Posted on December 30, 2024

No Christmas Truce

Gregory Hood, American Renaissance, December 28, 2024

Plutarch writes of a thought experiment called the Ship of Theseus. Theseus’s legendary ship was supposedly preserved at Athens for centuries, but every part had been replaced over time. Is it still the same ship even if none of the original parts are left?

You could ask the same question about America. The inevitable struggle over increases in legal, “high-skill” immigration exploded over Christmas. Donald Trump recently chose Sriram Krishnan to serve as senior policy advisor for artificial intelligence. Mr. Krishnan wants more legal immigration, including more green cards.

This sparked a donnybrook on X. Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy stepped in and made things worse.

Mr. Ramaswamy infuriated Americans.

First, Mr. Musk heaped scorn on opponents of increased legal immigration. Then he tried to backtrack, suggesting that all he wants is the very brightest immigrants. However, users started investigating how Tesla uses H1-B visas. Apparently, Americans can’t even fill entry-level jobs.

Mr. Musk stupidly compared the United States to a sports team.

If anything, Mr. Fuentes may be too optimistic and generous. In recent years, sports teams have traded players, rebranded, and moved locations so aggressively that even the tepid geographic identities many enjoyed are lost. Rather than avid fans following a specific team, sports entertainment often conjures up “fantasy teams” of random players that gamblers put together. There is not even a hint of a “home team,” just manipulating digits to win a few bucks.

Maybe that’s what Mr. Musk wants for America. He doesn’t understand that nothing is more expensive than cheap labor. Slavery was supposed to be cheap. And we need only look north to Canda to see what its “skilled immigrants” brought.

At least 14 X-account holders who criticized Mr. Musk have been stripped of their verified blue checkmarks. Laura Loomer, who was one of the first people to blast Mr. Krishnan, got a petulant rebuke from Mr. Musk — “Loomer is trolling for attention. Ignore.” – before she lost her verification. So much for “free speech absolutism.”

But what will the Trump Administration do? Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller was a former aide to Senator Jeff Sessions, the most stalwart voice against H1-B visas in Congress in recent years. Mr. Miller posted a Donald Trump speech paying tribute to the American people, which did not credit immigration for the nation’s greatness.

Incoming Vice President JD Vance stepped in on the right side.

Yet what was most revealing was what Indians said on X. People who claim that immigration is good for America often abandon their arguments in the face of the facts. Instead, they admit that immigration will hurt us, but that’s good: white people have it coming.

Similarly, Indians on X couldn’t contain their racial resentment.

There are two major divides. The simple one is between white Americans and those Indians, who, regardless of citizenship, do not seem to consider themselves American. The so-called pro-immigration arguments are less about egalitarianism or the free movement of peoples than a tribe crudely pushing its interests.

Some clearly think America is nothing more than an economy. Presumably, Mr. Musk agrees. But at a time when people cheer someone who murdered a CEO, his companies face lawfare, and Germany is calling X a threat to democracy, he might think twice about alienating the one group that always supported him.

Donald Trump has always waffled on legal immigration.

Fortunately, Mr. Trump’s online base is furiously fighting back. Likewise, immigration boosters have been so clumsy and hostile that few can even pretend their proposed policies will be good for America or that they were ever even intended to be. If the “legal immigration” lobby has crippled itself through arrogance and spite even before the Administration takes office, that would be a true Christmas miracle.

About Gregory Hood

View all posts by Gregory Hood
Mr. Hood is a staff writer for American Renaissance. He has been active in conservative groups in the US. You can follow him on Gab.