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Yes, Rome. It is perhaps the Ur-Example of what I am talking about. "Civis Romanus Sum" were words of power in late republic and early empire for a reason. Roman Citizenship was not a matter of blood or soil as much is it was having "bought in" to the Roman program. There were latin-speaking children born on the shores of the Tiber who could not honestly claim to be "Roman Citizens" while there were Gallic tribesmen who had served their time in the Legions that could.
You say "a civilization is built and maintained by people" and I agree. Where I suspect we differ is on what it means to "build and maintain" and what it means to be "a people". A common criticism leveled at conservatives by the alt-right is that we cling to pointless sentimentality and are unwilling to burn everything down in the name of political victory and my reply to that is that "what is the point of 'winning' if we're going to burn it all down?"
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