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Actually yes, we will replace you
“You will not replace us” — Both sides of Tucker Carlson’s replacement theory and why some of it is true
Carlson Tucker is doubling down on his replacement theory, suggesting the democrats are running an elaborate scheme to import as many immigrants as possible to gain blue-leaning voters in order to keep winning elections. The “You will not replace us” banners seen back in Charlottesville, sported by the handsome dapper gentlemen (JK) of various white supremacist groups, are referring to the same theory. They preceded Tucker’s version of the story by a few years, drawing their inspiration from an underground source peddling this fabulous conspiracy theory. It’s unnerving listening to Carlson or any of the right wing primetime anchors because so many people are treating the story as gospel truth. You want to have Fox shut down, but that’s not what a free country does. You listen and you smile, and you trust that most people have enough horse sense to reject the narrative. Replacement theory is good bait for disgruntled people.
Is there any truth to it? Not in its popular conspiracy theory form, no. We’re not importing people to add blue voters. First of all, the Latino and South-East Asian immigrant communities don’t make very good blue voters, with easily half of them manifesting pro-Trump and MAGA voting preferences. Secondly, this would be a very slow-moving and ineffective strategy for any Democratic Party think tank to adopt, and if it did work, would not yield fruits for 10+ years — an eternity in politics. No, we are not importing people to add blue voters. We’re granting H1B visas to qualified professionals who can fill open jobs that need to be done. This is not driven by a blue agenda but by a gap in qualified staff for critical jobs that need to get done.
There may be some truth to the replacement theory if we examine what’s happening to the labor markets and who are the winners and losers. From here, we could extrapolate what kind of sentiment being generated within each of the communities as a result of what they observe and tell each other. Imagine a poor working class community in West Virginia, decimated by coal mine closures and with the local economy weakened, impacting employment opportunities across the board. Imagine in parallel, a poor black community with lots of unemployment and few job…
