Here are two different versions of American nationalism:
Version 1: High tech is bad, part of the woke conspiracy to radicalize America. We need to get back to the old muscle industries like coal, steel and automobiles, which employ a lot of blue workers. We must revive the Rust Belt. Electric vehicles are a fad. Physical stores are better than Amazon. Silicon Valley is full of many immigrants from non-white countries. The Bay Area no longer looks like America.
Version 2: China is our greatest adversary. The battle of the 21st century will be determined by who controls the AI, impacting the battle for military supremacy. We need to import many more highly qualified engineers from countries like India and China. This will strengthen America and weaken China. Greater San Francisco is by far our largest city. This is where the smartest people are and this is where the future of AI will be determined.
I am certainly not an expert in artificial intelligence. But people much smarter than me insist that military supremacy in the 21st century will be determined by which country achieves the AGI first.
It seems to me that there are two types of American nationalism. One type might be called “nostalgic nationalism.” A desire to recreate 1950s America. Another type might be called “forward-looking nationalism” and focuses on winning the race to control AI and thereby dominate the world.
I am not at all sure that what I have called forward-looking nationalism is really nationalism. In this case, perhaps it would be more logical to think of a single nationalism with internal contradictions. Nostalgic nationalism exists, but it is full of internal contradictions. Its supporters want to return to the 1950s, but they also want to confront the threat of a rising China. Can we do both?
PS. None of these versions of nationalism reflect my own views.
