American Politics: Helmets and Flak Jackets Required

I voted last Friday and thought I had successfully “moved on” from the election.

Then, during my drives to various meetings this morning, I listened to a This American Life podcast on the future of the GOP (up top, or click here). It does a phenomenal deep dive into how the party has divided into two parts, with immigration being a wedge issue between the two factions.

Even though legal immigration is down and net illegal immigration has been flat, the podcast goes deep into the “white anxiety” that is happening in some circles.

As I wrote four years ago about Obama’s re-election, the power base in America is changing. Females and non-whites drove Obama’s re-election. A “new coalition” emerged.

In 30 years, whites will be less than 50 percent of the USA’s population. So, the reordering of power in America is underway. And, given the counter reactions that have happened and will continue (cf. Hegelian Dialectic), many will be OK with it, but we will continue to see movements espousing white supremacy and/or white separatism.

I’m in a bi-racial marriage. We increasingly talk about race at our home. These topics can be uncomfortable to discuss, but I think one good thing about this election is that people have been free to speak out.

Democracy is messy. But, if people don’t have the ability to speak out, that’s when they grab guns and overthrow the system.

The discussion on “what does Americanism mean?” will occur for the next few decades. Is it centered on Western European ancestry? Is there a particular mindset, as codified in the Constitution and independent of race, that makes us unique? How do we address the issues that Peter Thiel recently mentioned (in a press conference that I surprisingly found very thoughtful after I read the transcript).

Put on your flak jackets and helmets, folks. The current debate will continue most definitely, IMO, after the election ends.

This is just the beginning.

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