Please share your thoughts on the subject of brain drain…an American friend working overseas just had a friend of hers contact me regarding his possibilities for immigrating permanently to the U.S. He has forwarded his CV, and he has some pretty impressive credentials. Chances are he will be able to find a job and/or a company to sponsor him for a green card, even in the current economic climate.
This person is from a country which leaves quite a bit to be desired in the economic development department, not to mention the respect for human rights department. His country could really use a lot more people like him. On the other hand, his professional credentials are such that there are very few places in his country where he will be able to make full use of his potential, unless he overthrows the government or something.
He will probably be able to do more good for humanity at large, not to mention for himself, if he leaves. But if he leaves, and if most or all of the people like him (i.e. the ones with the skills to actually improve his country) leave, then we have a self-perpetuating cycle.
How do you view the ethical considerations here? Should he even care about what is best for his country? Or should he act entirely in self-interest?
I’m a big believer in teaching a man to fish…small amounts of money, unless its expenditure is designed very, very carefully, ain’t gonna help this country do jack.
This person has been the winner of some very carefully targeted U.S. government scholarship assistance, designed to develop future leaders. Whatever he can earn in salary will be a great help to his family, for sure, but isn’t going to impact the country at large in that way. The person himself may be able to do so, if he’s given the opportunity (or creates the opportunity). There is only a handful of people in his country with his type and level of education and experience.
(P.S. The OP should read “ethical,” not “ethnical.”)
The man in question doesn’t owe his country anything if he’s not going to be living there. It is his life and his livelihood; other people are not entitled to the benefits of his skills just because they look the same.
Does that hurt his country? Perhaps, but it will help another country. On balance, it’ll help HIM more to move. It’s a net positive.
Sorry, I should have elaborated. From the subjective point of view of the worker himself, he might consider it unethical not to move in order to further himself and possibly his family too. I think it’s difficult to assign a single ethical dimension to a situation which has differing implications depending on who you are, ie the US government, the home nation government, the man himself or his family.
Should the US government try to dissuade this type of migration: yes if they are keen to help the developing country, but no if they want to help the US.
That’s some of the beauty of America. We want the malcontents who’re smart enough to do some thing about it.
Yearning to be free also means yearning to be free to make a chunk of change, (pursuit of hapiness and all).
If someone can make it to the US and make it in the US, they prob’ly had a number of countries that they could’ve gone to. This someone makes a choice. If the US is the best option for that individual…
I agree with RickJay, except I don’t think it matters at all whether he helps his country, our country, or anyone else’s-- unless that’s an important thing to him.
Well the moment he steps off the plane , he automatically becomes a respected member of the expat community , usually they tend to get more attention from the state department and the administration, than the presidente of the country that they come from.
Up until the countries in question take a mental poll , to figure out why. In most cases , there are no avenues for this person to take in his/her country for various reasons , but in others it makes economic sense for a canadian to emigrate to the states ,to command what he or she is deserving of, and to escape onerous taxes , outside NY of course.
Ethics don’t come into it , for me personally. Someone has probably spent a chunk of change to put someone through univercity or college , and while they may not pay it back , its very possible that with the oppurtunity ,they can pay it forward ,by sponsoring kids ,and maybe inventing a better medicine, or technique of some kind that leaves the world a better place.
Coming from India, where brain drain is a big issue, the problem is that in any developing country’s road to prosperity, there’s going to have to be a couple of generations who are going to have to sacrifice personal potential in order to help the country. Not that there is an obligation to do so. It’s also compounded by the fact that going to the US today is one plane ticket away. The world’s much smaller. US cultural and media domination means that educated Indians get to see firsthand what life in the US is like (even if it’s pretty inaccurate or misleading, the perception’s created). The internet has made it much easier to seek out employment opportunities as well. I don’t know if the establishment in India will be able to mobilise a movement where the new highly-educated resists outside temptation to tend to the not-so-green grass on their own lawn.
I do not believe it is his ethical obligation to stay; it is his home country’s obligation and self-interest to build the structures that might entice him to not leave.
That said a strong and successful expat community occasssionally will come back as investors and in so doing provide those self same opportunities to those in a similar position, if the government has made doing so a reasonable option.
As a white South African male currently living in London, this is a question that is seldom far from my mind. I was a beneficiary of the Apartheid system, which gave me educational and finacial oppurtunities that were denied to my fellow countrymen. I feel a strong obligation to try and repay that debt as if by so doing, I can redress the imbalances of the past. And yet, here I am in London, furthering my career and lining my pockets. The plan (in the long-term) is to return home to settle and raise a family, and thereby I justify that I am gaining experience and skills that will help me make a difference when I do return… sometimes it works…
It is a Catch-22 situation for developing countries; without a safe, stable and prosperous society, people who have the ability to do so may well leave to follow oppurtunities elsewhere, but without people with drive and vision, the country will lack the facility to make that happen. And sadly, it is often the people who leave who are the ones that have the means to create the changes needed, as per the OP. As Gyan says, it often needs people to sacrifice their own self-interest to get a nation on the road to prosperity.
I don´t know the details of this particular case, but if the man went through the educational system of that country he pretty much owes it to his country. I see that here all the time, the state puts people through an entiere education (here even university is for free) and then WHAM! off to a foreign land. We are subsidizing many rich countries that way. :dubious:
We have many people where I work from a large asian country not known for its respect for personal rights or freedom. Many of those I have spoken to are here to enjoy an income, lifestyle, and opportunities unimaginable in their homeland. They also are happy to take full advantage of the educational and legal opportunities for their children. In return, they are asked to do no more than pay taxes. Pretty sweet deal, eh?
However, almost every one I have asked plans on returning to their country of origin once their children have graduated college.
So, I wouldn’t worry too much. In a short while you very well might see an eflux of well-to-do, highly trained professionals returning to apply their new skills and ideas to the betterment of their homeland.
Well to each his own, if you want/have gone to a major univercity , come out with degrees in your field and looking forward to the rest of your life , does it not make sense , to get the most experience in real life conditions, before returning to the home country.
I am not sure it would be fair for the nation to restrict movement based on the brain drain, however if individuals feel that way , then fine.
I think he should come here. I also think he should put up the money for the start up costs for someone in his family to open a Middle Eastern market.
With a deli, where they sell freshly made hummus. And baba ganouj. And halvah, because I have to have dessert… and maybel a little sit-down cafe in the front where they serve assorted yummy ME dishes with a plate piled with mint leaves instead of a salad, and Turkish coffee. There must be Turkish coffee.
Oh, wait, he might not be from the Middle East. That’s ok, I like Indian food, too. And, well, OK, I just like food. So, anyway, ethnic market with a little cafe so Americans can come in and think of the people of your friend’s country as wonderful people who make yummy things to eat, then feel bad that so many of the people still living in their country are living under oppression, and write their Congressman and ask her to put pressure on the Gummint to put pressure on Country X’s government to make improvements in the human rights department