S8 Ep586: 3. Author: Victor Davis Hanson. Title: *The Dying Citizen: How Progressive Elites, Tribalism, and Globalization Are Destroying the Idea of America*. Hanson discusses the decline of the American "Melting Pot" in favor of modern tribalism. He asserts that w
The John Batchelor Show
John Batchelor
4.5 • 2.8K Ratings
🗓️ 16 March 2026
⏱️ 12 minutes
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Summary
3. Author: Victor Davis Hanson. Title: *The Dying Citizen: How Progressive Elites, Tribalism, and Globalization Are Destroying the Idea of America*. Hanson discusses the decline of the American "Melting Pot" in favor of modern tribalism. He asserts that while the 20th century focused on absorbing diverse groups into a unified Americanidentity, the current political climate encourages a "voluntary separation"based on race and identity. Critiquing the shift toward "equality of results," Hanson argues that government-mandated winners and losers based on tribal characteristics ignore individual merit. He observes a retrograde return to a "one-drop rule" mentality, where obsession with racial heritage destroys national cohesion and mirrors the tribal strife James Madison sought to mitigate. (3)
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| 0:32.3 | This is CBS, I On the World with Victor Davis Hanson, |
| 0:36.1 | of the Hoover Institution, a classical scholar, |
| 0:38.7 | but he is also the author of the new book, The Dying Citizen, How Progressive Elites, Tribalism, |
| 0:44.0 | and Globalization are destroying the ideas of America. We turn to the melting pot. |
| 0:51.1 | The 20th century, my education, said America is superior, exceptional because we are the great |
| 0:59.6 | democratic experiment of the melting pot. What did we mean by that, Victor, in the 20th century? |
| 1:06.1 | It was popularized by Teddy Roosevelt, who railed against hyphenated Americans. What it meant was that anybody who came to America had made a previous choice, whether |
| 1:16.7 | it was harsh or not, to give up their prior loyalties and identities. |
| 1:21.9 | And then they would absorb a new one. |
| 1:24.9 | And they would all be different colors and different religions and from different |
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