S8 Ep586: 2. Author: Victor Davis Hanson. Title: *The Dying Citizen: How Progressive Elites, Tribalism, and Globalization Are Destroying the Idea of America*. This segment examines how eroded borders and lax immigration laws threaten the concept of citizenship. Han
The John Batchelor Show
John Batchelor
4.5 • 2.8K Ratings
🗓️ 16 March 2026
⏱️ 9 minutes
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Summary
2. Author: Victor Davis Hanson. Title: *The Dying Citizen: How Progressive Elites, Tribalism, and Globalization Are Destroying the Idea of America*. This segment examines how eroded borders and lax immigration laws threaten the concept of citizenship. Hanson critiques the 1965 Heart-Celler Act for replacing meritocracy with proximity to the border and family ties, leading to a massive influx of illegal residents. He describes the 1986 Simpson-Mazzoli Act as a "disastrous" failure where promised border security was never delivered in exchange for amnesty. The discussion highlights how remittances to Mexico and the political "flipping" of states through demographic shifts have prioritized global interests and partisan loyalty over the traditional duties of a sovereign nation. (2)
1940 SAN DIEGO
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| 0:35.1 | I'm John Datshu, with Victor Davis Hansen of the Hoover Institution. |
| 0:38.4 | The professor is a classicist writing most recently, the dying citizen, how progressive elites, tribalism, and globalization are destroying the idea of America. |
| 0:47.4 | It is obvious that the Roman Empire was the first iteration of globalization. |
| 0:53.1 | We are several more advanced from that, but it's |
| 0:55.9 | surprising how the pattern repeats itself. Borders. Let's do some history here. In 1965, the |
| 1:02.3 | Hart Cellar Act, rethinking immigration into America, migration into America, people who came to America for either to send remittances home or to resettle without going through the ordinary process of applying for U.S. citizenship. |
| 1:19.7 | You're right that that was, that it is now regarded, not you. |
| 1:23.4 | You report that it is now regarded one of the most, if not the most thoughtless of the great society. |
| 1:29.1 | How so? How did it change things? |
| 1:31.8 | It destroyed the whole idea of meritocracy. So it basically said whether you have a bachelor's degree or a definable skill or some capital or some fluency with English, it doesn't matter anymore. |
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