Lucky of the draw to be born where I was

[varmint]

Thanks for stopping the chatter to mention something fundamentally important. I never gave much thought to my good fortune to have been born here when I was until I spent some time in NW Russia in the 90's- a time when Russia was changing from being the highly managed USSR to being Russia (with all the gas and oil money) and poverty was real and visible among the common people who were just trying to get by without being criminals or "connected". Perspective!

 

[dragoneggs]

True enough... it is a matter of perspective. Humans like most all species seem very adept to survive no matter the situation and also make the best of 'it'. In the journey, we tend to find joy and happiness regardless of our surrounding and plight. That said... is there any another country in the world that is such a powerful magnet that so many people risk everything to immigrate? This is amazing to me.

 

[adimice]

Great post. I've always thought I'd won the lottery at birth, being born in this GREAT COUNTRY!!!

 

[dave1949]

The immigration angle is interesting. The US has a long history of immigrant success, I guess you could say that is our history. The model for immigrant success is well-established here, so it may not present the level of risk that we assume, and compared to the risk of what alternatives must also be considered.

Most immigrants can and do join an existing community of previous immigrants from their own part of the world. We have a long history of that too, especially in metropolitan areas. I have lost touch with the US expat scene, but my impression is many expats group together voluntarily in foreign lands. That may also be for convenience or risk reasons. As such, we practice what we often criticize when the shoe is on the other foot.

My two years in the Peace Corps 1972-74 sure taught me to appreciate what we have here. We may have vigorous, open debates about how to keep what we have; a luxury in many parts of the world where the people have much less than we do. The ability to have that debate without disappearing in the dead of night is one reason for our continued success.

 

[smstonypoint]

The immigration angle is interesting. The US has a long history of immigrant success, I guess you could say that is our history. The model for immigrant success is well-established here, so it may not present the level of risk that we assume, and compared to the risk of what alternatives must also be considered.

Dave raises interesting points about immigration. It turns out that March 16 was Open Borders Day, celebrated by individuals and groups that advocate removing restrictions on immigration. Bryan Caplan, who blogs at EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty, is an open-border advocate. His post on the 16th and the comments it elicited are worth reading. Here's a slice:

I see that almost everything immigrants do makes their critics angry. The critics are angry when immigrants work, and angry when they're on welfare. The critics are angry if immigrants are visible, and angry if immigrants keep to themselves. The critics are angry if immigrants increase housing prices and angry if immigrants reduce housing prices..........

I see human beings without the good fortune to be born in the First World escaping poverty through honest toil. I see these largely admirable people singled out for public scorn and legal persecution. And I see that the reason for their ill-treatment is not that they're breaking the law, taking jobs, using welfare, or any other choice they make, but because the foreigners in our midst and the foreigners at the gates are the last easy outlets for out-group bias.

Immigration: My Eyes Work Fine, Bryan Caplan | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty

Steve

 

[KTurner]

how lucky I am to have have been hatched by random luck in a country that has allowed me to have a wonderful life

Some of your ancestors would likely disagree with the "random luck" part of that statement. I suspect they shed some blood, sweat and tears either getting into this country, or helping form this country.

Keith

 

[sid79]

hmmm

Im born in Holland..... when I turned 15 my parents immigrated to Germany... and around 15 years later I immigrated to the USA... im happy to be here, I wished I was born here as immigrating to the USA is very hard..

be glad you were born here, I spend 7 months in Japan, a year in Korea and a while in Taiwan.. I have been all around Europe, and the US is my number 1

 

[dragoneggs]

Some of your ancestors would likely disagree with the "random luck" part of that statement. I suspect they shed some blood, sweat and tears either getting into this country, or helping form this country.

Keith

Oh you are quite right about the second part of your statement. I am definitely not discounting heroic acts by those before me. Rather how lucky I am to be in the lineage of my particular ancestors!

 

[Pilot]

Americans today are lucky for both place and time of birth. Could have been born in 1500, 1600, etc. I was born in 1943 in the middle of WWII. Lucky I wasn't born Jewish in Europe, or the Soviet Union (27 million deaths), England where about 100,000 were killed in the blitz, Germany which was devastated, etc.

I have been to Russia 3 times, Iceland (nice but too damned cold!), Turkey, Japan, Panama, Germany and France. France & Germany are nice, but I am glad I wasn't born there in 1943. Russia pretends to be a first world country, but is actually more like third world. In St. Petersburg, the water was unsafe to drink in 1994--it had tar balls in it. We visited a city several miles outside Moscow, population about 75,000, running water meant you ran to the corner and pumped it into your container then lugged it up several flights of stairs to your apartment.

Immigrants: I find immigrants are often hard working and shrewd about handling their money. My son married a Russian girl when he was there in the Peace Corps. A couple years after he brought her to the US her father got a job in San Jose as a programmer in about 2001. He and his wife now own two nice rental houses, fully paid for. Reminds me of a Spike Lee movie, showing some guys in a slum in NYC sitting on the sidewalk drinking and ranting about the Korean immigrants who had a store nearby. "They ain't been off the boat but 2 years and already they got themselves a business. It just ain't right!" Too often a true attitude. I wonder who thought themselves luckier, the immigrants or the Americans?