Okay. Your first paragraph suggests that if the choice is economic, what determines the choice of Brazil or Canada? Probably political and economic stability. That’s partly cultural. And why aren’t diaspora Chinese emigrating back to China, where growth seems greatest?

I think the West does offer some magnet for those who feel that the culture might be welcoming and there’s greater opportunity for the individual. That’s western-style democratic capitalism, for better or worse. The US seems to be the first choice for immigrants around the world, even over the UK, Norway, or Denmark, probably because there are so many opportunities to find one’s niche, culturally and personally. I still don’t see this as being defined as white Caucasian.

As for your anecdote, my Indian wife raised in America tried but turned away from first generation Indian men because she thought they were too traditional and set in terms of gender roles. She preferred to be free of such expectations. I know of other instances where white American women have certain issues of gender roles with Indian men. In all these cases, it’s not about race, it’s cultural compatibility. I’m not sure exactly why Asian women would put down Asian men if they come from the same cultural milieu — they should have grown up together. Perhaps it’s easier for Asian women to assimilate into the West for obvious reasons of attraction. But if one is more culturally isolated from the American mainstream, that might be the source of conflict.

One can interpret American society as favoring white Europeans, but if you gauge success in Silicon Valley or the top universities, you’d find that the diversity of success has no roots in race and Asians actually are over-represented relative to their share of the larger population. The culture changes, but slowly.