Is America at some crossroads?

SAN FRANCISCO, California — I just experienced the 4th of July on American soil for the fourth time. This year, in this city by the Bay, it felt different from the first three I had witnessed at this nation’s capital, Washington DC. Maybe it is because of the challenges of the times or maybe it is because I am in California, which some Americans say is not representative of what the American heartland is all about.

As I watched the gathering crowd along the Fishermen’s Wharf and the Embarcadero for the traditional fireworks, I could sense a kind of seriousness in the air. This traditionally was a day totally dedicated to celebrating the idea of America… with grilled hot dogs, hamburger and lots of beer. There is, of course, that strong sense of American patriotism too, but there is no denying the divide that separates the 50 states into the blues and the reds.

That serious ambience must have to do with the Iraq War and there is also the immigration issue… both hot topics, difficult for Americans to be neutral about. And all these are within the context of a country that couldn’t have been more different than the America that declared its independence from the British crown in 1776.

For one thing, there is the size. We now have an America that is just months away (in October, actually) from hitting the 300 million mark in terms of population. According to USA Today, this nation added 100 million people since 1967, to become the third most populous nation on earth, after China and India.

And the biggest driver for this population growth, according to USA Today, is immigration… legal and illegal. "About 53 percent of the 100 million extra Americans are recent immigrants or their descendants… without them, the USA would have about 250 million people today." This is why even as the other industrial countries are experiencing population declines, America’s just the opposite.

What’s more, as the USA Today article observed, "the newcomers have transformed an overwhelmingly white population of largely European descent into a multicultural society that reflects every continent on the globe." That’s also probably at the root of the great divide in America today. The melting pot isn’t melting the population fast enough. Knowing how to speak Spanish, for instance, is almost just as important as knowing how to speak English, at least in California, Florida, Texas and a few other states.

In the places I visited in California, Spanish is spoken so often that I am sorry I did not learn the language with the 21 units of Spanish we were forced to take in college. No wonder too, my son decided to learn Spanish from scratch after his first year in California. In the pre-school class that my daughter helps handle within the public school system in Garden Grove, California, most of her pupils are Hispanic, Vietnamese and other Asians and one white. The whites are no longer the majority in California.

In this context, I can understand why immigration is such a hot topic here. As the principal driver for population growth, there is fear that the existing infrastructure may be strained to the limit and thus result in a lower quality of life for all. As it is, the traffic jams in the freeways of Southern California are a daily frustration for thousands of commuters. This increased population pressure also caused an urban sprawl that has created mega cities with very real mega problems. There are those who worry about the impact of all these on the environment and natural resources.

So, the question that comes to mind as America approaches its future is how to redefine what America is to become in the light of its increasingly multicultural nature. Prosperity, or the dream for the good life unites them all, but it that enough? Can America survive a separate development of its European and Latin sides? The Asians are said to blend in better than the Hispanics but are also earning some envious looks. Their social ties and work ethic are springing them to the top faster than any other ethnic group.

Maybe that’s why I thought I felt July 4th this year in this city to be a little different from the past ones I witnessed in Washington DC. Americans have a lot on their minds today and even if the Stars and Stripes unite them still, they know they have to resolve some very tough issues sooner than later. And for sure, it isn’t going to be easy.

Tio Paeng

I had the opportunity to check out former Bangko Sentral Governor Paeng Buenaventura who had been taking chemotherapy sessions at Stanford Medical Center in Palo Alto. He is looking fine, gained some weight in the couple of months he had been in the Silicon Valley area. He hopes to be able to get back home by the middle of next month.

Fighting cancer is serious stuff but I am glad to note that Tio Paeng seems to be in pretty good spirit. The other good thing that has happened, he told me, is that he rediscovered the Church. He credits his wife Marivic, for that one and some old Jesuit friends here.

Marivic has gone back to painting and was for a while, also taking care of her brother, Joey Rufino, a most loyal political adviser of Ate Glue. That makes Marivic a de facto caregiver, I guess. Thanks to the Internet, they are all able to keep in close touch with developments back home.

They all need our prayers, all you friends out there. Palo Alto may be one pretty place to have a long vacation in, but given their situation, this is one time when they can use all the spiritual strength only our prayers can give.

Outsourcing

I got this email from PhilSTAR reader Gener del Rosario, in reaction to a recent column.

I am a retired 60-year-old naturalized (Pilipino) American who plans to retire in my beloved birth country next year. Once settled down, I intend to teach (pro-bono and part-time) in my former high school (now a college), and share my hard-earned experience and knowledge with our young kababayan.

Your article in Philstar.com <http://Philstar.com> underscored the fact that unless something is done by both the legislative and the executive branches of our government, and by the leaders of the private sector, our country will continue to miss many more growth opportunities - a trend we have continued to demonstrate since the end of World War II.

Just think back that in the early days after the war, Japan was totally devastated (economically and politically), and Korea suffered the same faith several years later. Singapore and Hong Kong (to lesser extent) were unknown to the business world. For many years, Manila was the "stop over" for all international airlines going to and coming from those countries. Up until the mid 70’s, every major US and European financial institutions had presence in Manila.

Now, all of the mentioned countries are economically and politically well ahead of the Philippines. It is almost impossible to get any flights to Manila without stopping over in those countries, and Manila is certainly no longer a major financial center in Asia.

Human resources became our best export to the rest of the world. I have traveled extensively during my working days and have seen and have met many of our kababayans working as housemaids and as dirt-level laborers (especially in the Middle East). I never felt any shame about that and had in fact felt proud of the strong resolve of our kababayans to earn honest wages even if it meant sacrificing family unity.

But, I nevertheless felt, the grand shame of the failure of our government to provide its citizens with livelihood means within its borders - in spite of the "opportunities" Philippines have had since the end of WW2.

We need more journalists like you to press/to change the focus of those public and private authorities that could, by God’s help, lead to disciplined and unselfish leadership. The continued outflow of key talents to richer and safer pastures cannot be remedied through restrictions and penalties. Please continue therefore to highlight (to public officials and common masses) the causes and the risks of missing those opportunities.

May God be with you.

Wise words

Someone sent me these wise words.

Success is a relative term - It brings so many relatives!

Boo Chanco’s e-mail address is [email protected]