It's like "what is a woman" all over again.

The Takes

In case you missed it, in the week after Christmas Vivek Ramaswamy and Elon Musk both ruined their credibility by publicly insulting the American identity. It's almost as though they synced their watches. Vivek's post essentially tells Americans they need to grind straight out of the womb like East Asians do if they want to compete on the global market. Elon has posted so many things (as he does) that it's pointless for me to like to any of them in particular - but the theme has been defending foreign labor visas, basically.

Do not make excuses for rhetoric like this, both of these takes are an attack on American nationalism. This is an insult to Americans, suggesting that other nations have something we don't, whether it's culture as Vivek suggests, or talent as Elon suggests. Neither is true, American culture and talent are both abundant. So abundant, in fact, that people would abandon their home countries to come partake of the fruits of our culture and talent.

The Reality

The nations which have this coveted culture and talent are of course India, and China. Vivek names them specifically, and Elon is talking about H-1B immigrants from the tech perspective so it hardly needs to be said. Let's get something straight: If India and China had such abundant talent and such a hard-working culture, their best and brightest wouldn't be leaving their home countries to come here. Those countries would be better off than us, actually. We would struggle to keep our best and brightest in America. The thought of it is absurd, of course, and many have been quick to point it out. This suffices to demonstrate how wrong the whole argument is, but that's not enough. We have to understand what our response must be to combat this rhetoric.

The response cannot be only to insult other nations, although it makes for excellent memes. It must be also to clarify who our movement is for. It's for Americans, and we have to clarify what we mean by "Americans."

An American Is...

America is having an identity crisis. We have all been told that America is an idea, but she is not, she is a nation. Like any nation, she has not only people, and ideas, but a culture and a mission. The reduction of America to an idea makes her something anyone can have, but not everyone can have the American spirit. Americans from the beginning have been rebels, pioneers, individualists, and they have been excellent. Such is not the case around the world. Is it a coincidence that the same people who adopted manifest destiny to conquer this land were the same who conquered the moon? Of course not.

It's not like guitar, or calculus. You can't just "learn" how to be an American, it's something you are. I guarantee you that India and China both understand this about themselves, but they're happy to believe that it's not true of us because it benefits them. America, and the West as a whole, must understand this about themselves or they will cease to be themselves. As I so often say: "Nationalism is the survival instinct of a nation." If we don't find ours, we will not survive.

Happy New Year,

The Constantine Option