Mobility

Our possibility is tied closed to the experiences, people, and things we have access to. What we have access to is largely a matter of where we have access to. The agility with which we are able to navigate our environment greatly affects where we go, what we see, and what we do. In other words, the breadth of our experience and the size and strength of our "sphere of influence" is correlated to our spatial mobility. Moreover, other people and things may come to us and are more likely to do so if they are highly mobile. Considering how much is invested in mobility, it is safe to assume that mobility is a dominant social constraint (The Hirsch Report, 2006).

Lately I've been thinking about ways that mobility affects society. One consequences of policies that control or restrict mobility.

Immigration policies greatly restricts mobility. I have several friends who came to the United States on education visas. Since they graduated, they have been dependent on finding and maintaining jobs at companies willing to sponsor a work visa. This is a an insecure and easily exploited position for a worker to be in. To make matters worse, work visas are granted very arbitrarily (lottery system), and are extremely expensive and competitive (often requiring a lawyer).

One obvious problem with current immigration policy is that it limits cultural interaction. It also seems to prevent educated workers from competing with their talent globally, which might actually raise wages, or at least make wages more balanced across different fields. Instead, only companies can compete with each other and can take advantage of workers locked into different contexts. Giving educated worker greater mobility would also allow labor markets to better address regional job surpluses and shortages. At the same time, immigration policies are often ineffective at reducing illegal immigration of uneducated workers. We are a long way from a truly global society and economy.