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Poll: How many generations removed from immigration are you?

news.ycombinator.com

21–30 of 70 posts

Re: Poll: How many generations removed from immigration are you?

#21
post #5

Ticked two - Dad came from Ireland to Australia, I was born in Australia but am now living in the UK, not sure if I'll stay here though...

I immigrated to the U.S. in my teens. Just moved to Australia 20 days ago :-P

I think I am done "immigrating" in the classic now. Now I am just another yank living abroad :-)

Re: Poll: How many generations removed from immigration are you?

#23
My immediate family has migrated thrice in the last 15 years and it is not over yet. As long as I can remember, we always had plans to move somewhere else. I plan to end it when I reach the northern part of the Western Hemisphere (hopefully excluding Western Africa and South/Central Americas :)).

Re: Poll: How many generations removed from immigration are you?

#24
I'm a 17-year-old student that, at the age of 5, immigrated from the People's Republic of China to the United States (originally settling in the suburbs of west Philadelphia (not born, but raised) then New Jersey and lastly Massachusetts.)

I'm also an entrepreneur (on my 8th) and extremely thankful for the opportunities that the US presents (makes everything on http://markbao.com possible.) Entrepreneurship in China probably isn't as bad as, say, North Korea, but definitely appreciate all the opportunities here. Reading that article, it's definitely true.

Though I can't say that other places don't have the same opportunities, since I have no prior experience elsewhere.

Re: Poll: How many generations removed from immigration are you?

#26
post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not entirely sure how you deem this poll to be US-centric. It's the result of a discussion on immigration relating to innovation in the US, sure, but I understand the poll to be more of a look at whether that applies to the Hacker News community. My point is, vote! It's an interesting poll.

My point is that to me, and perhaps to many who don't live in the USA, the entire question feels USA-centric. There's a significant difference between being a first generation Bulgaria->Sweden immigrant and being a first generation Germany->Netherlands immigrant. It's just fundamentally different, and I think a poll like this demonstrates a non-understanding of that. The thinking in the USA seems to be that either yo…

There are a number of countries besides the US that self-identify as "built by immigrants". Canada, Israel, and Australia come to mind. And in the United States too, there is a world of difference between being a Mexican, Dutch or Canadian immigrant. Like many big life changes, immigration is lived differently by everyone, but everyone will tend to look at the broad phenomenon through the lens of their own experience. Spoken as an Eastern European who moved to the states in childhood...

Re: Poll: How many generations removed from immigration are you?

#29
post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not entirely sure how you deem this poll to be US-centric. It's the result of a discussion on immigration relating to innovation in the US, sure, but I understand the poll to be more of a look at whether that applies to the Hacker News community. My point is, vote! It's an interesting poll.

My point is that to me, and perhaps to many who don't live in the USA, the entire question feels USA-centric. There's a significant difference between being a first generation Bulgaria->Sweden immigrant and being a first generation Germany->Netherlands immigrant. It's just fundamentally different, and I think a poll like this demonstrates a non-understanding of that. The thinking in the USA seems to be that either yo…

The thinking in the USA seems to be that either you're an immigrant or you're not, with no distinction between the variation of cultures.

That's the ideal in some of the USA, but it's by no means the historical norm. The traditional thinking in the USA has always been that either you're an immigrant from Awesome Culture X or Y, and therefore the salt of the earth, or you're from Despised Culture Z or Q, and therefore a dangerous foreign influence that needs to be controlled.

The darkly amusing feature of our culture is the routine reshuffling of the categories.

Re: Poll: How many generations removed from immigration are you?

#30
post #11

I'm not in the USA - does that mean you don't care? My family is still entirely in my country of origin, and they are at least four generations there. I am the first in my family to move to another country, hence I am an immigrant. I run two companies, employ 25 people, and don't have a visa. To avoid spoiling your USA-centric poll I haven't ticked an option.

Neither Am I, but my grandmother was German. The poll doesn't have to be as USA-centric as you make it :-) On a sidenote, At her funeral a few years ago I found out that in 1908, at the age of 11, she was put on a train from Germany to Denmark with noone to pick her up at the other end. Her German family was in extreme poverty and gave her a one way ticket to another country, hoping that someone would pick her up and…

Thanks for the great story. I have many like that (but I'll spare you).

My grandparents endured hardships I can't even imagine. They had nothing. Absolutely nothing. And they were 4 of the happiest people I ever met. Go figure.

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