Not Leaving

One of the more interesting memes I'm picking up over here is that the young people do not want to move to America. 

Back in the day, if you heard that, you'd think that they are just being patriotic, or careful, or resigned to the difficulty of getting a visa.  And there was plenty of evidence that if they really had a shot to go, they'd go in a heatbeat.

But now - I will admit this is mostly second- and third-hand, - the indifference to emigration to the USA sounds pretty genuine.  Why move to America?  Asia, they'd say, is now the land of opportunity.  America has great schools but sad infrastructure and too much unemployment, and hopes at best for three percent growth when China would panic if theirs dropped to six.  The best of America - films and Starbucks, say - is here.  The Internet (a restricted one, although my hunch is not very much in practice) is everwhere.

It could well be talk only.  I think you could look at some statistics to check it - like, how are visa applications running.  You could talk to the graduate students in the USA.   You could poll it - maybe someone has.  But there sure seems to be a shift taking place.

The young people I meet here - and it's mostly young people I see - are friendly, well turned out, and seem... poised.  As if they are not worried about their future.  That's good, right?