America has a common culture that defines it and defines what it means to be America. While there are regional differences, those commonalities outweigh our regional and local diversity, or even the diversity between individuals. America is unicultural abet with a very diverse and dynamic one united in our fundamental commonality and participation in, and contribution to, a heritage that grew organically over nearly a thousand years. America, in this sense, is not “propositional”. Who is an American being defined not by a common culture, but by varying degrees of deoxyribonucleic acid coincidence; the belief that it is is the true view of America as a “propositional nation”.
To start with the conclusion, for the purpose of illustration, these people who deride “paperwork Americans” (or “fiat Americans”) define the American nation in a very European way, specifically that it is determined solely by blood of a pan-European multi-ethnic stock. Oh, they don’t say it outright, so they have to construct their arguments like pretzels in order to obfuscate all that.
In reality there are only two types of Americans: Those who are naturalized and those who are natural born. Though it is a separate in depth discussion, the actual cultural heritage which developed over half a millennium is that those born within the country bear allegiance to the country and are thus subjects or citizens, with extension to those born without being not a function of the Common Law, but of propositional statutory allowances. If this Common Law birthright is a proposition, it is one that was natural born. In time that proposition that those born outside of the country can become full and complete citizens or subjects became an organic part of our legal culture and heritage, while their own children born within the country are natural born and considered as such before any such proposition—despite these natural born citizens being declared proposition Americans! The “ideological connection, cultural tie, or apparent love of country” comes from being born in and part of American culture. It must be noted that simply being born here or having blood ties to some distant ancestor does not create ideological connection with American culture let alone the founding principles of America, nor does it necessarily impart a love or country, or even an affinity to that culture and heritage which these so-called “heritage Americans” seemingly hate and despise.
Yes, children of non-citizens do not agree to any proposition or indeed to any allegiance to any cultural heritage. But then, the same can be said of a child born to a descendent of a member of the Daughters or Sons of the American Revolution. The proposition that these people push is that only by blood can allegiance be truly transmitted. Ironically, they sort of admit it when they talk about hos the “modern [American identity] definition clearly isn’t working, and something new will require some tough conversations” and then condemn America as a propositional nation while proposing a new definition of America as a nation!
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