The Summary and Response to "Third Culture Kids."

Third Culture Kids Are Not Ideal Citizens

Bilal Ahmed says in his article “Third Culture Kids” that third culture kids (TCKs) including himself are different with immigrants and cross-culturally-experienced persons in term of social status and the market-drive-economic world where we are living. As a matter of fact, he claims that TCKs come from prestige and wealthy families which distinctively differs them from the immigrants and others. Although I agree with his points to some degrees, I doubt that all TCKs are wealthier than the immigrants, and I believe that there are also prestige and well-educated immigrants. What’s more, I disagree with the author’s claim that TCKs are the ideal citizens in the world.

The author begins his publication by mentioning two definitions of “Third Culture Kids” defining by anthropologist Ruth Hill Useem and sociologist David C. Pollock respectively. Then, he introduces himself as a TCK who has been nurtured in the influences of many cultures such as the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Canada, the United States, and Britain. Next, Bilal Ahmed starts to address and explain the differences between TCKs and the immigrants. He lists several factors such as social backgrounds, financial support, adaptability. Furthermore, the TCK-author emphasizes how important they are to the modern world given the current situation of globalization. Also, Bilal Ahmed argues that TCKs have difficulties to resolve and challenges to overcome, too. He says that TCKs deeply depend on their families and that they tend to lose themselves or misbehave without families’ support and guidance. In the end, the author concludes that only accept their special identities do they find happiness.

In response to the author’s ideas, there are several points which I would like to address. First, Bilal Ahmed says that TCKs don’t have financial dilemma comparing with the immigrants. Personally, I don’t think so. TCKs are those who live and grow up in foreign countries such as foreign-service and expatriate children, those who I assume that they have strong financial support from their families. However, TCKs also include military brats and missionary kids that I find hard to agree that all of them are rich kids. Second, Bilal Ahmed implies that TCKs come from a higher social background than the immigrants and refugees do. I think this is his weak argument because there are no statistical figures or evidence to prove his claim. Indeed, there are thousands of immigrants and refugees who are well educated coming from middle social class or even higher. According to pewresearch.org, research in 2016 shows that 44 million immigrants coming from Asia, South America, Europe, Africa, are very well educated before they emigrate into the United States.

Thanks to two advantages being mentioning above, the TCK-author claims that TCKs are the best-suited citizens for the world.  From my own perspective, he has a point for TCKs likely possess almost what this globalizing modern world needs. They have multicultural backgrounds, come from prestige families, and they have no financial worries, even if not all of them are wealthy. They are good at adaption, prefer the flexibility to predictability, are fans of shifting, or at least Bilal Ahmed says so. All of these advantages and features help them fit in and survive in any situation, and offer them more professional opportunities than the others. Still, TCKs are not the ideal citizens in the world, because I think that there is no such “ideal citizen” conception at all. I believe that people have their own advantages and weaknesses which imperfect them. Besides, this is just the subjective, one-sided opinion of Bilal Ahmed, a TCK. Standing from the TCKs’ point of view, he observes things around him according to their own conditions and standards. Therefore, his arguments are not concrete enough to convince me.

Bilal Ahmed asserts that TCKs are the most-desired citizens in the world because of their multicultural backgrounds, financial supports matching with globalization. In contrast, I don’t believe in that. Ideal citizens belong to an ideal and perfect world, but our world is not.