I’m sure everyone has good answers to this question. I certainly have my own good ones, considering I’m an international student from Brazil.
But more than trying to explain the reasons why so many people come to this great country — some intending to immigrate, others in search of a better education and so on — I will extend my reflection to a few aspects of immigration that intrigue me.
Let’s first list some of the actual reasons. People looking for a better life (mainly in terms of economic conditions) know it’s easier and fairer to make an honest living here than in many countries in Latin America, for example. Also, people striving to escape from an authoritarian regime that make their lives miserable will consider moving to the United States or to Europe as a chance to start a better life.
In a different way, students from many countries live the dream/opportunity to study in an American university — and American academics are open to the benefits of having an international-student community. These are people that will enrich their knowledge and life experience here, then take it back to their countries. I’m part of this crowd.
Considering this, I must say I have a strange admiration for this country regarding its willingness to accept people from all over the world. But I must say it also puzzles me, considering the intolerance and prejudice against immigrants here, not to mention the strict legislation concerning the matter.
There’s also a strong cultural fact I can observe specially from a foreign point of view. My home country — like most other “developing” countries around the world — builds its culture based on the American way of life. I’m talking about capitalism, consumption, technology, show business and all the myriad of things and behaviors that characterizes the lives we live today. These export “goods” are so rooted in society outside the United States that there’s an awkward feeling — as if what we live there is only lived fully in the U.S.
Reaffirming that feeling, American movies show to the world the fantastic people and events that make anyone want to be part of “the scene.” Your thoughts and desires will at some point converge on the famous American dream well-portrayed in cinematographic detail.
And along with this admiration and ambition, there’s a kind of jealousy also cultivated by the notion that Americans have to exceed in everything. Who doesn’t want to be the best?
But there’s a dark side in all of this Americanism abroad. Aside from the fact the American culture is everywhere, for good or bad, the American establishment also makes itself present through military intervention, assuming a leadership role in conflict regions and sponsoring democratic “freedom” (more on those quote marks in a future column). The response to this truth is at many times the Anti-Americanism that has grown in scary proportions during the Bush years. This horrible tendency also brings people to the U.S. with criminal intentions.
It’s more than time to admit a couple of truths about America and the rest of the world — first, the U.S. is a nation that was founded by immigrants and is supported by millions of them.
And the world? Let’s say there’s a lot of America in every corner of it.
Marcelo Vieira is a jazz cello graduate student from Brazil. Follow him on Twitter @TDR_mvieira.
Contact Marcelo Vieira at [email protected]