Calling "racial wokeism, gender ideology, and climateism" symptoms of a national identity crisis, Vivek Ramaswamy advocated against “wokeism” in this speech from 2023.
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00:00My parents came to this country through the front door, legally.
00:03You get into this country based on merit.
00:05I'll talk about getting ahead in this country.
00:07Let's even just talk about who gets in.
00:09Our inner animal spirit at the heart of the American soul,
00:12it has been domesticated, it has been tamed by this new culture
00:18that rejects truth and embraces relativism,
00:23that rejects equal opportunity and embraces equal results,
00:27that rejects excellence and embraces victimhood.
00:32When we rallied behind the cry, many of us did, to make America great again,
00:37we did not just hunger for any single man.
00:41We hungered for the unapologetic pursuit of excellence in this country
00:46because that is what it means to be American.
00:49I think this is an opportunity for the conservative movement,
00:52for the GOP in this country,
00:54to create a new American dream for the 21st century
00:59that revitalizes the ideals that set this nation into motion
01:04almost 250 years ago from places not far
01:07from where we're getting together here, right here in New Hampshire.
01:10I think it is an opportunity to revive basic ideas,
01:14the basic rules of the road, ideas like merit,
01:18the idea that you get ahead in this country,
01:21that you get into this country based on merit.
01:24I'll talk about getting ahead in this country,
01:25let's even just talk about who gets in, okay?
01:29My parents came to this country in the late 70s in my dad's case,
01:33in the early 80s in my mom's case, through the front door, legally.
01:38They followed the rules, they worked hard, they paid their taxes,
01:42they made sacrifices, they raised two kids in this country
01:45who each went on to found companies
01:47that went on to employ and help thousands of Americans.
01:51They taught us that hardship isn't the same thing as victimhood,
01:55that there is more to life than self-indulgence,
01:58that getting married, that creating a family
02:01does involve some level of sacrifice,
02:04but some sacrifices are worth making for something greater.
02:08We should want more immigrants in this country like my parents,
02:14but we have to embrace them by also acknowledging,
02:17and I say this as a first-generation American,
02:20that we cannot open our arms to a wave of immigrants
02:24whose first act of entering this country is a law-breaking one,
02:28because we are a nation of laws.
02:31That is part of what it means to be American.
02:34It's not just merit about who gets into this country.
02:36After you get in, it's about meritocracy in who gets ahead in this country,
02:41embracing the idea that Martin Luther King was right.
02:45I think the GOP can be not only the party of Lincoln,
02:48but the party of MLK, reviving our conviction in the idea
02:52that you get ahead in this country not on the color of your skin,
02:56but on the content of your character and your contributions.