The late Andrew Breitbart once noted that “politics is downstream from culture,” arguing that to change the political direction of the time, a cultural catalyst was required. But does this remain true today in a political ecosystem that often seems alien – or, at best, somewhat detached from the wishes and wills of the people it is supposed to serve?
An Upside-Down Paradigm
As Liberty Nation News Senior Political Analyst Tim Donner has pointed out, progressives have been in power for 12 of the last 16 years, raising the question: Is the push for “equity” a cultural imperative whose time has come or a top-down mission that has been sold to the American people by their political masters. Mr. Donner writes:
“The clever strategy of progressive ideologues was to place the words ‘diversity’ and ‘inclusion,’ largely favored by everyday Americans, first and last in the DEI acronym, surrounding the word revealing the true intent of their philosophy, ‘equity.’”
Did culture demand that “equity” be the driving force in all things political? It seems unlikely, especially when one considers that huge swaths of the nation cannot even define what the pernicious concept entails. A case in point would be Senator Bernie Sanders’ (I-VT) March 2023 interview with Bill Maher.
Maher asked the senator (who has held elected office for more than 40 years), “How would you differentiate between equity and equality?" To mild laughter from the audience, Sanders responded, "Well, equality, we talk about – uh, I don’t know what the answer to that is." When pushed to specify which side of the equality-vs-equity debate he favored, he chose the former. Notably, his website still contains a section headed: “Commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion” which states:
“This campaign is committed to advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion in hiring, in programming, and in all other aspects of the work we do. Diversity, equity, and inclusion are deeply connected to our mission, our success, and to serving the American people.”
But does this suggest that Bernie is responding to a cultural uprising – and perhaps just not understanding it? If that were true, the term “equity” would necessarily be a component of American parlance. It is not. And it’s not the only phenomenon that appears to have its roots in politics rather than culture.
Open Borders America
America has a long history of welcoming immigration. But the recent push to admit one and all is undoubtedly a modern practice that has been a shock to the system. If the public truly wanted to do away with “imaginary borders” and allow the world unfettered access to American citizenship, Donald Trump would not have been swept back into Office in the most surprising comeback in modern history.
Allegedly, the most contentious policy of his upcoming administration is the planned mass deportation effort. And guess who is along for the ride?
Ipsos polling from this month shows that 52% of Americans strongly or somewhat favor the “mass deportation of undocumented immigrants.” That includes 25% of Democrats. And here’s the rub: It doesn’t ask about deporting immigrants who have been convicted of serious crimes but only about “undocumented immigrants,” essentially every person who crossed the border illegally or those who do not have legal standing to remain in the US.
Trump’s election victory was a direct rejection of the idea that anyone who wants to come to America should be able to do so. But how did the country get to the point where this was even the norm?
Gallup has tracked immigration support since 1965, with a focus on three positions: should it be increased, remain at present levels, or be decreased? The highest point the “increased” figure reached was in May 2020, when it hit 34%, demonstrating that adding more people through immigration was always a minority position. In the almost five years since then, support for this position has dropped by more than half to just 16%. Conversely, the “decrease” scenario results in 55% support – second only to 1995’s 65%.
Again, we see that the public appetite for this disastrous experiment in open borders is clearly not coming from everyday Americans.
Culture Has Teeth
Let’s add to the mix the majority of Americans who voted this November based on the economic conflagration of the last four years, and we get more than just a Polaroid snap of a moment in time. Immigration, the economy, and DEI – the core planks of the Biden platform – have been rejected, not just recently, but time and time again over the last 60 years. And yet here they are atop the Democratic Party’s platform like a star on a Christmas tree. The Republican Party, on the other hand, has been equally disconnected on issues such as war and foreign interventionism. So what can culture do to take hold of the steering wheel once again?
Re-electing Trump after his four years in the political wilderness was a cultural middle finger to the establishment that has usurped the genuine zeitgeist of America. But reasserting culture as the fount of political policy requires far more than one loose cannon on the deck of the White House. It necessitates engagement in the founding principles of the nation and a focus on politics that stretches beyond an election cycle. As Founding Father John Hancock noted:
“The important consequences to the American States from this Declaration of Independence, considered as the ground and foundation of a future government, naturally suggest the propriety of proclaiming it in such a manner as that the people may be universally informed of it.”
Hancock was perhaps the first advocate of both an open US government and an engaged populace. And if culture is to win this quiet war against politics, it is a message that requires shouting from the rooftops.
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