Demography and Destiny
After America was founded, settlers rapidly expanded into our vast western spaces. Some of these settlers were immigrants, who successfully assimilated into their newly adopted nation. The Great Wave of immigration commenced in 1890 and lasted for thirty-five years. During that period, 20 million immigrants were admitted into the United States. Then in 1921, the first immigration law was passed which quantified the number of immigrants permitted to enter our country. It set the precedent that not only does America have the right, but also the responsibility to manage immigration in the best interest of the nation as a whole.
The next few decades provided a cooling-off period which successfully allowed for assimilation of those large numbers of immigrants.
Demography and destiny
Congress then gradually increased immigration numbers, and in particular turned a blind eye to illegal immigration. This reached a level of crisis proportions when the Biden-Harris regime effectively dissolved America's borders, allowing millions of illegal alien invaders to enter America.
There are three reasons why the Biden-Harris regime did so.
- The Democrat party promised their constituents and donors that they would increase immigration.
- The Great Replacement Is a Democrat Electoral Strategy. Importing those from low-income socialist-modeled countries where individual freedom is a subordinate value pretty much guarantees that they will vote for the Democrat party, which provides the most taxpayer-paid freebies.
- To fundamentally transform America. Many leftists / socialists / Marxists / globalists wish to destroy Capitalist America and rebuild it as a socialist paradise. They have found a voice in the Democrat party.
Because of the astronomical numbers of illegal aliens now living in America, it might seem that America is doomed to be fundamentally transformed into a socialist nation, governed by a permanent Democrat party. After all, demography is destiny.
And yet, the 2024 election vividly demonstrated that America values its heritage as the one of the most tolerant and decent nations in the world. Americans declared that they won't so easily be fundamentally transformed into a progressive socialist utopia. Indeed it has been declared that The Progressive Movement Is Finished.
The lingering reality of demographic change
We're still faced with the lingering reality of demographic change, with huge numbers of illegal aliens living in our midst.
Jason Richwine offered an interesting analysis of this situation in his 10 December 2024 American Conservative article, Is Demography Still Destiny After 2024? He showed that preferences for wealth redistribution - that is, preferences for socialism - remained across multiple generations of immigrants. In other words, the children and grandchildren of immigrants who preferred redistribution similarly preferred redistribution. Richwine writes that:
Data show that group ideological preferences persist to a significant degree across generations, and those preferences appear to have deep cultural roots.
Richwine discusses how shifting party coalitions have led to changing political party focus. He observes that:
Republicans under Trump have de-emphasized free market economics in favor of more populist appeals on issues such as trade, entitlement spending, and even union support. Meanwhile, Democrats have increased their focus on social activism and lifestyle issues affecting educated professionals. It’s unsurprising that Hispanics, a predominantly working-class group not traditionally animated by social issues, are taking a greater interest in Republicans...
He continues:
The point is that the Democratic and Republicans parties do not represent static sets of principles. Instead, the parties are engaged in a dynamic ideological process—modifying their platforms, recruiting and shedding coalition partners, battling for control of the political center, always in search of 50 percent plus one...
On demographics, Richwine warns that:
Of course, there is a way to alter voter ideology in the aggregate, and that is to import new voters. The political impact of immigration remains very real - and very concerning, if one is a traditional conservative - because immigrants bring persistent values and beliefs that can shift the political center that each party is trying to attract...
Richwine concludes that because of high levels of immigration, preference for small-government conservatism could fade, thus moving America in a progressive direction - albeit with a still-functioning, more progressive Republican party.
Related
American Return, by Adam Ellwanger, American Mind, 10 December 2024.
The Progressive Movement Is Finished, by Richard Truesdell and Keith Lehmann, American Greatness, 11 November 2024.
Well-Designed Systems Self-Correct, by Charlie Martin, PJ Media, 9 November 2024.
