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Vivek Ramaswamy ignited a fierce online debate Thursday when he shared his perspective on what he perceives as America’s cultural shift towards celebrating mediocrity rather than excellence.
The billionaire entrepreneur’s commentary emerged as a response to discussions about the prevalence of foreign-born professionals in American tech positions, particularly through the H-1B visa program, compared to native-born Americans.
“The reason top tech companies often hire foreign-born & first-generation engineers over ‘native’ Americans isn’t because of an innate American IQ deficit (a lazy & wrong explanation). A key part of it comes down to the culture,” Ramaswamy stated.
“Tough questions demand tough answers & if we’re really serious about fixing the problem, we have to confront the TRUTH.”
Elaborating on his position, Ramaswamy emphasized the importance of fostering a STEM-focused culture during children’s formative years. He shared observations about immigrant families who actively limited their children’s exposure to certain media content in the 1990s, noting that these children later achieved significant success in STEM fields.
“A culture that celebrates the prom queen over the math olympiad champ, or the jock over the valedictorian, will not produce the best engineers. — I know *multiple* sets of immigrant parents in the 90s who actively limited how much their kids could watch those TV shows precisely because they promoted mediocrity…and their kids went on to become wildly successful STEM graduates,” he explained.
Looking ahead, the incoming co-head of the Department of Government Efficiency expressed optimism about potential cultural changes under Donald Trump’s leadership, describing it as potentially America’s “Sputnik moment” and an opportunity for cultural awakening.
His message, which garnered nearly 20 million views by Thursday evening, faced pushback from various conservative voices. Conservative commentator Mark Cernovich challenged the premise, stating: “The Woodstock generation managed to build out aerospace, the one before went to the moon, America was doing great. Underlying your post is that we were all living in squalor until being rescued by H-1B’s. Then why did everyone want to come here?”
Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley also voiced opposition: “There is nothing wrong with American workers or American culture. All you have to do is look at the border and see how many want what we have. We should be investing and prioritizing in Americans, not foreign workers.”
