Michael Parekh comments on the article Boomer’s Good Life Tied to Better Life for Immigrants, published by the Wall Street Journal:
The quality of life for some 80 million graying baby boomers in the U.S. may depend in large part on the fortunes of another high-profile demographic group: millions of mostly Hispanic immigrants and their children. [...]
In California, for example, there were 9.7 million baby boomers between the ages of 40 and 49 in 2005, who accounted for 51% of the prime working-age population. By 2020, they will be 55 to 74 years old, with most boomers on the brink of retirement or about to plunge into it.
The weight of this aging population will swell relative to the pool of working-age people. The ratio of senior citizens to prime-working-age people, 25 to 64 years old, will jump 30% in the decade between 2010 and 2020 and an additional 29% in the following decade, according to Prof. Myers.
All told, the ratio of seniors to working-age residents, including immigrants, will grow from 250 seniors per 1,000 working-age people in 2010 to 411 per 1,000 in 2030, he calculates.
In the spirit of migration changing the world, the WSJ article observes that the tired debate over national security has blinded most politicians (and their followers) from the real objective: to create an all-inclusive society that grows strong and capable of sustaining the life-style that we are used to. Otherwise, the will of the aging population will be diluted by the conditions and skills of a workforce limited in education and a dramatic slow down will be inevitable. One way or another migrants will prevail. It is up to us to decide in what capacity they participate of the future growth of our countries.
The world goes to town is The Economist report on the important milestone that I wrote about a couple of weeks ago in slums of hope: our urban obsession would’ve finally conquered the majority of the world population. A must-read, the special report touches on all the important themes related to the evolution of cities in the age of globalization and migration. Since some of the themes have been recurring in this space, I created a brief summary of the special report with links to my own posts on cities:
to be continued…
Jorge from Catenary has a brilliant post about life as an immigrant:
Being an immigrant can be an alienating experience: you come to a strange city and you just take it for granted –you’re there but you could be anywhere, the city’s history is a blur, it’s just a place where you sleep, eat, and work, it’s a space that simply is not home.
Making it home is laborious, but fascinating if you’re up to it. I’ve been in Toronto for more than 3.5 years, and I keep discovering corners and stories that make me appreciate it all the better.
At this point his post does a very interesting analysis of urban archeology, digging precious bits of information about his adoptive city from an old map, circa 1898. In the process of doing so, he has probably become more knowledgeable about Toronto (Canada) than many native Torontonias. And before I get all kinds of rants denying this fact, let me point out that I’ve seen this effect take place very commonly. In fact, I admit that it was only after I left my country of origin that I found myself interested in its history and culture in ways that were never so strong while I lived there.
It may be interesting to leverage the capacity that immigrants have to appreciate a city to such degree as this knowledge could provide important ideas on how a city must evolve. Combine this with the fact that certain immigrants have experienced life in many different places and you have a powerful engine to lead urban improvements.
One of my favorite sites, WorldChanging posted the article Can Migration Change the World? by Alex Steffen. I applaud the fact that migration is recognized as a force that can shape the world and lead positive change:
Maybe we need to start to rethink migration, not in the light of the discussions we’ve had in the past (huddled masses and all), but in the light of a 21st Century, globally-intertwined society. Migrants, though they may be looking to better themselves, ought perhaps to be seen (here in the Global North) as our partners in creating the prosperity we expect; and we ought to perhaps regard our interactions with them as the best opportunity we have for global diplomacy and sustainable development
However, realizing that we have explored this topic in much more depth here I felt compelled to add a few comments to their post:
You address the usual issues: remittances, migrant integration and even suggest a few novel ideas such as micro-financing which is proving to be quite effective for certain type of action. Allow me to share what I’ve learned after almost a year of editing the Global Culture blog:
To talk about the North and the South as if each belongs to different kinds of people is an outdated view. Look around, wherever you live and realize the South IS in the North. While migration waves are not as strong as they were at the beginning of the XX century, they are close to those numbers and modern globalization is just getting warmed up. So, there is no point in talking about policies to manage migrants as within a generation they will be well rooted into whichever destination they pick.
Instead, we must emphasize on an education that promotes global awareness, that embraces the fact that there is a profound connection between almost any two cities, because this will be true in the not-too-distant future. We must learn from the cities that have thrived as a result of their numerous migrant populations because these social experiments are the most likely scenario for all others.
In a true Global Culture, empowered global citizens can embrace their new identity as cultural ambassadors, finding ways to create links with their places of origin. There is very strong evidence that second-generations to the current wave of migrants will produce masses of Third Culture Kids with ample sense of tolerance for other cultures, allowing more profound integration.
Regardless, I think is a huge step to share the goal of a better future through the proper understanding on global issues such as migration.
Prof. Mike Madison has published his Manifesto for a New Pittsburgh, recognizing above all that in an era of hyper-connectivity there are plenty of resources that cities must take advantage of in order to leverage the influence they have on other regions by means of their fellow citizens who have migrated.
In the 21st century, connectivity is key and king, and in that connected world, Pittsburgh has a unique asset, which we call the Pittsburgh diaspora: the thousands of people who live around the world yet who still identify closely with the Steel City. They grew up in Pittsburgh, worked in Pittsburgh, or have family in Pittsburgh. By identifying with Pittsburgh they energize it emotionally. We believe that it is possible to translate that emotional energy into economic energy. Pittsburgh can, should, and must recapture and benefit from the intellectual, economic, and cultural capital associated with the Pittsburgh diaspora. That capital is distributed geographically, but it can be invested locally.
In tone with my previous post big city, in which I wrote about how world change must start by focusing on big cities, the effort from Prof. Madison will likely lead to widespread change with roots in the Pittsburgh local scene, but impact well beyond it.
One piece of feedback I would offer to the Manifesto is that to talk about all the dependencies that Pittsburgh has on other cities, regions or countries has a negative connotation, almost of abandonment to the will of others. I believe it is much more productive to use the balancing force: influence. Influence that is exercised through the thousands of connected citizens that have a position of power in those regions. In a globalized world, it is true that every city depends on others, just as much as each city has influence on others. The main difference is that we can do a lot more with the latter.
A few additional observations on the principles stated by the Manifesto:
- Connect and reconnect with the virtual Pittsburgh: this principle acknowledge that we live in a global society and that to be a citizen of a city doesn’t require to live in it. Those who have ties to the city can very well participate in its development.
- Bring new resources to the region: in my opinion, to be connected to a city implies that you’re either producing or consuming resources from it. Either way this second principle is a consequence of the first one and I don’t believe it must stand on its own.
- Energize Pittsburgh’s culture and community: the very elusive concept of culture makes an appareance here and we should be careful to understand its deep implications. Every city should have a personality of its own, a distinctive mark by which its citizens feel part of the community and no other one. Deeply engrained into their cultural learning are the codes that make the ties permanent, regardless of how far they go. Surfacing these cultural codes or values is in my opinion what “energizing” means in this context.
- Listen for new voices: meaningful change is coming from citizens that had not been engaged in the political life of a city. It is them who understand the dynamics of this new global reality and master the various technologies that would allow for the virtual city to connect. I would add that if looking for new voices, there is a very well defined group of global citizens that posses the insight needed to drive this type of change.
- Change the face of Pittsburgh: I applaud the recognition that new global cities must be inclusive of all immigrants, as they are agents of change for their respective cities and will lead to valuable opportunities.
- Build on the best of Pittsburgh’s past: Our past is part of our culture. I don’t see how this principle is different from #3.
- Recognize the geopolitics of the neighborhood: that is to say assume that all neighborhoods are now global.
- One more principle I believe should be included is the realization that changing a city is the same as changing the world. By focusing our energies into developing all the other principles within the context of a particular city, we are also allowing for change to propagate throughout the world.
The relevance of this manifesto is already being appreciated by others such as another hundred years hence and CEOs for Cities.
Via Burgh Diaspora
After being offline (no web, email or blogs!) for over a week I’m catching up with my feeds to find the stories that tell the tale of this incredibly diverse world. The first one comes via Michael Parekh about an editorial on Barron’s Online entitled End the Work-Visa Lottery by Thomas G. Donlan:
[April 2] was the first day that applicants could file for the 65,000 H-1B visas that admit foreigners to work in the U.S. as engineers, programmers or other skilled workers. By that afternoon, more than 150,000 people had filed. By Tuesday afternoon, the golden gates were closed.
The posts complain about the lottery-type of system in which as many as 85,000 applicants and their sponsors will be left without a solution. Because of the type of visa, these are immigrants that have already found a job in the United States. According to the H1 Base site there is already legislation being pushed to top the number of accepted immigrants through this type of visa to 115,000 and allow for annual raises to 180,000 as market conditions dictate.
The nature of these visas allows applicants to apply for a permanent resident visa down the road should they decide to stay, which is why it is such a popular avenue for immigrants seeking to start a new life full of opportunities.
In the utmost global citizen, I talked about the value of being a global citizen. Now I would like to address what I consider is the single most important mission of this project: building a community of global citizens. Why? It is clear to me that many of the social structures on which the world depends today are evolving to dilute the authority given by traditional institutions that work within the boundaries of any particular nation. We should expect new groups to appear that inherit the role of those institutions but act in a global context. Knowing who are the people better prepared to assume these roles is a valuable task that we must pursue as a society.
I must clarify that I’m not naive to believe that such a community doesn’t exist already. In fact, over the last few months, as part of the process of writing this blog, I’ve come across many virtual communities that cluster individuals with an affinity for global themes.
- Migrants: this is an area where I’ve seen a lot of activity. It is only natural for people moving to a foreign country to want to reach out to their compatriots. How big is this community? In immigrant population I mentioned 190 million immigrants worldwide. Of course a very small number are online, but they all wish they were in order to maintain a link to their countries of origin. This is why another goal of this project is to help this group get online.
- Third Culture Kids: or the “second generations” of those migrant families. They have grown knowing at least two cultures and as a result are better suited to embrace global culture. This is a well documented social effect.
- Foreign Workers: those that while don’t migrate definitely are exposed to other cultures as a result of their jobs, and are capable of comparing industry performance across geographies.
- Frequent travelers: many very active online communities of travelers exist. Mostly sharing their experiences on the multitude of destinations they touch.
While I think there is a certain challenge in attracting people currently participating in these communities, I don’t necessarily think their participation must be exclusive of one or another. However, I’m convinced that aggregating all these communities in such a way that a certain cosmopolitan rank can be analyzed is an exercise that would create value beyond what these people can get within their own isolated communities.
Once we are able to create such a community and determine who the global citizens are, I believe the gathering of the top 100 people to discuss matters of global implications would create value that many organizations would be willing to pay for. What do you think such group could accomplish?
{democracy:6}
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