Happy Children’s Day, The Friend!
I wonder if with your background and experience you’d have any insight into the best way to bring Indian immigrants into the US around to a small-government, Constitutional, freedom-based society.
For examples, most Indians in the US I know want very much to work and prosper under free market conditions themselves, but out of their experience in India they are very cognizant of a perceived need to help and support the poor through government action. And that latter sense becomes the underpinning to their supporting the Democrat party.
Great question and something that has been occupying my mind lately. We (conservatives) need to bring more Indian and Asian-origin folks intro our fold and aggressively. As you point out, Indian immigrants are conservative by nature.
Dear 9YearLurker,
Very educative comment for me. Since the time (recently)I became aware of the alternative beliefs of the Republicans and Democrats, I have wondered why is it that Indians in the US mostly support Democrats. I have now learnt from you that a major reason could be the way Democrats dole out to the poor from the state treasure.
I admit I have limited understanding of these issues. I only know about the Indian mind set. I guess, a reason could be that Indians in the US, traditionally, might have thought that they are different kind of immigrants - Brown (Hindu largely)Indians vs. Yellow (Buddhist/Confucian/X) Chinese or Ivory (Muslim)Arabs or White (Christian)Europeans (and South Americans). They might have perceived themselves, in the US, at the bottom of the racial/religious/nationality ladder.
This might have led to insecurities in their minds. Democrats played on that and perhaps also for all other immigrants. Indians might have thought that Democrats support the poor (most immigrants are poorer when they move in)and they might have thought Democrats offer better protection than Republicans.
This is plausible. In India too, people who moved in from other lands during the past 75 years would have a similar thinking. That is one reason the Congress party ruled India for almost all of these past decades.
What could be a solution? It depends on the voting patterns. Have all kinds of immigrants in the past 75 years voted traditionally for the Dems in the US? Or do Indians stand out? If the latter is true, then it is easier to fix.
To do so, one needs to review how are the Indian immigrants different from other kinds of immigrants? Most, at least many, fundamentally should be aligned to the Republican thinking by default. After all, most of the Indians in the US support the BJP (sort of like Reps) then Congress (sort of like Dems).
Indians are different from all other kinds of immigrants, including those from East Asia, not mainly due to their family values but due to the two things -
1. Diversity
Their awareness and acceptance of diversity. There is no other country, compared to India, in the world that has such a tremendous kinds of diversity of races, religions, languages, cultures, cuisines, castes, and income levels etc.
2. The paradox of ladders
While the Indians in the US may have been at the bottom rung of the racial/religious/nationality ladder they are at the top most rung of the economic/IQ ladder. In a way this paradox is akin to a paradox that has emerged in Asia —most Asian (leaving aside the Middle East) countries find their biggest foreign source of economic prosperity to be China and that is also their biggest source of geopolitical insecurity.
Understanding of these two features could lead to a part of the solution of involving more Indians with Republicans. If campaigns are crafted on the diversity theme, one can possibly win them over. And the US is diverse indeed. If one loves his/her adopted country of the US at the level he/she loves his/her native culture, then assimilation has been achieved.
A more general solution could lie in understanding how are classical paradoxes resolved.
I assume this assimilation might be already happening. I think US Indians are merging into the mainstream over the past generations. They might be resolving towards the middle rungs of all ladders. Are there empirical established studies that show any change in the Indians’ voting pattern over the generations or decades? That data point should be of help.
I am writing while still thinking. As I said before, I don’t know much about this and I may be 100% wrong. Perhaps, Indians living in the US and on this forum are better qualified to comment.
Best regards,
The Friend
Your comment -
“Happy Children’s Day, The Friend!
I wonder if with your background and experience you’d have any insight into the best way to bring Indian immigrants into the US around to a small-government, Constitutional, freedom-based society.
For examples, most Indians in the US I know want very much to work and prosper under free market conditions themselves, but out of their experience in India they are very cognizant of a perceived need to help and support the poor through government action. And that latter sense becomes the underpinning to their supporting the Democrat party.”