Foreigners in US Assimilate Quickly
There’s a lot European countries can learn from the United States. One of the things we can learn from our American ally is how to successfully assimilate immigrants. In the past, America was known for its ability to assimilate immigrants. Some may have thought - due to the immigration debate - that this assimilation-ability had decreased in the last 20 years or so. Those people are mistaken: never before have immigrants assimilated so fast.
There is something America does that most of us, Europeans, just don’t get, I think. There’s something about America that forces and strongly encourages people to assimilate. And we miss that something. What is it?
Firstly, I think it’s important to point out that many of those who migrate to the US do so because they want to live the American Dream. They do not just want to get by, they want to be successful. People who migrate to Europe are, normally, far less ambitious.
Secondly, America is a welfare state, but there isn’t much welfare going on compared to most (Western) European countries. If someone migrates to the US, he or she has to earn his or her own living. The government isn’t going to help an immigrant out much financially. In Europe, on the other hand, we cuddle them to death. We give them money. We give them a home. We give them whatever they want (including free bikes for God’s sake).
The result: they don’t feel forced to assimilate. In the US the idea is, if you don’t assimilate you die of hunger (rather harshly but you get my point I am sure). In Europe the idea is, if you don’t assimilate we’ll just give you everything you want for free.
A third reason is the strong economic growth in the US in the 1990s. This economic expansion “created more job opportunities at all levels, speeding the economic integration of immigrants.”
What’s fascinating is that the new generation of immigrants (to US) doesn’t speak English. When they arrive that is. Seemingly this doesn’t prevent them from assimilating quickly.
There’s a lot European countries can learn from the United States.
I really don’t have a comment on the post itself, just enjoyed seeing that you wrote that sentence and wanted to repeat it.
A fourth reason is that Americans, on the whole, are not nearly as xenophobic and bigoted as some people try to portray us. On the whole, merit and hard work succeeds here, and Americans are, on the whole, perfectly happy to work with people of all races and all cultures. Unlike the national identity of many European nations, our national identity is focused around a set of ideals, not bloodlines. If I were to move, say, to China, neither I or my children would ever really be "Chinese." But if a person from China moves here, they can be an "American" in very short order, and their kids will be very much American. I speak not of legalistic issues of citizenship, but of cultural identity and affiliation.
America does have one small edge today that we didn’t have for assimilating previous waves of immigrants. American mass culture is exported all over the world. To, it must be said, the intense irritation of many governments and cultures (not just exceptionally xenophobic ones). That means that an immigrant arriving in the United States has a head start in learning about the culture and being able to fit in.
Granted, the america that you see in movies and TV shows is not a real accurate reflection of the reality. But it is frequently a huge step in the direction of American reality from the culture that the immigrants are coming from.
The biggest factor is that most of us are decendents of immigrants. So its not so much where your from, but where are you going?
This is very correct. In my experience, Europeans tend to be more xenophobic. The reason for that is obvious: see comment number 4. The US is a country of immigrants, whereas European countries are not.
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WJ, that is correct as well. Good point.