Expatriates Quotes
Observing that creative geniuses such as Benjamin West, Gilbert Stuart and John Copely had gone to Europe to work: Artists and writers
The importance of this quotation is twofold. First immigrants were given exemption from conscription into the army which Russians were subject to. Second, note that civil servants were also drafted. One of the main purposes of this was to be able to bring the few Russians who were literate into the government. If they were literate, they tended to have better options than the civil service and a draft was needed. But Russia was modernizing and the nation needed civil servants to perform the ministerial and administrative functions of a modern state.
France, which in the 18th and 19th centuries was the center of science and technology for the world, has become more culturally conservative and has developed a maturity towards money and materialism which admires science and innovation but is reluctant to make the sacrifices in living and social style that is often required. Corporate regulations and banking and investment standards made it hard to form a Silicon Valley type organization in France. Many young people had gone to other countries to develop their skills and gain experience, but few return to France while many will start companies, they do it elsewhere.
