They say the American dream is dying. By “they,” I’m not only referring to the thousands across the country in the Occupy Wall Street protests or the prolific number of reports trumpeting the United States’ growing lack of social mobility.
Rather, I’m also pointing to the as-of-yet-unofficial record number of Americans leaving the U.S.
Last week’s TIME cover story, for example, pointed out that we are no longer the world’s greatest “opportunity society,” as studies prove that moving up the socioeconomic ladder in European countries is now easier than in America.
As early as 2008, there were reports in publications such as the US News and World Report that told of the rising number of educated Americans in their 20-30s who were leaving to live and work in other countries.
In March 2010, the magazine International Living conducted a poll in which 96 percent of the respondents were more likely to move out of the United States than they were the previous year.
Though there is no official government data on the number of Americans who permanently leave the country, the State Department and IRS do keep track of official renunciations of U.S. citizenship. In 2009, the number was approximately 731. By 2010, it had doubled to 1,485.
This lack of governmental supervision of Americans moving out of the U.S. is not that surprising, given America has always been the land of opportunity, where anybody, regardless of racial, economic or social background, can become somebody.
Having immigrated here when I was five-years-old, I find myself with both a foreign and American perspective toward the situation.
There is definitely a different feeling living in another country, from the air you breathe to the architecture to people’s strange outfits.
At the same time, there is a certain allure to America. Not only are we stalwart defenders of democracy here and in other countries, but we also make awesome blockbuster movies and, in my subjective opinion, are home to some of the world’s most beautiful people, from George Clooney to Angelina Jolie.
However, as the voice of discontent gets louder and hardcore numbers prove that moving forward in America is no longer as easy as it is in Europe, perhaps there are solid reasons behind people wishing to live overseas.
Many European countries offer state-funded university education, interesting in light of the fact that less education was cited as a crucial correlation with increasing inequality in a recent joint Harvard University and University of California Irvine study.
It is disheartening to note the same study also found a financially-disadvantaged child will have a better chance of rising economically if he lives in an industrialized country other than the United States.
Plus, there are more frivolous advantages to living in another country, like not needing an excuse to take a daily nap in Spain or, if you’re in France, exploring why the country is home to the world’s most popular kiss.
As an immigrant to the States, though, I do feel the need to defend America in the midst of these foreign attractions and domestic issues.
I base this defense on the idea socioeconomic mobility is not the only embodiment of the American dream. The dream is multilayered and complicated in many respects, but it comes down to one inherent promise-freedom.
There are the freedoms of speech, thought, press, the standard ideals one can find in other democratic nations. But there is also the freedom of diversity, of difference, of having the opportunity to experience a bit of the world in our own richly diverse country.
No other nation in the world has the same diversity of cultures and ethnicities than we do.
While this does cause strife, if America can find a way to address issues of immigration law, racism, and other diversity-based problems, I don’t think there is much else that other nations could offer to rival what the U.S. has.
Except, maybe for guys, naked boobs on primetime television and, for us girls, tall, dark and handsome Mediterranean men.
Yoonj Kim is a Medill junior. She can be reached at [email protected].
