Game Theory #4: The Immigration Trap

SUMMARY

Professor Jiang lectures Beijing high school students on immigration as a rigged game, where East Asians following rules like education and hard work lose status and mates, while other groups succeed via non-conformity and demographics.

STATEMENTS

Indian immigrants in the US earn the most due to India's competitive college system sending top talent to tech and medicine.
East Asians like Japanese, Koreans, Filipinos, and Chinese succeed economically in the US through strong academic performance and work ethic.
White Americans represent the average income of about $70,000 annually as the majority group.
Mexican, Latino, and Black Americans face economic challenges, linked historically to slavery and lower educational outcomes.
Traditional explanations attribute ethnic economic differences to cultural emphasis on education or genetic intelligence.
PISA rankings from 2018 show East Asian countries like Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, and China excelling in math, science, and reading, predicting economic dominance.
Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, Indonesia, and Malaysia perform below average on PISA, forecasting economic struggles.
Muslim-majority countries underperform on PISA, raising concerns about their economic future and immigration impacts.
Wars in Libya, Syria, Afghanistan, and Iraq, driven by America's War on Terror, have created millions of refugees migrating to Europe and the US.
Immigrants from low-PISA regions like Latin America and Islamic nations cause economic and social conflicts in wealthy host countries.
Despite high academic achievement, East Asian men underperform in US corporate leadership compared to white women and other minorities.
DEI policies aim to redress historical discrimination against women and minorities, potentially disadvantaging East Asian men.
Successful US CEOs exhibit aggression, high risk tolerance, emotional intelligence, empathy, and collaboration, traits stereotyped as lacking in East Asian men.
East Asian men are seen as focused, unitary, grade-obsessed, compliant, and obedient, aiding school success but hindering corporate advancement.
In online dating data from OKCupid, Asian women respond more to white men than Asian men, indicating lower interest in Asian suitors.
White women show least interest in Asian men on dating sites, while Asian women prefer white and Asian men equally.
Marriage patterns reveal 20% of East Asian women marry white men, but only 9-10% of East Asian men marry white women.
For East Asian men under 25, 75% are single, highlighting dating market disadvantages.
A white woman requires an Asian man to earn $300,000 annually to match the attractiveness of a white man earning $62,000.
East Asian immigrants follow rules—excelling in school, securing jobs, avoiding welfare and jail—but fail to gain status or desirable mates.
Other minorities like Hispanics, Blacks, and Muslims underperform academically and economically but gain advantages through cohesion and high birth rates.
Game theory suggests immigrants win by refusing to play by host rules, instead sticking together, having many children, and leveraging demographics.
In Europe, Muslim immigrants claim welfare, have large families, and resist integration, leading to projected population shares of 17-20% by 2050 in major countries.
US demographics project whites becoming a minority by 2050, with Hispanics growing rapidly due to youth, fertility, and cultural unity via Catholicism.
Historical migrations, like Proto-Indo-Europeans displacing farmers in Europe, involved violent population replacements targeting elites.
Modern immigration arose as a historical accident from British Empire needs to populate and develop colonies like the US, Canada, and Australia.
Post-WWII, America promoted open, multicultural societies to Europe to prevent fascism, enforcing immigration as a norm.
Immigration is unnatural; people naturally build their birth communities rather than fleeing for individual gain.
Globalization extracts talent from nations like China to the US, but rising powers like China prioritize retaining human capital.
Professor Jiang left the US for China to achieve higher status, avoiding East Asian stereotypes despite potential wealth.

IDEAS

Economic success in immigration doesn't guarantee social status or romantic appeal, creating a hidden trap for rule-following groups.
PISA scores predict national economic futures, with East Asia poised for dominance, yet individual immigrants from these regions face barriers in host societies.
DEI initiatives, meant to correct historical injustices, inadvertently penalize high-achieving groups like East Asian men by overlooking their discrimination.
Corporate success demands soft skills like assertiveness and emotional intelligence, which cultural stereotypes undermine for East Asians despite their technical prowess.
Online dating data reveals ethnic biases as stark quantifications of attraction, where income gaps highlight systemic undervaluation of certain men.
Following host country rules—education, employment, law-abiding—leads to economic stability but demographic dilution and status stagnation for immigrants.
Demographic strategies like high fertility and group cohesion outperform individual merit in long-term power shifts, as seen in projected European and US changes.
Historical population replacements were violent elite takeovers, contrasting modern immigration's facade of openness that masks underlying conflicts.
Immigration as a policy originated from colonial labor needs, not universal benevolence, making it a temporary tool now straining under global shifts.
Globalization incentivizes brain drain from developing nations, benefiting hegemons like the US but eroding source countries' potential.
Natural human inclination favors community building over migration, disrupted by media-fueled individualism prioritizing personal gain.
Game theory frames immigration as a casino: hosts invite players knowing the rules favor them, so winners cheat by subverting the system.
Rising multipolarity challenges America's open society model, pushing nations to reclaim talent and foster internal development.
East Asian men's academic excellence translates to "model minority" traps, where compliance yields wealth but forfeits influence and family formation.
Muslim and Hispanic immigrants gain leverage through youth, unity, and non-integration, turning economic burdens into future political majorities.

INSIGHTS

Immigration systems favor hosts by channeling immigrant labor into low-status roles, ensuring elite control remains with natives even as demographics shift.
Cultural traits that excel in merit-based education fail in networked power structures, revealing how "success" metrics are rigged against outsiders.
Demographic momentum—youth, fertility, cohesion—trumps individual achievement in altering societal power balances over generations.
Historical violence in migrations underscores that peaceful integration is rare; modern policies delay inevitable elite conflicts.
Open societies promote immigration to extract global talent, but this erodes the originating nations' human capital and fosters resentment.
Stereotypes and biases in attraction markets quantify status hierarchies, where economic gains can't fully compensate for ethnic penalties.
Game theory exposes the fallacy of rule-following in asymmetric games: non-conformity via group solidarity yields superior long-term outcomes.
Post-WWII ideological exports framed immigration as moral progress, masking its origins in colonial exploitation and empire-building.
Individualism, amplified by globalization, disrupts communal loyalties, making migration seem rational but ultimately self-defeating for source communities.
Retaining talent internally builds national strength; exporting it sustains foreign dominance, a dynamic reversing with multipolar world orders.
Low-status immigrants may accept economic middling for stability, but intergenerational effects—dating woes, cultural erosion—perpetuate disadvantage.

QUOTES

"If someone invites you to play his game, don't agree to play by the rules because the game is out so that you will lose. Otherwise, why would he invite you?"
"The casino is set up so that you have to lose otherwise they go out of business. The same thing with immigration."
"You're much better off not going to school, being poor, but staying together, being cohesive, and having lots of babies rather than going to school, getting a good job, doing everything you've been told to do."
"According to game theory, if you're an immigrant, your best strategy is not to do well in school, make a lot of money. That will get you nowhere. You're just playing by the rules of the game."
"Immigration is not natural. What is natural is for you to want to help this community grow and develop."
"If you're born in China, then your priority ought to be like how to make China a better place. It shouldn't be like I'm work really hard in school so that I can get a visa to go study United States."
"Whoever sets the rules of the game will always win the game."

HABITS

Prioritizing intense focus and obedience in education to achieve top grades and entry into elite institutions.
Engaging in relentless hard work post-education to secure high-paying technical or medical jobs.
Maintaining cultural compliance by avoiding welfare, crime, and jail to integrate as model citizens.
Developing emotional restraint and caution in professional interactions, emphasizing individual effort over networking.
Committing to lifelong learning through graduate studies abroad for career advancement in competitive fields.
Adopting a unitary, grade-obsessed mindset that values authority and diligence over assertiveness.

FACTS

Indian Americans have the highest median income among ethnic groups in the US due to selective immigration of elite graduates.
East Asian countries topped 2018 PISA rankings, with scores forecasting their economic leadership over the next decades.
By 2050, Muslims are projected to comprise 20% of Sweden's population, 17% of the UK and France, 11% of Germany, and 12% of Italy.
In the US, whites will lose majority status by 2050, with Hispanics driving the largest population growth through higher fertility.
Proto-Indo-Europeans displaced European farmers around 5,000 years ago via violent migrations, replacing male lineages genetically.
Post-WWII, America influenced Europe to adopt open immigration policies to emulate its "multicultural" success and prevent nationalism.

REFERENCES

PISA rankings (2018) by OECD for international student assessment in math, science, and reading.
OKCupid online dating statistics on response rates and interest by ethnicity.
MIT Sloan Working Paper: "What Makes You Click: Mate Preferences and Matching Outcomes in Online Dating" (February 2006).
US Census projections for 2050 demographic shifts in population by race and ethnicity.
Genetic studies on Proto-Indo-European migrations and population replacements in Europe.
Historical accounts of British Empire colonization in North America, Australia, and New Zealand.
Post-WWII US policy influences on European open society models.

HOW TO APPLY

Recognize the immigration game as rigged: Assess host country rules critically before committing to migration paths.
Build ethnic cohesion: Form tight-knit communities to preserve culture, language, and religion against assimilation pressures.
Prioritize demographics over individual merit: Focus on high fertility rates and family expansion to leverage long-term population advantages.
Avoid full rule compliance: Instead of excelling solely in education and jobs, invest energy in group solidarity and non-integration tactics.
Prepare for conflict: Monitor demographic trends and advocate for policies that protect your group's interests amid rising tensions.

ONE-SENTENCE TAKEAWAY

Immigration rigs games against rule-followers; win via demographic cohesion and subversion, not individual achievement.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Stay in your birth nation to build its strength, prioritizing communal contributions over personal migration for wealth.
For immigrants, form unified groups emphasizing shared religion and culture to counter host biases and gain leverage.
Develop soft skills like assertiveness and networking to overcome stereotypes in corporate and social ladders.
Encourage high birth rates within ethnic communities to shift power through younger, growing populations.
Reject globalization's brain drain by retaining top talent domestically to foster national economic independence.
Anticipate violence from demographic shifts; prepare by strengthening internal alliances and monitoring elite competitions.
Question open society narratives; recognize immigration's historical exploitation roots and unsustainable nature.
For East Asians abroad, seek status in origin countries where cultural familiarity avoids undervaluation traps.
Use game theory to evaluate opportunities: Subvert rigged systems by focusing on cohesion rather than conformity.

MEMO

In a Beijing classroom on January 15, 2026, Professor Jiang dissected immigration through the lens of game theory, warning his high school students that the promise of opportunity abroad often conceals a rigged trap. Using US ethnic income charts, he highlighted Indian and East Asian immigrants' economic triumphs—Indians topping earnings via elite pipelines to Silicon Valley, East Asians via rigorous academics and diligence. Yet, this success masks deeper losses: Despite PISA dominance signaling East Asia's global ascent, Asian men in America lag in corporate boardrooms and dating markets, undermined by stereotypes of passivity and lacking emotional savvy.

Jiang pivoted to stark data from OKCupid and marriage stats, revealing Asian women's 20% intermarriage rate with whites versus Asian men's mere 9-10%, leaving 75% of young Asian men single. A white woman equates an average white man's $62,000 salary to an Asian man's $300,000 threshold for equal appeal—demanding surgical or entrepreneurial extremes just to compete. This "model minority" paradox, Jiang argued, stems from following rules: school excellence and law-abiding lives yield wealth but forfeit status, as DEI overlooks Asian discrimination while favoring other minorities.

Game theory reframes the dilemma: Hosts like the US invite immigrants to a casino where rules ensure native dominance. East Asians play straight, integrating and contributing taxes, only to see their women pair off and demographics dilute their influence. Conversely, Hispanics, Blacks, and Muslims "cheat" by clustering, claiming welfare, and birthing abundantly—projected to make whites a US minority by 2050, Muslims 17-20% of key European nations. Cohesion via Catholicism or Islam, plus youthful vigor, positions them for takeover, echoing violent historical replacements like Proto-Indo-Europeans slaughtering Europe's farmer elites.

Modern immigration, Jiang traced to British Empire exigencies—populating vast, hostile lands like Australia against natives—evolved into America's post-WWII export: Open societies as antidotes to fascism. Yet this "accident" proves unsustainable, breeding conflicts as groups vie to rewrite rules for jobs, power, and mates. Globalization exacerbates brain drain, siphoning China's best to American middling, but multipolarity—China's rise—urges reclaiming talent for homegrown flourishing.

Ultimately, Jiang urged loyalty to origins: Natural instincts bind us to communities, not fleeting gains abroad. He shared his Yale-to-China journey, fleeing Asian undervaluation for authentic status. As trends portend clashes, immigrants must subvert via solidarity, not assimilation, lest history's cycles of replacement resume in subtler forms.