browngirl

It occurs to me that I should add something to my comment about "escaping from family/clan ties"... it's also true, historically, that many people who came to the city had connections with relatives or at least same-ethnic enclaves, and these were critical to success. Oftentimes, someone relied on the clan-ties in order to get a starting job and place to live (and later, startup money to start a new business). Said person couldn't achieve the same ends by relying on established institutions and the ruling class, because he (usually he) would be considered a bad risk. (This wasn't necessarily unfair discrimination, even-- but someone who's a bad loan risk to a bank might not be such a bad risk when ten cousins are around to make sure you do your damndest to pay it back.)