Why Do People Emigrate?
Why do people leave home for strange foreign lands? While a handful might claim to leave for political or religious reasons, most seek greater economic opportunity. All of my grandparents emigrated from Germany or Lithuania in the early 1900s. My wife’s Chinese grandparents emigrated from China to Siam in the same generation. None came because of a burning desire to be “free.” They all came because they wanted to make more money and thus enjoy a better life. Google the word “emigration,” and you’ll mostly get sites that detail the emigration from Europe to the U.S. in the 19th and early 20th century. Google “American emigration” and you get a link to Adams’ New Global Initiatives Web site and not much else. Most economic-oriented sites only discuss the effects of legal and illegal immigration into the U.S. It’s hard to find any thoughts about the economic, political and demographic effects of younger Americans leaving for greener pastures overseas. “Talk About Something No One’s Talkin
