In the “Make America Great Again” world, loyalty to the boss has always been the top value. But now, with the arrival of Vivek Ramaswamy and Elon Musk, things have gotten more complicated. There are now two levels (or more) of loyalty, depending on how much money you are willing to spend to make the boss happy.
For example, both Ramaswamy and Musk recently broke ranks by opposing MAGA’s draconian immigration policy. They both feel that exceptions should be made for highly skilled engineers. They have made it clear that America’s education system, let alone its overall system of values, is not conducive to producing the quality of engineers needed to compete in today’s world. In the words of Musk: “The number of people who are super talented engineers and super motivated in the USA is far too low.” According to Ramaswamy: “American culture has venerated mediocrity over excellence for way too long.” They both wish to make it easier for high-quality, foreign-educated engineers to get in the door.
The backlash from their poorer, more orthodox brethren has been fierce. It has to be remembered that orthodox MAGA followers are utterly against the culture espoused by Ramaswamy and Musk — i.e., the culture that values higher education, immigration, expertise, science and excellence. This faction wants to do away with any institution that embeds these values, including the civil service. For them, the principle value against which all others are measured is loyalty, not competence (see Donald Trump’s picks for cabinet posts).
Next to loyalty, what has counted as values for MAGA are the following: White male supremacy, misogyny, Christian nationalism, isolationism and more tax breaks for the rich. We can only hope that MAGA followers will be forced publicly to confront their inner contradictions.
Frederick Longacre
Hockessin
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