Bring me your tired, your poor . . .?
The other night I spent hours chatting with a man originally from Bulgaria. Growing up in the economic doldrums that was post-Communist Bulgaria, he had little hope for the future. The government controlled everything. Corrupt officials blocked anyone who needed a business license - unless they got a bribe. People were used to barely working for little money, and they did not know how to work for themselves. “Then my brother went to the States,” he told me. “And he called me back and he said, ‘You have to come here. There is so much opportunity.’ So I started to learn English and I went.” At first my heart warmed as he described the differences between Bulgaria and the United States. He told me how easy it was to start a business in America, how transparent the process was, how hardworking the people were. Then he began to lament. “I have a friend who grew up in Communist Russia,” he told me. “He said to me just the other day, ‘I fled Communism to the United States. And now it has followed me here.’”
Time was, America grew on the ideal that any man, by virtue of the sweat of his brow and the dint of his labor, could make himself into what he wanted to be. But as my Bulgarian friend told me, that dream is fading fast. “They are raising my taxes so high,” he said. “They are taxing me to death. They are passing ridiculous laws that keep business from growing. They have so many rules and licenses, you can never get all your papers. They are mandating unaffordable healthcare.” Except for his dismissal of the Second Amendment, this man could have been any Tea Party Patriot. Yet there was one difference: he knew firsthand what he was talking about. He had already been there, and he did not want to go back.
“I will probably have to leave,” he told me, sadly. “Many of my friends, many people I know, are coming to the States to study. Then they go to places like China where the entrepreneur is welcome.” We drifted to other subjects, but I could not shake a sense of sorrow. Truly, truly, something is dying in America.
Just a week later, I got a lump in my throat as the scene practically repeated itself. I live in Puerto Rico, an island that shares a special bond with the United States. Puerto Ricans are American citizens, which means they are free to come and go to the mainland. Traditionally, Puerto Ricans who fall on tough times leave the island to go to the States. I was at lunch with a large group of friends, most of whom are struggling to make ends meet.
“It’s not what it used to be,” one of the women, who is an elementary teacher, said. Her frown was worried. “You can’t just go and find a job anymore. Something is different.”
“Have you looked into that China thing yet?” asked another friend.
A shiver went down my back and I leaned away from my private conversation to listen. The three teacher friends were discussing teaching opportunity in China. I listened in shock as once again the common themes of opportunity, open licensing, lack of paperwork, and low taxes came to the fore. To hear normal, well educated, bilingual teachers discussing how much more opportunity there might be in China made my heart sink into my shoes.
What is wrong in America these days? Where have we gone wrong? Why is it that one feels in the air fear that America’s best days are behind it? Humans are by nature fearful of change, but I almost get the sense that thoughtful people are quietly preparing for a post-America world. Added to that, I can think of several friends of mine who are currently out of work in the mainland States.
If America is to become once again the land of opportunity, we need to look back to what made her great. Tons of paperwork, endless reams of bureaucratic forms, and sky-high taxes are turning us into Bulgaria. And as my friend said, “I don’t have enough money to grease the palms of every corrupt official. So I had to choose between my homeland and my future.”
