OK. Ignored this story for a while but here we go: on success of Lebanese immigrants

"Also in the episode, Akram Khater, a historian at North Carolina State University, talks about why Lebanese immigrants have done so well around the world. Khater, director of the Khayrallah Program for Lebanese-American Studies, points out how large the Lebanese diaspora is: while some 4.2 million people live in Lebanon today, there are an estimated 15-20 million people of Lebanese descent living outside of the country. Khater walks us through the reasons for this massive emigration (the crash of the silk market in the 19th century, a brutal civil war in the 20th)."  I am really disappointed that Akram would get into this mess and I am more disappointed that Akram would use the fictitious figures (15-20 million) of the Maronite Patriarchate regarding the size of Lebanese immigration around the world.  And this story is purely anecdotal.  And whoever wrote it does not realize that all small countries do that: media in Bengladesh or Malta or Micronesia also feature stories about success stories of their immigrants. It is like the American dream: they focus on the exceptions (successes defined largely financially) and ignore the multitudes of stories of the norm (hard working immigrants who never make it and who don't get featured).  I recently received communication from a professor at Lebanese University who is putting together a volume about "prominent Lebanese from South Lebanon" around the world.  I expressed to him my concern: that the volume only feature (from the plan that was sent to me) professionals and business people and ignore all those hard working Lebanese from South Lebanon who are not "famous" or wealthy. (thanks Zein)