"Nations are built on things that transcend individuals. As we do a postmortem on the American Republic, the concept of “Civic Nationalism” is a clear failure."
NO. The failure is to have failed to teach American Civics.
I asked my wife how many Chinese immigrants would pick up a rifle and fight for America. She responded “Aside from me”?
She explained that a US passport is a status symbol for many Chinese and right now America is a good place to live. If China was better, they’d be there.
My wife’s cousin is a perfect example. She lives in SoCal and thinks California is great because of the free stuff. She learned just enough English to pass a naturalization exam, but lives in a Mandarin speaking bubble. Her husband is an engineer that came to the US at age 12. He pays taxes, but his spoken English is not great.
Are they looting stores, no. They pay taxes and don’t cause problems, but they don’t have more than a transactional relationship with America.