Neither Here nor There: a First Generation Immigrant in Search of American Exceptionalism First edition

A first generation immigrant comes to the United States with an expectation that he is making a good deal. That by coming to the USA he will shape a better future for himself and his family than he could expect to have by staying put. But we are living in a fast moving age where circumstances change frequently and fundamentally. The purpose of NEITHER HERE NOR THERE is to give an honest account of one personal journey from the old country (the Netherlands) to America. It looks back at how the author perceived the choice he had to make and how he perceived the future for America versus the Netherlands. It looks back at the conditions under which the author grew up in post war Europe and it compares the expectations he had of a future in America with how it turned out. In the process, the book aims to contribute to an urgently needed civil discourse on what is going right and wrong in America and what might be done to make good on the quest for American Exceptionalism.