Dakota Beacon

Again with the “get with the times”, “demographics are changing and Republicans need to change with them if they want to win elections”! 

Last time we examined the perceived abandonment of Conservatives in the 2012 election.  This second in a series of articles examining the resounding Republican failure will focus on “identity politics”.

Why do Republicans even talk about this?  This concept has long been a feature of Democrat thinking.  It is the descendant of Franklin Roosevelt’s socially destructive policies, which employed a coalition of “minorities”.  If you were a “Polish-American” he sought your vote. If you were a “Black American” he was your man.  Same for Southerners, for the Irish, for the Italians, for the Mexican-Americans, for the union member, for the poor.  It sought to divide each of these “special” groups from the American whole.  Today we reap the harvest of this division.  We have become accustomed to hyphenation.  Certain groups, in particular, have been targeted to be sucked into this fallacy.  “Latino” kids have come to refer to themselves not as Americans, or even “Hispanic Americans”, but as “Mexican-American” Can a nation long survive when its constituents do not regard themselves as belonging?  Prior to the Roosevelt administration we had a tidal wave of immigration and these immigrants were quick to assimilate, eager to make the “American Dream” their own.  They were a vital component in our burgeoning industrial growth, making America a powerhouse.  They were proud of their new American identity.  They called themselves “Americans”.  They also remembered the causes which sped them from their homelands overseas, the oppression and fear, often the poverty and lack of opportunity.  This memory served to fuel their patriotism and helped to strengthen our own country’s fabric thereby.

Fast forward.  Policies and immigration laws instituted in the 1960’s have encouraged immigration of a very different sort, and that into an America much changed economically.  We no longer are a manufacturing economy as we once were, requiring large numbers of workers.  We have faded into a “service” economy.  We are consumers, not creators, of products for the marketplace.  The people coming here are no longer seeking the American Dream our grandparents sought – the forward-looking dream of opportunity, achievement, creativity and ownership, but the “dream” of publicly-funded grade schools and daycare – in their native languages, free health care, tax-free incomes.  They do not want to become “American”.  They scorn American customs and turn their backs on American culture and disregard American laws.  Often they are here illegally.  They no longer need to “qualify” to come here.  Once, immigrants needed to bring a trade or skill, to be somewhat literate in at least some language, to have a history of abiding by the law – we didn’t admit known criminals, to, above all, pledge their loyalty to America and forsake loyalty to their former homelands.

Today we have, in contrast, many police departments and border offices and social services staffed with translators and other appurtenances of a foreign consulate.  We have professionals on the payroll whose duty it is to advocate for these hyphenated “Americans” and direct them to the optimum welfare programs.  Immigration has, predictably, become a nightmare, not a “dream”.  Naturally there will be those ready and willing to exploit this and then, there are those of us who see through the emotional appeal and realize the implications of these “special” programs for these “special” people.  This problem grows exponentially with chain migration.

Conservatives must remember what made America great.  Not natural resources.  If that were enough, Russia and Iran would be our equals.  Not geography, not immigration itself.  None of these features is the key.  What we have in common with each other in America is a heritage – for many of us an adopted one – of a philosophy of life, placing priority on individual freedom, and a carefully designed governmental structure described in our Constitution to reflect and promote that philosophy, which, if followed, guarantees us, native born as well as immigrant, the very best possible chance to pursue our dreams and effect our happiness.  One of the great lies taught to our children through their social studies textbooks and teachers is that we are “a nation of immigrants”.  We are not.  We are a nation of Americans.  This view completely ignores the basic principles which have bound Americans together as a nation – our founding principles, which are centered on individual liberty and how best to obtain and preserve it.  That is a major failing in our education system.  This basic lie has undercut our children’s image of their own country and its history, it has robbed them of the understanding of human nature which shaped our Constitution and it has warped their whole world view.

Our founding was not a random event that took place in a vacuum.  It was, rather, the unique product of the thoughts and efforts of a remarkable group of realistic, practical, patriotic, courageous and principled men.  The document which secures our liberty was painstakingly written and debated – not by some old-fashioned hicks but by keenly intelligent, well-read, sometimes self-educated, colonists whose discourse was anything but naïve.

Indeed, their reasoning and discussion reveal the highest level of sophistication.  Our current crop of “intellectuals” could not possibly keep up, nor could the celebrities in our media circus.  That famous British “thinker”, Piers Morgan, derisively referred to this document, our Constitution, as a “little book”, in displaying his ignorance on another topic recently.  This “little book” is no less than the formula for the most nearly perfect design of government created so far by man.  Close examination gives us to understand that the many efforts to improve it have, to varying degrees, only weakened it.

So when Conservatives are told to adjust our “message” to draw the Hispanic vote, we need to step back and realize that the Hispanic person would benefit from the same principles set forth in our founding document as the native-born American.  We will recognize the racism exhibited in the position of the “moderate” Republican or the Democrat who is telling us we need to “adjust to the ‘new’ demographics”, who seem to believe that these people are of a different, presumably lesser, species.  This attitude is manifest in the “demographics” appeal, just as it is seen in various forms of affirmative action.  It supposes that because they are somehow lesser beings they require us to make special arrangements for them.  Oddly, this was never thought necessary in 1910 or 1920, when we had huge numbers of new Americans.  They took pride in quickly becoming Americans – free and successful in their own right.

So what we must do, then, to attract Hispanic votes is what we should be doing to draw younger and first-time voters or any other “group” or “block”.  We must thoroughly and accurately communicate the message that really matters – namely, that our Constitution is the “owner’s manual”.  We ignore it or override it at our peril.  Its intricate system of checks and balances is designed to support liberty and individual freedom and will, therefore, provide Hispanics, just like the rest of us, with the best economic opportunity.  If what the so-called “Hispanic” voter wants is a future for his children, our message to him must be the same as for you or me – just better articulated.

“Demographics” and “identity politics” are just another way of saying that because of his ethnic background, the Hispanic voter cannot be treated as an equal, but rather as a dependant whose vote can only be won through a bidding war with Democrats.  Obviously, the latter approach is doomed.  We could say “OPEN BORDERS!” and the Democrat will answer, “AMNESTY!”.  We can say, “SOCIAL SECURITY!” and they could say “FREE SCHOOL AND HEALTH CARE!”.  We can say, “IN-STATE COLLEGE TUITION!” and they will say “NO TUITION!”  Like Annie Oakley, in Irving Berlin’s song, “anything you can do I can do better!”  We won’t win that vote.  All we can do there is up the ante.  Better to let the Democrats have that portion of the Hispanic vote that wants something for nothing at a lesser price!  We should relentlessly work to get our message across and make its magic understood to the others.

There is nothing about the Conservative position on immigration or welfare that needs adjustment.  What we are not doing well is teaching and communicating these American concepts to those who have not been fortunate enough to have known freedom.  There are relatively few who come here who have had real opportunities.  Let’s show them how to reach out for their goals and dreams and how our American way of life makes those dreams come true, rather than try to buy their votes with socialism.  They left places which have failed because of socialism.  Conservatives should entertain serious suggestions and ideas about how to communicate our position, not change it or sell it for a vote. Our principles are timeless and universal among those who want a future for their children and value freedom.  That is what our message should be, to the Hispanic, to the youth, to Black voters, women, everyone.  The concept of identity politics should be put to rest and we should discuss issues in light of their actual values and not in terms of what we think will appeal most to any special group.  Our Conservative principles, if followed, will answer the legitimate needs of any “identity group”.  Identity politics and seeking “demographic” resonance is an old, outdated game, and, incidentally, nothing more nor less than racism.