Re: economic migration

["Andy Turnbull" andyt@xxxxxxxx]

2) make it
more attractive for people to stay than to leave.???

Yes -- so the answer for poor countries is to become rich. Trouble is, the
people they educate to help them become rich often choose to take off, and
make themselves rich.


Migration between wealthy countries is no problem, but wealthy countries
should not accept (or, as often happens, actively poach) trained people from
poor countries that can't afford to lose them.


There is the other point, of course, that the person who takes an expensive
education from a poor country to profit from in a wealthy one is obviously
more interested in his/her personal welfare than in social responsibility,
and perhaps not the most desireable citizen for any country.




----- Original Message -----
From: "flash" 

To: 
Sent: Monday, December 15, 2008 2:16 PM
Subject: Re: economic migration



≪In Canada we have hundreds of doctors who were educated at their
country's expense, and at the expense of Canadian foreign aid projects,
who could live in relative luxury in their home countries, but who
choose instead to take the gifts their people have given them and that
we intended for their people, and live in more comfort here. ≫

You can hardly fault people for seeking greener pastures. Humans have
been migrating to greener pastures for millions of years. There's no
reason to think that has changed in the last 50 or will do in the next 50.

Economic migration is occurring within Europe, too. Germany educates
more medical doctors than it can employ, whereas Switzerland and
Scandinavia educate fewer than they need. So many German doctors
emigrate. The Swiss and Swedes are happy to have them.

A country can ill afford to let such resources wander away on a massive
scale. There are two alternatives: 1) force people to stay. That is
unacceptable for political reasons. One of the tenets of the open
society is not only to let people in, but to let them out. Or 2) make it
more attractive for people to stay than to leave.






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