2024-03-14
55 分钟How did a nation of immigrants come to hate immigration? We start at the beginning, sort through the evidence, and explain why your grandfather was lying about Ellis Island. (Part one of a three-part series.)
Today.
Let's start with a quiz.
First, I want you to think about the current global population.
Everyone who is alive today, that's roughly 8 billion people in just under 200 countries.
Of all those people in all those countries, what percent do you think live in a country other than the country where they were born?
Yes, this is a question about migration and immigration.
And I know that immigration is a subject that has many people flipping out, but I don't want you to flip out, at least not yet.
You will have opportunities later on.
So that's the question.
What percentage of the global population today are migrants?
All right, you have your answer.
Did you say 30%?
Did you say 20%?
Ten.
Here's the actual 3.6%.
If that number seems shockingly low to you, as it did to me when I first saw this number, there is a good chance that you are an american, because nearly 14% of the american population was born elsewhere.
Think about that.
Someone living in the US is nearly four times more likely than the global average to have left their home country.
There are a few countries with an even higher percentage of immigrants.
Canada, Germany, Australia, Saudi Arabia.