Ask anybody you meet on the street if he or she would prefer to live in another country and in all probability, the answer would be in the affirmative.

People I ask during conversations mostly told me they would, without batting an eyelash, if given the chance.

Even professionals who are apparently making good in their line of work said without hesitation they would, at the first opportunity.

And this may be true based on the number of Filipinos already living in various countries around the world, aside from the thousand others seeking permanent residencies.

This new interest in migration among Filipinos may be part of the worldwide tendency of people to live in foreign lands.

A recent Gallup report showed that about 700 million people worldwide “think the grass is greener on the other side of the fence,” that they would do everything to fulfill their craving for life overseas.

That number represents more than all the adult population of North and South America combined, according to the report, that want to reside permanently in other countries.

Of that number, about 165 million people say they would want to settle in the United States.

The other favorite countries are Great Britain, Canada, and France, according to the Agence France Presse report, where 45 million people would want to live.

Other countries that are being looked up to as host countries are Spain for at least 35 million people, and Saudi Arabia and Australia or Germany for 25 million would-be immigrants each.

There must be grave reason for such hankering to leave the country of one’s birth to live in strange and unfamiliar climes. Being uprooted for whatever reason is painful enough but for the number of people willing to suffer that much, there must be explanation.

Thus, it may be asked, What has happened to patriotism, to one’s loyalty and devotion to country – to national sentiment that arouses oaths – to the original fidelity to the Fatherland?

We have been told patriotism is an ideology, and inborn sentiment, a form of culture or a social movement that focuses on the nation. What has been happening all around the world based on the report, and what is obtaining here at home, belie the once undoubted sense of national consciousness exalting one nation above all others and placing primary emphasis on the promotion of its culture and interests.

According to the Gallup survey conducted in at least 135 countries between 2007 and 2009, 165 million people claimed “they would up stakes and head for another country, if they had the chance.”

They are part of the 700 million people worldwide who think the grass is greener in the other side.

Is poverty then the reason people are turning their backs on their homeland? Or is it merely a global tendency of the new generation?

Whatever, the question is, whose fault is it? Many say it is the government’s shortcomings, as the usual suspect.

But as has been bruited about, a good citizen doesn’t rely on government: Government relies on him.

(zhern_218@yahoo.com)