy and politics is waning. Power and economy are more diffused and less centralized. It is much easier for countries (because most countries do not have free trade) to raise prices for raw materials and labor. I would argue that the economic crisis is a structural problem. Because of these political changes, the distribution of the world’s economic output (manufactured goods and commodities) has shifted away from the first world and is going to less developed countries. This would explain the lowering of the standard of living in the first world, while the rest of the world has seen a rising standard of living.
Hmmm… ever been to Saudi Arabia? Or even more relevant U.A.E.? Look at the blue collar Brits that make up a noticeable percentage of middle-upper middle level workers (real estate agents, secretaries, etc.)
and how about people who emigrate to the US and become citizens, but keep their other nationality and passport — going back is easier for us, and the ‘brain drain’ is just as real.
The reality is much more complex. To start with, how many Americans can endure the discomforts of 3rd world living, distance, strange people, cultures and food. And for what? A Salary? Will it be worth it for a westerner to move to a 3rd world country and spend several yrs there. takes a person with a certain mentality to do that. Its a LOT easier for someone to come over here and make it, and find it worth their while.
Secondly someone pointed out that blue collar Brits are doing well in S. Arabia. Thats because of a strange kind of colonial mentality among Arabs that whatever a brown person can do, a white person can do better. Those places would be dumps if it wasn’t for the sweat or Indians and other Asians.