Michael Clemens:

You might have seen a recent New York Times Magazine cover story (subscription req.) about Filipinos working overseas… The author, Jason Deparle, recognizes the comparatively enormous salaries that Emmet Comodas and all five of his children have earned abroad, but urges us to remember that “competing with the literature of gain is a parallel literature of loss.” Any good journalist lays out the pros and cons of phenomena, inviting readers to reach their own conclusions. But one straightforward fact should stare any reader directly in the eyes: The Comodas family has reached its own decision about whether the gains are worth the losses. They have decided that the losses do not even come close to paralleling the gains, and their conclusion matters infinitely more than yours or mine…

Emmet Comodas’ salary in Saudi Arabia was ten times what he could have earned at home. He and his wife Tita invested the extra pay in food, medicine, and school supplies for their children. Though neither Emmet nor Tita had finished high school, four of their five children now have college degrees. Deparle grimly notes that “Emmet, overseas paying the bills, missed every graduation”. So what? Evidently Emmet and Tita decided that it would be better for their children if Emmet were absent at their children’s college graduations than present to watch them drop out of high school only to perpetuate their family’s poverty. Who are you and I to tut-tut them for this decision?

Do read the full post.