Beyond Emigration Revisited: the Losing Aura of America
Working within Korean society can bring surprising findings at random moments. The other day, we the teachers came across a gel-tipped highlighter that is unlike anything we have ever seen. Soft and smooth when it touches paper, it actually does to make any marks when slashed across the skin. The Korean students must have been quite amused by a bunch of foreign teachers being amazed by a piece of stationery so commonly used and seen in this country.
And this is not the only time I have been amazed by highly practical and technically sophisticated products found on this side of the Pacific. From heated-up toilet seats in Japan to cheap yet extremely multi-functional pirated goods in China, the Asian economic miracle based on strong manufacturing sector has in essence created societies with strong materialistic convenience. The unique products are further complemented by increasingly polite and respectful services when the products are sold or repaired.
Certainly beyond anything the States has to offer. Looking at the crummy vending machines, railroads, and shoddily made products sold in supermarkets in the States, I really come to doubt if the “high standard of living” reflected by income per capita numbers is really an accurate portrayal. Especially considering the significantly higher crime rate in the so-called “richest county on Earth,” the cost of living in the States may actually be greater for many foreigners than back home.
And then, there are the still endless numbers of Chinese and Korean students studying nonstop in various hagwons like ours, all for a slightly bigger chance of getting into American colleges. And, after graduation, at least some of these bright and worldly students never return to their home countries. And these guys are different from me; without families and relatives in the States, they still choose to stay on, many of whom eventually naturalizing as US citizens (if their immigration status allow them to do so).
The contrast of the two are quite mind-boggling, and more and more so considering the economic power of Asia is definitely on the rise, rapidly erasing American economic advantages built with victories in World War II and the Cold War. Many aspects of technology here in Asia has surpassed those of the US, and even looking at the GDP per capita numbers, the gap has become really small. If looked in terms of unemployment and worries of further financial crises, Asia has been very lucky compared to America.
Yes, the highest paying investment banks, law firms, and consultancies are based in America, and yes, the most cutting-edge medical and scientific researches are still done in the States. But come to think of it, the human capital for these “pillar industries” of the US has increasingly become the foreign-born, American-educated segment of society, and if these guys instead decided to go back to their home countries, the industries that still makes America so powerful would suddenly grind to a halt.
So, in some ways, the social welfare of the US should have already dipped to a point where individual welfare can be hurt just by merely being there. After all, individual welfare is not just about how big of a number a person has in the bank account, but how that big number can be utilized to live the most healthy and exciting life possible. Individual welfare could increase with a degree from Harvard or such, but what is the point if the degree cannot be used effectively to increase standard of living?
If anything, with rising unemployment and increasingly difficult to obtain work visas, America no longer offers that comfortable working environment not imaginable back in Asia. The insane working schedule of a white collar in Asia is now perfectly imaginable for the American counterpart, without all the protections such as some sort of employment guarantee, national healthcare system, and transportation/housing subsidy.
And certainly no amazing gel-tipped highlighters and heated-up toilet seats. Technical inferiority, cultural/linguistic difference, immigration status barriers make living in America more and more difficult for any foreigner. She is no longer that open land of opportunity embracing anyone diligent enough to scrap out a legal way of life. Yet, kids in our hagwon, just like millions of others across Asia and the world, dream on, imagining a life that, really, no longer exists....
And this is not the only time I have been amazed by highly practical and technically sophisticated products found on this side of the Pacific. From heated-up toilet seats in Japan to cheap yet extremely multi-functional pirated goods in China, the Asian economic miracle based on strong manufacturing sector has in essence created societies with strong materialistic convenience. The unique products are further complemented by increasingly polite and respectful services when the products are sold or repaired.
Certainly beyond anything the States has to offer. Looking at the crummy vending machines, railroads, and shoddily made products sold in supermarkets in the States, I really come to doubt if the “high standard of living” reflected by income per capita numbers is really an accurate portrayal. Especially considering the significantly higher crime rate in the so-called “richest county on Earth,” the cost of living in the States may actually be greater for many foreigners than back home.
And then, there are the still endless numbers of Chinese and Korean students studying nonstop in various hagwons like ours, all for a slightly bigger chance of getting into American colleges. And, after graduation, at least some of these bright and worldly students never return to their home countries. And these guys are different from me; without families and relatives in the States, they still choose to stay on, many of whom eventually naturalizing as US citizens (if their immigration status allow them to do so).
The contrast of the two are quite mind-boggling, and more and more so considering the economic power of Asia is definitely on the rise, rapidly erasing American economic advantages built with victories in World War II and the Cold War. Many aspects of technology here in Asia has surpassed those of the US, and even looking at the GDP per capita numbers, the gap has become really small. If looked in terms of unemployment and worries of further financial crises, Asia has been very lucky compared to America.
Yes, the highest paying investment banks, law firms, and consultancies are based in America, and yes, the most cutting-edge medical and scientific researches are still done in the States. But come to think of it, the human capital for these “pillar industries” of the US has increasingly become the foreign-born, American-educated segment of society, and if these guys instead decided to go back to their home countries, the industries that still makes America so powerful would suddenly grind to a halt.
So, in some ways, the social welfare of the US should have already dipped to a point where individual welfare can be hurt just by merely being there. After all, individual welfare is not just about how big of a number a person has in the bank account, but how that big number can be utilized to live the most healthy and exciting life possible. Individual welfare could increase with a degree from Harvard or such, but what is the point if the degree cannot be used effectively to increase standard of living?
If anything, with rising unemployment and increasingly difficult to obtain work visas, America no longer offers that comfortable working environment not imaginable back in Asia. The insane working schedule of a white collar in Asia is now perfectly imaginable for the American counterpart, without all the protections such as some sort of employment guarantee, national healthcare system, and transportation/housing subsidy.
And certainly no amazing gel-tipped highlighters and heated-up toilet seats. Technical inferiority, cultural/linguistic difference, immigration status barriers make living in America more and more difficult for any foreigner. She is no longer that open land of opportunity embracing anyone diligent enough to scrap out a legal way of life. Yet, kids in our hagwon, just like millions of others across Asia and the world, dream on, imagining a life that, really, no longer exists....
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