What happened to Dave?
I’ve been listening to Dave Smith weekly since Covid, and POTP is usually my #1 podcast on Spotify Wrapped. I agree with a huge amount of what he says, especially as someone who’s identified as a Ron Paul libertarian from the first time I voted in 2012. But what’s going on with Dave these last few episodes?
Dave usually pushes back hard against racial/identity-based thinking, so how is it consistent to decide who counts as “American” based on race, ancestry, accent, or when someone’s family immigrated?
I agree that we need a controlled border and that mass deportations are a need. But Abdul El-Sayed was born in America in the 1980s (like Dave), but since his father immigrated and “he has an accent” that somehow makes either of them less American? I never thought I’d be defending a Democratic Socialist against Dave Smith on the question of citizenship.
Dave argues that there is such a thing as American culture, which I agree with. But if someone of a different race embraces that culture, or a naturalized citizen criticizes aspects of it, why does that make them less American?
And if American identity is defined by being white, Protestant, and descended from generations of Americans, that standard would exclude Dave himself, who isn’t Protestant and whose grandfather immigrated here.
I’m still a big fan of Dave and appreciate his honesty and approach to politics. I just don’t understand how this view is consistent with the individual liberty and anti-identity-politics principles he usually advocates.