Editor,
Mr. Darensburg’s impassioned analysis of New Mexican emigration touches upon the main cause: graduates getting “much better pay for the same skills in neighboring states.” But the rest of his reasons just reflect the important issues at the top his mind and not of the typical person deciding where to live.
If any of us was 10,000 people, we might care about income inequality. But each of us is just one person who either is happy with his economic status, high or low, or is looking to improve his own. No one in the world outside the university talks about moving to a more equal state. At best, the attractiveness of a more equal state is only the coincident result of it offering more desirable jobs needing my expertise.
As for police brutality, Mr. Darensburg makes a good case that there is a very serious problem. But when one gets a family, one often sees hardcore police tactics as protecting one’s own family — a plus, not a minus.
Finally and sadly, the trend toward more part-time and fewer full-time jobs is nationwide. There are significant problems to explore in New Mexico’s brain drain. But the focus must be on true causes and not on anyone’s wish list for a better world.
Sincerely,
Mark Maisonneuve
Daily Lobo reader
