Re: "emigrants"

[Thomas Kruse <tkruse@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

At 18:16 21/12/97 -0600, you wrote:
>Quoth Doug, in part:
>> Michael mentioned emigration from the U.S. I discovered when I did my State
>> of the USA Atlas that exact numbers on this are very hard to come by.
>> Counting emigrants, a demography librarian told me, is considered
>  ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>> embarrassing. But the best estimates are that 1/3 of the people who come to
>  ^^^^^^^^^^^^
>> the U.S. eventually leave, mostly to return to the home country, and this
>> has been true for a long time.
>
>Such embarrassment is a hangover from the "Macy's vs Gimbel's" competition
>of the Cold War.  The fact is that many who come are incipient bourgeois
>intending to open a business in their native land.  Some scrimping at
>even the most pedestrian American job for a year or two, in conjunction
>with the perks of the local ethnic network, can cut a decade or more off
>this process of accumulation.
>You could almost say that US immigration policy is a hidden form of
>small business aid.
>                                                                     valis


Exaclty.  I know scores of people here who go to the US to drum up some cash
and then come back.  They hate the life there, live horribly while there,
and save about $500/month (about 4-5 times waht they might gross here). So,
for example, a driver crashes his car, what to do?  Either run a bit base
paste for cocaine production (very risky) or "do" Arlington, Virgina (where
about 10,000 cochabambinos live) for 6-8 months.

Tom

Tom Kruse / Casilla 5869 / Cochabamba, Bolivia
Tel/Fax: (591-42) 48242
Email: tkruse@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx