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We are a nation of pioneers, settlers, and frontiersmen, not immigrants. The former civilized wild lands and built civilization in the wilderness. The latter are following their nose to where the money spigot is leaking. They are not the same.
Very few Americans, and I am a huge American propagandist and booster, were actual frontiersmen and wilderness explorers. Maybe 1 or 2 percent ever did that and everyone else flowed in after. I've spent more time in the woods than an average person from 1820.
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Am I going to doubt the fact that the people who came to America were not pioneers? No. Were they also colonists who engaged in the genocide of the Native American people, and came here for the profiteering of the "New World"? Yeah.
Yes, but I'm not going to feel guilty that my ancestors were conquerors spreading the light of civilization into the wilderness.
I'm also going to remember that when unrelated foreigners show up on our shores, we should be wary of welcoming them, lest they displace us as we displaced those who were here before.
In short, I don't know what point you think you're making, but I know what point I take from your reply.
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Half of my family was not frontiersmen. They came to the East Coast fleeing starvation and lived in a city. My grandfather joined the police force, his four sons followed suit. His brother died in Korea. They are proud to be American. I think there is room in the American Story for tales such as these.
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