American Exceptionalism

The very first rule of any sort of exceptionalism is that if you have to tell people that you are, you aren't.

That doesn't mean that I don't believe that Americans aren't in some way special.
We are. But it's not for the reason you might think.

There are two things to think about, immigration, and natural selection.
Three things, add 'regression to the mean' to the list.

To become an American, you had to leave where you were and go. That act by itself set you apart from the rest of your native population. While most people live and die within 50 miles of where they were born, you went hundreds or thousands of miles to live in a strange land. Americans are self-selected for a tendancy to take a chance, try something new, and be optimistic.

The people here wanted to be here, with one notable exception, those who came from Africa via the slave trade.

But then we run into this thing called regression to the mean. Tall parents have a kid that is less tall, short parents have a kid that is less short. Closer to average. Get it?

The exceptional immigrant parents have less exceptional children. After a few generations, the exceptional factors are diluted and fade away, sinking back to the average.

To keep the nation exceptional requires a constant source of new immigrants.

Which is why I am so very puzzled that we try to keep all these people out. We need them. The higher the hurdles they have to jump to get here, the better class of exceptionals we get. Give them an education, and they'll be middle class in a generation. You know, taxpayers.

So if someone, not a criminal, is willing to walk the Sonoran desert to get here, I'd find some way to let them stay. It's the smart thing to do.