1056 



in a country's natural resources. Thus, whether or not a trained pro- 

 fessional may be a surplus commodity in his field and leaves the 

 country does not alter the fundamental fact that his emigration rep- 

 resents a loss. This assumption takes on a more general view of trained 

 manpower in that the lost contribution of the departed professional 

 to a nation is judged to be much broader than just his contribution in 

 the particular area of his speciality. He is part of a larger developing 

 infrastructure of a national elite, a vital human resource, that is neces- 

 sary for development. 



Without these assumptions on the positive value and desirability 

 of. science, technology, and education, the LDCs would be assigned 

 to perpetual underdevelopment, the advanced nations would accord- 

 ingly be divested of any responsibility, and the brain drain would be 

 a non subject for study. 



INEVITABILITY OF CHANGE AS POSITIVE VALUE 



The inevitability of change as a positive good in development — a 

 force to be harnessed to constructive ends — is a final assumption in 

 this study. In its project on the international migration of high-level 

 manpower and the impact on development, the Committee on Interna- 

 tional !Migration of Talent (CIMT) described this concept of change 

 in the developmental process as a commitment to the idea — an "im- 

 mensely powerful force," it said — ". . . that people are not fated to 

 live and die as their ancestors have lived and died, the idea that nature 

 can be controlled and used, the idea that physical suffering and early 

 death are not the inevitable lot of humans." ^^ 



Costs of change in the LDCs can be high, as CIMT wrote, "in terms 

 of conflict within and among individuals and in terms of the loss of 

 traditional values that tend to elevate the individual and hold society 

 together." ^" 



But poorer countries of the world appear to have opted for moderni- 

 zation, whatever values may be eroded and whatever the difficulties 

 encountered. Gunnar Myrdal described the process this way as it ap- 

 plied to Asia: "The South Asian countries, and particularly the 

 poorer among them, have passed the point of no return. Given the 

 present and foreseeable rate of population growth, the choice of re- 

 maining traditional societies is no longer open." ^* 



What is implied in this assumption on the inevitability and desira- 

 bility of change is a furthering of the 19th century idea of progress 

 and the advancement of the 20th century spirit of scientism ; for this 

 type of change projects an outlook that accents the positive in the ex- 

 pectations of man and society. In tliis process, the economic and social 

 development, including the institutions, values, and cultural traits that 

 are necessary to and a part of development toward modernity, seem 

 more likely to occur as a consequence of examples set by the advanced 

 countries.^^ It is this interaction between the developing and advanced 

 countries so central to the development process that generates the idea 



=- The Committee on the International Migration of Talent. Tlie International Migra- 

 tion of High-Levol Manpower: Its Impact on the Development Process. Published in 

 cooperation with Education and World Affairs (New York: Praeger, 1970), p. 679. (Here- 

 after cited as CIMT study.) 



^ Ibid, p. 679. 



^ Ibid., p. G80. 



3= Ibid., p. G79. 



