Say Anything Blog

It used to be that America was the destination for those seeking work, education and prosperity.  People are certainly still coming here for education, but more and more those people are leaving again because they’re getting a better deal somewhere else.

We surveyed 1,224 foreign students from dozens of nations who are currently studying at U.S. universities or who graduated in 2008. The majority told us that they didn’t think that the U.S. was the best place for their professional careers and they planned to return home. Only 6 percent of Indian, 10 percent of Chinese, and 15 percent of European students planned to settle in the U.S.

So why is America not the choice for these students?  There are a lot of reasons given, a good number of them cultural, but for the most part these students feel that America’s best economic days are behind it:

Many students wanted to stay for a few years after graduation if given a choice—58% of Indians, 54% of Chinese, and 40% of Europeans. But they see the future being brighter back home. Only 7% of Chinese students, 9% of European students, and 25% of Indian students believe that the best days of the U.S. economy lie ahead. Conversely, 74% of Chinese students and 86% of Indian students believe that the best days for their home country’s economy lie ahead. National Science Foundation studies have shown that the “5 year stay rates” for Chinese and Indians science and engineering PhD’s have historically been around 92 % and 85% respectively (NSF tracks these 5 years at a time, and the vast majority stay permanently). So something has clearly changed.

For generations, and for tens of millions of immigrants, America has been the “land of opportunity.”  People came here to live in freedom.  To have the ability to earn a living in the world for themselves and their families.

Now, increasingly, we’re the nation of equal outcomes.  A nation where the individual is compelled to subsidize the collective.  This isn’t a brave new frontier of economic opportunity any more.  This is now a country that talks about punishing those individuals and businesses who get too successful with government action.  Instead of demanding “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” we demand government goodies at the expense of everyone else. 

Our national attitude has changed, and not for the better.  This is evidence of it.