Stolen from Jim Pinto

Here is a little snippet from Jim Pinto's Monthly Newsletter. Good reading from a man in my industry.

AMERICA'S IMMIGRANT INGREDIENTS
In a fast-changing world, the drag on Western Europe and Japan was
their own insular, old cultures, relatively rooted in long history.
By contrast, America was completely different. The country was
founded by immigrants and its culture was an eclectic integration
of many cultures, more than anywhere else in the world.
The thing about immigrants - and this applies today as it did
throughout history - is their willingness to adopt the ways of
their new country, and to work hard to succeed in their new world.
That's what made America what it became. Those are the roots
of the "American Dream".

The first Americans were predominantly Europeans. There were Chinese
and others too, but they seemingly adapted to the Euro-like cultures.
Strange names were shortened, or anglicized, as they became the new
Americans. This was the spirit and enterprise which built the most
successful, powerful and admired country in the world.

Today America itself has become an "old country". Paradoxically,
the nation of immigrants doesn't like immigrants. Especially in
a down economy, old Americans are uncomfortable and resentful of
immigrants who are seen as "taking their jobs". Often, immigrants
are confused as being "illegal", even when they are not.

This resentment is not focused on just low-end jobs. As a case in
point, consider why Indian immigrants seem to dominate in US
Software/Hi-Tech companies, and why there is a xenophobic backlash
against managers from India at Wonderware, a software company based
in Southern California.

1. Many Indian immigrants are engineers who came to the US for
higher studies. Some came with a one-way ticket, a few dollars
in their pocket, two suit-cases (one full of books and one with
clothes) and a letter of acceptance from an American graduate
school.

2. As these people were growing up (during the 1970s and 80s)
their backs were pretty much to the wall - failure was not
an option. Immigrant parents put a lot of value in education;
their kids are driven to do well academically, and to work hard
to succeed.

3. In Software (as in Medicine, count the number of Indian doctors
in major hospitals) because of their educational and cultural
background, these people kept rising to the top. Software
requires engineers who spend long hours to learn and think -
it's like Math, the more you practice the better you become.

4. Through hard work and good results, Indians started moving into
marketing and senior management jobs at Wonderware. There were
always lots of Indians working at lower levels; but as soon
as they were promoted to higher levels of management, there
was resentment. Why?

Now, here's a twist. NY Times columnist Tom Friedman quotes the editor
of a newspaper in India, who (tongue in cheek) proposes immigration as
the cheapest and surest way to stimulate the US economy. He wrote:

"All America needs to do is grant visas to two million Indians,
Chinese and Koreans. They'll buy up all the sub prime homes, work
18 hours a day to pay for them, immediately improve the savings
rate. (No Indian bank today has more than 2 percent non-performing
loans because not paying your mortgage is considered shameful
in India.) These immigrants will start new companies to create
their own jobs and jobs for more Americans."

Tom Friedman adds his own plea:

"America, please remember how you got to be the wealthiest country
in history. It wasn't through protectionism, or state-owned banks
or fearing free trade. No, the formula was very simple: build this
really flexible, really open economy, tolerate creative destruction
so dead capital is quickly redeployed to better ideas and companies,
pour into it the most diverse, smart and energetic immigrants from
every corner of the world."

Think on this: Are YOU part of the "old" America? Or the new?