Excellent analogy. And the Irish considered it to be an exile, and even held wake-like ceremonies before departure. Emigration was an economic necessity.
Perhaps telecommuting will facilite a repatriation into small towns. It would be good for the soul of America.
Well, the biggest difference between now and back in the day was that back then chances were that you’d never come home again. Today’s economic migrants (the legal ones) can hop a plane and be home for the holidays and never be further than a phone call. Most of the Indians (dot, not feather) that I know go home for a month out of the year.
Again, I think young people tend to want to leave small town America, to see the lights of Broadway, as it were, but then realize the city is no place to raise a child and want to move back home later. And there is nothing wrong with that.