Far too often I've heard members of the Republican party use terms like "civilizational erasure" as the supposed result of the "mass migration" that spells the "death of Western Culture." Their intellectuals, such as JD Vance and Stephen Bannon, love to bandy about these notions to justify their party's nationalist agenda.
The problem of these ideas is that they assume that cultures are static and immutable. Cultures actually thrive because of their adaptability to change. In the last 300 years European cultures underwent major crises. France dealt with a serious revolution, while Germany and Spain faced constant political upheavals. They all survived despite the enormous migrations that came afterwards. The result? They absorbed these changes and are now stronger thanks to them.
Now, this adaptability isn't exclusive to one culture or even a group. It's the element that allows any culture to survive and succeed. Remember that the US went through a Civil War before its first centennial, and 75 years later it was a world power. In the meantime, "the great migration" occurred, and large groups of people from all over the world poured into this country to make it richer, stronger and wealthier. What would we be without Italians, Germans, Irish, Chinese, or Swedes? We wouldn't enjoy pizza, lutefisk, or brats, and we wouldn't have figures like George Gershwin, Steve Jobs, Carlos Santana, Gloria Stefan, Steve Chen, and even Marco Rubio.
I am Francisco Solares-Larrave, and this is my perspective.
