The thing about moving to America to start again and get a new life is that a lot of people who gripe about all of the immigrants don't recognize how many of their own have done the same thing, only within the country. This is a large country and it is entirely possible to migrate to another place, start all over, reinvent yourself, and become a smashing success in a new location. This is speaking from experience, my own, a great many people I know, and a great many more I'm related to. Not to say that I don't know the people I'm related to, but......well you get the idea.
A great many people come to America from other countries because there is economic opportunity here and there isn't in the place they are from. The same thing happens to some people if they happen to be from, say Arkansas, or Montana, or South Dakota, or West Virginia, or a host of other places that are primarily rural and small town. The motivated go to school and leave for larger cities with booming economies and more opportunity. The difference between themselves and the immigrants from other countries is that they don't have to learn a new language. If you happen to be from someplace like Arkansas or West Virginia you might want to leave the accent at the door, though. It sometimes gets in the way, just as that Mexican accented English can do for the immigrants.
The thing is that in America, a lot of this internal migration is regional. People from Michigan, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Indiana tend toward the City of Chicago. People on the East Coast, depending on where exactly you're located, go to New York City or Boston. There are Los Angeles and San Francisco migrations out West, or Portland or Seattle migrations in the Northwest. Where I come from most people end up in the economic powerhouses of Dallas-Fort Worth or Houston. Some go to Austin and some end up over in the Old South in Atlanta. And of course those with a government bent always hold out an eventual destination of Washington D.C. Opportunity abounds in a thousand different ways in a hundred different places.
I've even known some who grow up in large metropolitan areas who migrate to small towns and reinvent themselves as small town outdoorsy sorts. It happens, just not as often. There isn't as much economic opportunity there. Some become entrepreneurs. Some commute to larger cities to support their more rural lifestyle. Just not my cup of tea. Don't want rural or small town. Don't want suburban. My internal compass is drawn inexorably to cities and the bigger the better.
Bearing all of that in mind, I tried on a number of cities before I found one that fit. Went to Austin, Texas. Nope. Went to Minneapolis. Not quite. Even spent two years on a tropical island in the Western Pacific. Tropical? Yes. Paradise? Nope. Finally landed kerplop in the City of Chicago, the third largest city in the U.S., the largest city in the middle of the country, and arguably the capital of the middle of America. Chicago been very good to me. I started in a ratty little apartment, subsequently moved to ratty larger apartments, bought a house in an upcoming neighborhood, and somehow managed to land downtown with a place overlooking Lake Michigan.
Success boys and girls. Yes it is still possible in America. The key? Education, even if it isn't an Ivy League School or the University of Chicago or Stanford. It is possible for someone with education from state supported universities to put together a successful life with good choices and a nose to the grindstone kind of approach. State supported universities? No we're not talking about an MBA from Michigan or UCLA or UC-Berkley. We're talking about Arkansas State and Northeastern Illinois University. Okay I, personally, have to throw in a stint at Loyola University Chicago, but all in all a pretty modest educational background.
However, education is the key. No college? Quite often no job. The jobs that are available for the non-college educated are drying up and with them go the opportunity for a middle class existence for the high school only kind of person. Go to your local college or university and invest some time and money to get a Bachelor's degree and your prospects rise. Get an advanced degree from the same kind of college or university and they rise even further. Of course we're not talking stratospheric success like the elite who go to the elite universities. We are talking about a pretty comfortable existence and the prospect of being able to retire comfortably in a warm climate with swimming pools, tennis courts, and golf courses abounding.
The point here is that the American Dream still exists. It's just necessary to know the rules. A lot of immigrants from other countries endure incredibly low paying jobs and terrible poverty (by American standards) in order to get the opportunity for their children to play by the necessary rules and grab that American Dream. For those of us born in America, it is possible to move from poverty to that nice house and car and plasma TV in just one lifetime. It just means that you might have to migrate, which brings up another dilemma. The best and the brightest in small town and rural America leave. Those who stay behind are either part of the local economic elite or are the ones who will struggle to keep their heads above water the rest of their lives. The opportunities are not there. The ability to see a new way and create their own opportunities are all too often sadly lacking.
Meanwhile small town America loses population at an alarming rate and the cities and surrounding suburban areas grow at an increasing rate. One hundred years ago we were a country that was primarily rural and a person with little education could strike out and become a success. Fifty years ago a person with little education could achieve that American Dream by working in a factory or any of a thousand other blue collar jobs that paid a good wage. Today it is still possible to grab the ring, but you darned well better have some education and a salable skill that is useful in the 21st century.
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