Is Vivek Right About America? by Colin Redemer

By Colin Redemer, First Things, Jan. 3, 2025

Colin Redemer is managing director at Beck & Stone.

On the second day of Christmas, Vivek Ramaswamy gave to America a diagnosis: We have a culture problem. “Our American culture has venerated mediocrity over excellence for way too long,” Ramaswamy wrote on X. We need “More math tutoring, fewer sleepovers. More weekend science competitions, fewer Saturday morning cartoons. More books, less TV. More creating, less ‘chillin.’ More extracurriculars, less ‘hanging out at the mall.’”

Ramaswamy, who will lead the new Department of Government Efficiency alongside Elon Musk, was also making a point about the—already roiling—debate over H-1B visas. If Americans don’t revere hard work enough, then immigrants do. They value hard work; they honor the math Olympiad and the spelling bee; they wisely prevent their children from participating in mass American culture. And so those children “become wildly successful STEM graduates.” …

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