Posted on 08/28/2023 8:40:03 AM PDT by Hojczyk
Martha Njolomole is one of the most extraordinary people I know. She grew up in Malawi, in East Africa. Her family was poor, although not particularly so by Malawian standards. Her home had neither electricity nor running water. She walked a considerable distance to and from school, and when she got home she walked a mile or two to a well for water, which she carried home in a bucket on her head. (Obviously, her family owned no vehicle.) That was drinking water; her family washed their clothes in a nearby river. They had no means but candles to light their home after dark. Martha loved to read, but her family owned no books, so she obsessively read scraps of newspapers that she found lying about.
At age 16, Martha won a scholarship to study in the United States. She was lucky–the top seven finishers on the national test won scholarships to study in China. She was one of three runners-up. Having never traveled far from the town where she grew up, Martha boarded an airplane for a 30-hour journey to Alabama, where she enrolled at Troy University. Nine years went by before she saw her family again.
Malawi is essentially a socialist country, with the government providing pretty much all services. Very badly. Martha’s original idea was that she would study economics so that she could return to Malawi and help the government to do things more efficiently. Happily, at Troy she found herself in an economics department that subscribes to the Austrian school. Her curriculum was heavy on Hayek and von Mises, with a liberal dose of Friedman. She was good at math, and excelled in econometrics. She stayed on at Troy to get her master’s degree in economics.
Upon getting her master’s degree, Martha looked for a job in a conservative or libertarian think tank. John Phelan (himself an immigrant) and I interviewed her via Zoom and liked her a lot. Since 2019 or so she has done terrific work for American Experiment as an economist.
It is hard for an American to appreciate that during her six years as a student in Alabama, Martha had no money. For the first four years she didn’t own a cell phone, and communication with her family was only occasional. An airplane ticket was out of the question. Going to work for us, she finally had an income and was able to save some money. She wanted to visit her family in 2020, but was stymied by covid shutdowns. She finally made the trip last year and, among other things, saw for the first time a younger brother who had been born while she was in the U.S.
Traveling in Eastern Europe and then China, as a young man, helped turn me from a post-modern, go-with-the-flow Democrat (the girls were always a lot easier on the Left) to an Austrian, and a traditional Catholic.
Martha seems like a a remarkable woman.
Thank you for posting this.
From the article:
“Martha’s original idea was that she would study economics so that she could return to Malawi and help the government to do things more efficiently”
I guess I missed the part where it was explained why she didn’t do that and instead stayed and took a job from a U.S. citizen. People who come here on an education visa are expected to get their education and go back home. I wonder what kind of visa she’s on now that allows her to work.
“For the first four years she didn’t own a cell phone...”
“The horror, the horror”
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Telling a authoritarian socialist government they are doing it wrong is a ticket to an unmarked grave! She probably knows that!
Telling a authoritarian socialist government they are doing it wrong is a ticket to an unmarked grave! She probably knows that!
“People who come here on an education visa are expected to get their education and go back home.” True 100%
“People who come here on an education visa are expected to get their education and go back home.” True 100%”
And we should be thankful that most don’t. A lot of cutting edge research and development is done by them.
Look at most scientific papers nowdays, and the names are mostly Chinese and Indian. Also many successful corporations have been created by them. Elon Musk is a prime example.
Yes, it is stiff competition for the natives, but isn’t competition good?
And if we spent our resources to educate them, shouldn’t we reap the rewards?
Interesting story...thanks for the post
Sorry, I am not an open borders person. For every Elon Musk, there are thousands of anti-Elon Musks. And if most of the people who come here on student visas are not going back to their countries, that is another major flaw in our non-existent immigration enforcement. Would you give up your job to a foreigner who overstays their student visa?
“Telling a authoritarian socialist government they are doing it wrong is a ticket to an unmarked grave! She probably knows that!”
Her stated goal for coming here was: “that she would study economics so that she could return to Malawi and help the government to do things more efficiently.” All of a sudden she decided that staying in a first world country making lots of money was more important.
Their loss our gain!
I’m definitely not an open border person, but I’m definitely not against controlled, legal immigration that benefits this country, And letting, and even inviting, in people who are smart, talented, entrepreneurial, hard working, law abiding, respectful of our culture and values, I think it’s very much to our benefit. Don’t you think?
And no I don’t want those who ILLEGALLY overstay their student visa to get any job, not just mine. But if one goes through the process of getting legal work permit and residency, then I don’t have any problem with that person getting a job.
“then I don’t have any problem with that person getting a job.”
Your job? Your kid’s job? Your wife’s job? You’re okay with that?
Is it OK if your company replaces you with better qualified native born person?
“Is it OK if your company replaces you with better qualified native born person?”
That’s not even a good deflection from answering my question. Are you okay with giving your job, your kid’s job, or your wife’s job to a foreigner? Are you okay with Khamar from India getting that IT job instead of your child?
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