Brain Drained
by MrsPartyGirl
My husband lost his job just before Christmas. After two weeks of job searching, he was promptly hired by another company. Apparently, qualified American telecommunications engineers are very hard to come by in America. On hindsight, I now wonder why we even panicked at his "temporary" unemployment. I suppose the occasion called for some semblance of depression. After all, unemployment is unemployment.
But, really, given the period of time that my husband got laid-off and then (re)hired, and given the apparent demand for his skillset, shouldn't the reality that the American labor force losing its competitive edge in the arena of engineering, science, and technology, call for some kind of alarm on the part of the American society?
Come to think of it, how did America reach its leadership in the technology race?
Isn't it that during World War II, the most remarkable Jewish scientists from Germany, Einstein included, sought political refuge in the US? That during the Cold War, the greatest scientists from the USSR defected to the US. Hasn't it been that for years, the US has granted scholarships (Fulbright included) to the smartest thinkers on the planet, subsequently offering tenure and residency. In effect, the US has drained other countries of their intellectuals, in order fill in the gap of its intellectual pool for the American society to benefit singularly.
Therefore, it follows that America will probably continue to sit on their science and math books, knowing that someone else in the world (who has actually read or learned from the books) can be lured into their country anyway.
And yet, China is slowly overtaking the US in the space race. And since they ruthlessly educate their population heavily in science and technology, they won't need to send their children to America to train or study. I guess it will just be a matter of time before, like all other products, space shuttles will all be Made In China as well. The America's world war against terrorism will hardly result in the migration of Al-Qaedan nuclear physicists, if any. So then, where will America get its engineers and scientists? Certainly not in Detroit.
Asia is made up of a force of learners. We place a high inherent value in education. But unlike our booming neighbors, we Pinoys are willing victims to the global labor supply and demand. We drain our own country's collective brain, in order to feed our collective stomachs. Now, it's a sad fact to know that Americans complain about losing jobs to Asians, when in fact if America was to hire its own people, they will not win this technological race let alone survive it.
So I guess it will be a while before I come home to my country again. Dare I pray that America never ever picks up its books so we can keep the dollars coming in securely inside my family's humble tampipi? Nope. I won't. Fact is, I do not want my 2-year old to grow up in a society that can't put two and two together. Very much not unlike now.
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Happy New Beginnings Everyone!
