Any nearby primate can comprehend the meaning of Donald Trump’s railing and threat displays, no language skills required. Gorillas deploy similar behavior when an intruder appears, or when a lower-status member threatens to unseat them: I rule here. Outsiders, keep out. In our connected meritocracy of global commerce, the abrupt rise of a technological elite and the gradual fall of straight, white male privilege is resulting in an unprecedented shift of power. Is it any wonder those on the losing end applaud Trump’s thumps? Let us be honest and admit that none of us likes losing status. The question, however, is what to do about it. Are immigrants really the problem?
Most Americans know that if California were a country, it would be one of the top ten economies. Fewer realize that more than a quarter of California residents are immigrants, according to the California Public Policy Institute. In addition, Silicon Valley draws more domestic migrants from across the country than any other urban area. But California is not the only thriving region with a cross-cultural mix. Singapore, the world’s top economy per square mile, is the global leader in drawing top talent to its cosmopolitan city state.
Why does economic success associate with an inflow of people from other places? Information and complexity theory teaches us that the more we interact with different views, different networks of knowledge, the better equipped we are for success. This is especially true in a rapidly changing world. The more data and different perspectives on the context of that data, the more likely we will make better decisions. An immigrant or migrant who enters a new culture has the advantage of understanding multiple contexts and connecting networks in both worlds.
In fact, statistics clearly show that immigrants and their offspring disproportionately contribute to American technological and business advantage. According to Business Insider, 57% of immigrants with patents immigrated to the US, rather than other countries. Some are so famous they need no first names: Einstein, Tesla, Carnegie and Astor. Not convinced? How about Andrew Grove of Intel, Sergey Brin of Google or Pierre Omidyar of EBay? If we add offspring of immigrants, the numbers include Steve Jobs. In fact, according to Forbes, 40% of Fortune 500 companies are run by immigrants or their offspring.
But does that mean we should admit any immigrants or just a few outliers? The international economic development group OECD has studied the impact of admitting outsiders to a nation’s team. It says that working-age immigrants add more than they cost societies. In fact, an uneducated immigrant is more likely to be a net contributor than an uneducated native. Long-term, the countries with lower segregation, who incorporate immigrants into their economy, show more economic advantage from immigration. The Economist cites multiple studies that show placing the same worker from a low-productivity nation into one with better infrastructure and more efficient systems increases output dramatically.
Immigration without inclusion, on the other hand, can do great harm. For instance, H1B visas give corporations the right to temporarily hire international talent at a lower price and send them back to their country of origin after a year. The corporation then closes its US division and puts the newly trained, less costly employee in charge of a new outsourced team abroad. IEEE, the largest professional society of engineers and computer scientists, recommends handing a green card to every STEM graduate with an advanced degree from US universities. Will this lower wages for engineers and computer scientists? Or will it entice companies who’ve outsourced to come flooding back to the US for the talent who would rather live here?
But how does migration fit in? Basically, it works the same way as immigration. Top universities, billionaire companies and federal behemoths in Silicon Valley, DC, NYC, Boston and elsewhere cause brain drain from across the US. As a result, outlying communities find themselves short of young adults. As older professionals retire, entire communities find themselves short of doctors, dentists and accountants, not to mention nurses, home maintenance and senior caregivers.
Our nation celebrates its founding by successful immigrant offspring, but rarely speaks of the many explorers who failed. For instance, one notorious Spanish team in Florida included sailors, soldiers and a few upper-class adventurers. They also brought along a priest to convert the locals and an illustrator to document the mission. The latter recorded how native residents attempted to teach the newcomers how to farm and where to fish. However, the explorers were accustomed to having others provide for their needs. Instead of learning to farm, they used their superior technology to steal natives’ food and enslave some of them. Not surprisingly, the locals rebelled and fled. Most of the remaining would-be conquistadors died of starvation. It was later teams comprised of men and women, sailors, farmers, blacksmiths and other tradesmen who founded the Colonies. These survivors traded with and learned from local residents.
Many outlying US areas are losing the mix of people that create thriving communities. Yet, like the failed conquistadors, they yearn to continue their former way of life. It’s easier to cheer an alpha male beating his chest than admit they need to change. After all, it takes humility to concede that people we used to disdain, however wrongly, excel in a New World that requires new behaviors. But humble pie might be an easier dish if someone showed them the real way out.
So far, no one has explained that they need higher bandwidth, not higher walls, to get back on their feet. They need better collaboration, not better barriers, to succeed in this New World. They need to attract talented migrants back, as well as immigrants anew. They need to realize that welcome mats, quality schools and high-quality services are the means of doing so, not the target for cuts.
Now is the time to act. Couples and families are fleeing high housing costs in Silicon Valley, NYC, Boston and other urban centers. Catching the outflow of talent is the true opportunity for lost communities to rejoin the economic mainstream. Welcome change, welcome newcomers, use their networks and learn from their viewpoints. Join the A-Team.
Saving Humankind-ness 