PROPOSITION

“

TEXT: SARA PLAT

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

‘In this system, there can
only be one winner

At the age of five, Robert Meins (47) moved with his parents and sister to Jamaica, where his father worked as a development economist. Later, the family relocated to Washington DC. For his studies in Economics and International Relations, Robert returned for a few years to his roots: Groningen. From his laptop in his study in Washington DC, with a large historical map of the province of Groningen adorning the back wall, he enthusiastically shares his story: ‘Groningen turned out to be an unexpected cultural shock: I was more American than I thought! During Introduction Week, people immediately commented on my American dress style: wide jeans, white socks, trainers: it was simply not acceptable!’

Realizing potential
Meins followed in his father’s footsteps and became a development economist, and after some meanderings, he came back to Washington. He specialized in the transfer of migrants to family in their country of origin, primarily in Latin America and Southeast Asia. ‘For a long time, people thought that this was a negligible group: people working in farming, cleaning houses, surely there couldn’t be so many of them. But it is a very large group. There is a lot of unrealized potential in the world, and I want to make this visible. People are the same everywhere. What you become depends on where you are born, and what opportunities you get.’

Woodley Park
After the coronavirus pandemic, Meins took a different direction. ‘My wife worked as a foreign affairs advisor to First Lady Jill Biden. It was a serious job. We also had two children within a short period of time. All of this required different arrangements: I wanted to be home more.’ Meins is now Director of Woodley Park Main Street, an organization that represents the interests of local entrepreneurs in the Woodley Park area in Washington. ‘Woodley Park is a diverse, lively neighbourhood; the National Zoo attracts a lot of visitors and tourists. There are restaurants serving food from all over the world: Ethiopian, Turkish, Vietnamese: you name it! During the pandemic, all these entrepreneurs had a very hard time.

Many have invested all their capital into their business, they have family members working with them; this is their life, their identity. People take much bigger risks in the US, especially if they are migrants trying to build something from nothing. The mentality here is: anything is possible, if you want it badly enough. In the Netherlands, entrepreneurship is a much more solid process, with a lot more requirements and consultation. I like to apply that polder culture here, without losing sight of people’s dreams. People here tend to find me quite direct. I just tell them: Look, let's put all our egos aside for a moment. These are the facts; these are the steps you can take to achieve your goal. It works.’ Following a few difficult years, the neighbourhood is now once again on the rise. ‘There are fewer vacant buildings, more quality. Kamala Harris was here recently, and ex-top model Tyra Banks just opened an ice-cream shop around the corner.’

US elections
The upcoming US elections in November are making the future of the Meins family somewhat uncertain. ‘There is a lot at stake. The mood in our circle of friends is optimistic, but as soon as you leave Washington, you notice that you really live in a bubble. I am hoping for a stable political situation, with more mutual understanding. But that requires a different approach to journalism, with less active conflict-seeking. It is different here than in the Netherlands; people don’t apply the polder model to try and find a solution together. In this system, there can only be one winner, so things quickly turn hard.’

Meins does not yet know what he and his family will do after this year, or where they will go. ‘My wife also has an international career, and she also lived abroad for a long time. We will see where our children and our work take us, and what opportunities arise!’