Our Brains Will Drain Away

The Best and the Brightest Will Leave

There is a common thread in Medium articles lately; several writers have been discussing our national Brain Drain and I am frightened they are correct.

I grew up in Ohio and in the early 1990’s there was a series in the Toledo Blade that caused an uproar. It was about Brain Drain.

What is Brain Drain? It is when the educated refuse to stay in small cities, towns and boroughs, because life in large cities offers more opportunity for them. Cities offer better jobs, higher pay, cultural scene, amenities and social life for young adults.

When the article appeared, it made me angry. I was college educated in Ohio. It took me over a year to find a job in my chosen field, (and I had to work three part time jobs to make ends meet,) but I was gainfully employed in Toledo.

Although the article pushed my buttons, I had to admit it was true. The best and the brightest were leaving Ohio in droves. College graduates in engineering, technology fields, medical fields and scientific research were getting wonderful educations at Bowling Green State University, University of Toledo, Ohio State University, Xavier University and Case Western Reserve University.

Then the best and the brightest were gone. Eventually, so was I.

I don’t have to be a statistician or sociologist to see we are headed for another Brain Drain. Only this time, it is on a national scale and America will suffer incredible losses as a result.

Recent policies at the federal level have young people concerned what their futures will look like.

Young women have been stripped of their rights over their own bodies and futures. People are losing their rights to vote. A Supreme Court is hell bent on forcing an antiquated viewpoint and perspective on Americans.

Racism and violence against Black Americans has left young people dead and communities shattered. Police officers’ use of excessive force, drugs and crime all fuel the fires of mistrust and hate.

Our governmental leadership is corrupt. Elections are about winning, even if breaking the law is involved. No one seems to consider opposing viewpoints or cultures as they make unilateral edicts on our population.

The LGBTQ community is rightfully afraid they will lose their rights to marriage and parenting their own children. Pastors are encouraging their congregations to hate and even kill LGBTQ people. In Florida, the government is encouraging citizens to not only take the law into their own hands, but also turn in anyone who says the word “gay” in school.

Our polarizing division, hatemongering and misinformation have caused increased suicides, anxiety disorders, and a host of physical ramifications of increased stress on our bodies and society.

Young people are afraid to go out to bars, concerts, movie theaters, parades, and even schools because they may be shot. The young people who are paying attention are frightened. They no longer feel welcome in their country.

They are also thinking about leaving. America doesn’t hold the promise for them of their parents and the generations who came before. This 246 year experiment is on the brink of destruction, and young people clearly see the cracks in the Democracy we held dear.

Where will they go? We live in a global society. Young people will adapt and find employment. Many of them already work from home. There is nothing stopping them from moving their homes to other, more accepting, countries.

As the best and the brightest, the creative, and the strong leave America, where will our future lead? Rural areas will fall further away from the jobs and promise of success. Our technology, education, jobs, infrastructure and future will be at stake and permanently devoid of brains.

As my young person says she is “ready to leave this country” for the umpteenth time, I remind her of the battle women faced in trying to establish their right to vote. I remind her that John Lewis could have left the country instead of walking across the Edmund Pettus Bridge to certain abuse and possible death. I remind her if it weren’t for Martin Luther King’s fight, we wouldn’t have progressed over the past 50 years. I remind her it took courage for students to stand up against the National Guard on a campus in Ohio to resist war in Vietnam. I remind her if it weren’t for the LGBTQ marches and the women’s marches in the 1970’s, we wouldn’t have had any rights for these groups. And now we need to fight to keep them.

I remind her America is worth fighting for. It is her generation who now can vote, and can make the changes necessary for a more inclusive future!

Here are several thought provoking articles on Brain Drain from talented Medium authors. Thanks John Lewis, Scott-Ryan Abt, Ossiana Tepfenhart, Craig Axford, and ScottCDunn.

© July 2022