I am a citizen of the world. I hold a US passport, and I currently reside here in the US by choice, not necessity. Prior to this, I lived in the UK, and I have the right to return and live and work there. Prior to that, I lived in Singapore.
I attended a lecture tonight on Immigration by Professor Kim Williams from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. Her lecture focused on politics around race as it applies to illegal / legal immigration in the United States. Im additionally interested in the economic impact of ignorant immigration policies.I am disturbed by the trend I see.
Politicians, pundits and the mass idiocracy in the US blame illegal immigration for all the woes of the country. Closing our borders is hailed as the solution to social service problems, terrorism, loss of jobs. The list could go on infinitely.
Xenophobia and isolationism are rearing their heads as idiotic rallying cries. “We would be a great country if we could get rid of all the foreigners”, they yell.
In a global economy, countries trying to be islands will die.
As an example of a country whose attitude is moving the other way, look at China. For centuries, China was one of the world’s greatest examples of isolationism and poverty. China wizened up to globalization just a few years ago, and relaxed it’s isolationist attitude. In that time the country has experienced staggering growth. As a foreigner, you had no chance to go and live and work in China ten years ago. Today, I have numerous friends who now work in Shanghai, Beijing and other cities in China.
If I may, I’ll make a nostradamic doomsday prediction for the United States:
Fifty years from now, there will be no issue with immigration in the United States. Fifty years from now, there will be no immigration to the United States.
Isolationist political moves will cause the already fragile economy to further stagnate, fueling more isolationism. Idiots, confused, will add more tariffs to foreign goods and more subsidies to domestic goods. Idiots, further confused, will spend more tax dollars making it hard for foreigners to come to the United States for vacation, education, work, innovate. Free trade with the United States will all but disappear.
The country will undergo dramatic inflation as the currency devalues (we see this beginning now). Foreign creditors sell their US currency reserves. Foreign investors withdraw their money from American markets. The country goes bankrupt.
Im here now, because there is no better place in the world for technology startups. In the US, we are still the great innovators of the web. This won’t be the case forever. Other countries are now “more connected” than us. Talented developers and talented designers exist all over the world, often offering a better deal for all parties involved. I don’t believe fully distributed teams work, but what about moving your whole team to Buenos Aires or to Bali, Indonesia. Seems romantic, doesn’t it? Well, who knows you’re there? When you’re building the next facebook, or flickr, your audience is the world. You would live like kings earning US / European salaries and office expenses would be low.
When the proverbial “shit hits the fan”, I’ll be long gone. Sitting on an island, under a coconut tree, sipping a Piña Colada. Will you?
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