"An Immigrant's Love Letter to the West"

Konstantin Kisin reflects on the Election and the American character

Now that it’s over and we know Donald J. Trump will be president for the next four years, it is time for a quick but thoughtful reflection.

But not from me.

Instead, I yield to someone who understands what it’s like to live under a true oppressive, authoritative regime. Who believes in Western values as real, not an illusion. Who has embraced its ideals, not rejected them.

Konstantine Kisin is a deliberative, thoughtful Brit, stand-up comedian and partner with Francis Foster on the Triggernometry podcast. Kisin immigrated from the former Soviet Union at age 13 — not Russia, but the communist Soviet Union, where authoritarianism wasn’t a platitude but a reality.

In the wee hours of the morning, he Tweeted (or is it X’d?) the following:

(from X)

1. Americans love their country and want it to be the best in the world. America is a nation of people who conquered a continent. They love strength. They love winning. Any leader who appeals to that has an automatic advantage.

2. Unlike Europeans, Americans have not accepted managed decline. They don't have Net Zero here, they believe in producing their own energy and making it as cheap as possible because they know that their prosperity depends on it.

3. Prices for most basic goods in the US have increased rapidly and are sky-high. What the official statistics say about inflation and the reality of people's lives are not the same. (And, by the way, inflation is cumulative and virtually irreversible. If there is a solution, it hasn’t been invented yet.)

4. Americans do not believe in socialism. They believe in meritocracy. They don't care about the super rich being super rich because they know that they live in a country where being super rich is available to anyone with the talent and drive to make it. They don't resent success, they celebrate it.

5. Americans are the most pro-immigration people in the world. Read that again. Seriously, read it again. Americans love an immigrant success story. They want more talented immigrants to come to America. But they refuse to accept people coming illegally.

6. Americans are sensitive about racial issues and their country's imperfect history. They believe that those who are disadvantaged by the circumstances of their birth should be allowed to succeed. What they reject, however, is the idea that to address the errors of the past new errors must be made. Diversity Equity and Inclusion (as a political cudgel) is a mirage. They know it and they reject it precisely because they are not racist.

7. Americans are the most philo-semitic nation on earth. October 7 and the pro-Hamas left's reaction shocked them to their very core because, among other things, they remember what 9/11 was like and they know jihad when they see it.

8. Americans are extremely practical people. They care about what works, not what sounds good. In Europe, we produce great writers and intellectuals. In America, they produce (and attract) great engineers, businessmen and investors. Because of this, they care less about Trump's rhetoric and more about results.

9. Americans are deeply optimistic people. They hate negativity. The woke view of American history as a series of evils for which they must eternally apologize is utterly abhorrent to them. They believe in moving forward together, not endlessly obsessing about the past.

10. America is a country whose founding story is one of resistance to government overreach. They loathe unnecessary restrictions, regulations and control. They understand that freedom comes with the price of self-reliance and they pay it gladly.

Here is Kisin’s extraordinary speech last year at the Oxford Union debate …

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Jim Geschke was inducted into the Marquis Who’s Who Registry in 2021.