Yesterday, I listened to a radio show. It was about a book depicting the smuggling in NYC Chinatown, Authored by Patrick R. Keete. Patrick was interviewed and shared with us about his understanding of the smuggling of Chinese people to the US. He first made it clear that his story is not about smugglings of people against their well and life in China has been improving. This has left me with a good impression about this. Apparently, he is not a bigot. He pointed out that the snakehead was simply providing a service that was needed by some Chinese people. He even compared the smuggler with Robin hood. Then he had an in-depth discussion of where, who, how and why of this smuggling. He mentioned that most of the smuggling happened in Fujiang province. Ten years ago, most of capable people were smuggled and now, those who are less competitive were smuggled. Part of the interview was focused on how it happened. Contrary to the common perception of a smuggling where dereliction is prevalent, the snake head was taking care of those who she has helped to come to the US. The snake head helped them to land a job and helped them to mail money back to their home.
Later part of the show was focused on the why question. I always thought I knew why. I once had a roommate who was from Fujiang. Her boyfriend had found a job in Lanzhou. She was very happy with the idea to settle with her boyfriend in Lanzhou. However, there were numerous times that I heard her argument with her dad on the phone. He pushed her very hard to apply a university in the US. At that time, my dad was doing exactly the opposite. I couldn’t figure out why her father would push her daughter to go to a remote place. She told me that in her home town, most of the people envy those who went to the US. Based on her, those who had settled in the US were extremely tawdry when they returned to their hometown. Her father seemed to be petulant and his daughter was his only hope to excel his neighbors.
Before I finally decided to the US, I met another girl who cajoled her boyfriend to apply to schools in the US. She complimented her boyfriends frequently. I never liked compliments, and I always have a good eye for those manipulators. I think she was one of them. She just had too much compliments and none of them was from her heart. One day, she got drunk and she told me that the only reason that she is dating her boyfriend was because she wanted to use him to go to the US and the first thing that she would do when she arrive the US is to dump her boyfriend. She told me about a life with big house and big car….She told me that people in the US are benevolent.
From these two girls, I learned that the reason why people want to go to a different place was because that they think their life there will be better. They got those urges to get away from their current situation. One small such urge will last for years.
But in this show, the author revealed another reason: The economic reformation in China has generated an increasingly enlarged gap between rich and poor. Such gap has pushed people to seek opportunities that can make them one of those rich people. Going to the US seemed to be a risky or venomous but rewarding path.
I have to disagree. I have noticed the tendency of the scholars to tight social phenomenon with economic activities. Economy of course has undeniable influences on social activities. But I think that different economic constructs can still lead to the same social tendency. To explain population traffic, which is a geographic phenomenon, we still need to look at this problem from a geographic perspective. If there is a geographic difference in the income, there will be people who wanted to go to a high income place. This reason seemed to be simple. But it is the true reason. This reason may have different versions depending on individual differences. But I disagree about the author’s explanation to the motivation of smuggling, which is just one version of this reason. It was also an misleading explanation. It made you think that the economic deformation is bad..Think about it. In the US, the gaps between rich and poor are huge. Why there were few American smuggled to China?
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Chinese people are all over the world and have been for centuries. It is a custom for the Chinese people to go to other countries and make a life for themselves. It is nothing new. Scholars say this and that and write books that will document actions and then profess some meaning. Each person has their own motivation, an unhappy past, few oppotunities, an unfaithful partner, educational opportunities, a dream of future wealth or political beliefs. The next generation cares not about the reasons only about their own future. We add too much importance to our existence as we walk upon the ground of the peoples who have come and gone and of whom we don't even know their names and as we will be forgoten as well. Enjoy today..you need not think about why.
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