America First places America Last

America First Puts Americans Last

By: Vanja Bodja

For decades, the United States has been viewed as a global hegemon and ever since the American Revolution, American independence and dominance has been reaffirmed and echoed. The United States managed to escape Britain’s ruling thumb, construct a government system from the ground up, emerge from two world wars, and continue to succeed as a global force. As a powerful entity, it is evident why the U.S. possesess a unique nationalistic ideology derived from their deep historical roots. While pride for one’s identity is understandable, a fine line between patriotism and nationalism stands. Associated with dominant exclusivity, the term ‘nationalism’ typically carries a negative connotation; these ideals can heighten individual pride and in return hinder participation towards causes bigger than oneself. As seen in America’s case, specifically under the Trump Adminstration, while national pride is a key ingredient to fostering a healthy nation, nationalistic attitudes that have intensified under President Donald Trump have begun to harm America as both a nation and global figure.

For better understanding of the effect of nationalism, it is crucial to determine its role in the U.S. While political philosophers concurrently attempt to find a way to classify which nationalism America falls under, it is important to first contrast between patriotism and nationalism. Nationalism has been dubbed “patriotism’s invidious evil twin” encompassing a “perception of national superiority and an orientation toward national dominance”. On the other side of the spectrum, patriotism is a devotion to one’s country, differing from the exclusive and dominant nature of nationalism. While every nation state carries nationalistic characterizations to a certain extent, nationalism under Trump typically reflects a more extreme strand. In an article found in the American Sociological Review labelled Varieties of American Popular Nationalism, through statistical analysis and surveying, sociologists Bart Bonikowski and Paulo DiMaggio were able to identify traditions of nationalism within the U.S. population. These traditions are of three types, but the focus will mainly be on ethnocultural tradition which reflects the desire for continued dominance from certain ethnicities and, in the case for America, mainly on the part of the Caucasian population. This tradition is most predominant under the Trump administration. While the core meaning of what being ‘American’ varies based on the individual asked, it is nonetheless a culture of its own with a foundation of superiority ideals. Throughout President Trump’s 2016 campaign, his policies revolved around cracking down on illegal immigration, border walls, and barring certain immigrants as a whole. In 2017, an immigration ban was passed barring immigrants, refugees, workers, students and visitors for 90 days from

several predominantly Muslim countries: Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. The Trump Administration also tried to crack down on illegal immigrants by setting out to dissolve DACA (Deferred Action of Childhood Arrivals) and pressure deportation systems. Before Trump’s inauguration, The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1996 allowed immigrants subject to deportation to apply for American status if they can prove they are a resident of ten years, of ‘good moral character’, and that extradition would greatly harm their family. Under the Obama administration, DACA was assembled to protect children of undocumented parents who moved before the age of 16, lived in America for ten years, and completed schooling. Unfortunately under Trump, they attempted to increase deportation numbers and remove DACA as a whole in order to protect Americans from ‘illegal aliens’. Not only does this leave children homeless and parentless, but the economy would be at a loss because illegal immigrants help contribute an estimated $11.6 billion in taxes according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. The nationalistic ideal of American dominance has caused the lives of the most vulnerable to lose their livelihood while costing the American economy billions of dollars in potential taxes. Not only have nationalistic ideals affected American citizens and immigrants, but they have also severed American ties with other nations. Increasing globalization has advanced the global community, allowing each nationstate to be codependent and co-operative interconnectedly. This trend has been reverted specifically due to the ideals of self-sufficiency. Throughout the Trump administration, the common phrase repeated has been “Make America Great Again” by bringing jobs back into the market and decreasing foreign manufacturers. President Trump added a 15% tariff on $112 billion dollars of Chinese goods in an attempt to protect American businesses. The increases in tariffs triggered China to reiterate with another tariff increase on $185 billions worth of American goods and initiate a trade war. According to J.P. Morgan, it was estimated that this would cost the average American a price increase of $1000 in goods annually. The false notion that Americans are ripped off by their allies has only impacted Chinese producers and American consumers due to price increase in goods. The propaganda that the trade war will bring jobs back into the American economy only has increased prices and slowed the economy down. It raises the price of goods in an economy where imports from China make up 21.2% of all imports in 2018. Attempting to assert American dominance and causing conflict with other countries has only harmed hard working American citizens in return.

Nationalism, specifically ethnocultural nationalism under the Trump Administration, has influenced reform and foreign policy in an attempt to make America self-sustaining. While patriotism is celebrated, nationalistic ideals can become harmful to both a country’s population and standing on the global stage. Through reinforcing exclusivity and heightening immigration reform in recent years, it has caused a loss of potential billions going towards stimulating the economy. This has caused harm to families and communities, while supporting racial ideals. Attempting to make America more self-sufficient through tariffs has made it harder for working families to buy necessary goods and further slowed the American economy. All these measures simply reverse the good which globalization has brought to the world stage, such as multiculturalism and interdependency. The actions put in place to ‘put America First’ have only placed Americans last.