Serious question, Wondy. And please don't think I'm being facetious. Hell, I'd even welcome Pariah's input on this one.
Why do you feel nationalism is the way forward?
I notice this is kind of a sticking point, and I'm trying to understand it. Because the things DJT has stated he wants to do (differentiating that from he's actually going to attempt largely out of my own cynicism) keep coming back to that, and your support for his policies - immigration, borders, trade protectionism, cultural globalism - seems to consistently circle back around to it. It sounds like, and please correct me if I'm wrong, the notion that a uniquely and exclusively American cultural and national identity (1) clearly and definably exists and has existed for the majority of our history, (2) is both inclusive of and beneficial toward all ethnic groups who reside here, and (3) supersedes other concerns in guiding policy decisions.
Am I oversimplifying it? And would you mind telling me why the distinctness and, if I may, the 'purity' of our American-ness is such a big deal to you? Thanks in advance.
I get the gist of what you're asking, but your opinion is so encapsulated I can't discern what a lot of your specific points are, or what you would see as examples of them to illustrate what is unclear. But I'll attempt to answer.
For openers, if you talk to people from other countries, to them there certainly is a distinctive American culture. If you talk to people in the United States, particularly conservatives from places like Texas or Georgia or Alabama, they likewise see a distinctive culture they'd like to preserve.
It's only among Democrat/liberals that the United States becomes a bad thing that is at best morally no better than the rogue nations we oppose. For at least a century, the United States has been a haven for those seeking freedom, for taking risks, to create, and to have unlimited earning potential. As I've said, in polls I've seen previously, some of which I've posted, roughly half the people in nations worldwide who would like to leave their country would like to come here. Because of what we are. That is the product of strong nationalism, and a strong national identity.
But Democrats like Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, they see the United States as a mean, racist and inherently unfair place. They want to abolish capitalism, turn us into a duplicate of Europe, with the state controlling all aspects of our lives. The OPPOSITE of what we have always been. The only America they love is the one they can radically transform us into.
As I've said for over 10 years, I welcome anyone, from anywhere, who wants to leave their country and become an American, to assimilate, to contribute and be one of us. I don't welcome people who wave Mexican flags and want California or the entire U.S. southwest to be reclaimed by Mexico or become a separate nation. I don't want muslims who come here and want to maintain a separate identity (one hostile to the U.S., and to Western values in general). If they don't embrace an English-speaking, British-based, Christian-inspired western culture, embrace its Constitution and other history, that will not assimilate and learn the language, then let them return to the godforsaken third-world Latin-American barrios or mid-eastern caliphates they came from. LEAVE!
The Left and their third-world allies who hate America teach that we are a mean and unfair place that does not deserve to be defended, and should be replaced by some European-style (or Soviet/Cuban/Sandinista/Venezuelan style) socialist authoritarian government. That the United States should resign its sovereignty to some North American Union or global government.
I see the United States as a unique culture, with a proud history, arguably not matched by any other nation/culture in the world. We have saved other nations from oppressors, we have brought optimism and light through our entertainment and literature. We have rebuilt our worst enemy nations and turned them (Germany, Japan, Korea, Bosnia, Kosovo) into vibrant nations that to a large degree share our values, values they learned from us. Historically over the last century, we have been the innovators in industry, technology and the arts. We have been known for creating products that are both of better quality and cheaper than anywhere else in the world.
But with the rise of the hippie/Generation X/Millenial Democrat/liberals (Barack Obama, Bill and Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, and folks like George Soros and Noam Chomsky) an increasing ratio of America is indoctrinated to see America as something to be ashamed of, at best no better than other nations, and something that should be replaced with a globalist/European model.
If the United States disappears and becomes part of the globalist order, there's nowhere else to go. A separate and sovereign and culturally/politically/religiously distinct United States offers a refuge from the insanity in the rest of the world.
Trump wants to secure our borders, create/restore an immigration policy that reinforces who we are culturally, rather than an immigration policy that floods us with undesireables who are here to exploit us and abuse social benefits programs, who cling to a foreign loyalty and are only here to exploit the United States for money to take home.
Trump wants to rebuild our economy, create jobs, create a receptive policy that expands business, and to bring back financial assets and manufacturing to the United States. Trump has stated he wants a logical screening policy that protects U.S. citizens from hostile/terrorist/criminal immigrants. That prioritizes the protection of U.S. citizens, and if non-citizens are inconvenienced, too frigging bad! The priority is those who are citizens and who pay taxes.
Trump has vowed to rebuild our military, and has already shown backbone and directness not seen in at least his 3 predecessors.
And Trump, for whatever flaws, more than any other president has made every effort to fulfill his campaign promises.
To me it seems obvious. The United States has proven to be a valuable asset to the world, has bailed the rest of the world out of two world wars, rebuilt Europe and the others afterward, and created a system that has maintained the greatest peace and prosperity the world has ever seen. I don't know how you can even question why that is a good and desireable thing to preserve.
At the very least, the United States offers an alternative that people worldwide can vote with their feet to support over that of a global system emerging across the rest of the world. I don't wish to see the United States kneecapped and brought into submission to a global system, rather than the escape from that corruption and oppression the U.S. has always been. If globalism/socialism is what someone wants, there is Europe and the rest of the world. But we are the United States.
