"Do you want reform or do you want a revolution? I stand on the side of revolution — the American Revolution."
These are the words of Vivek Ramaswamy, the latest "anti-woke" crusader making noise in the GOP political arena. Joining the crowd clamoring for the Republican presidential nomination, Ramaswamy is a 38-year-old biotech investor who has amassed nearly a billion dollars during his career and is bankrolling his own campaign as the first millennial Republican contender. Traversing the country, Ramaswamy is promoting himself as a candidate veiled in rationality, intelligence, and youthful vitality.
As a fresh face on the scene, Ramaswamy took center stage in the recent inaugural GOP primary debate, making one thing clear: He cannot be ignored. With his campaign claiming it raised over $1 million in the day after the debate, Ramaswamy has had a meteoric ascent. He is currently positioned third in the polls for the Republican presidential nomination, following Donald Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
Ramaswamy also has a ubiquitous media presence. In addition to hosting his own podcast, he makes frequent appearances on cable TV, seeks out interview opportunities on various platforms, and makes headlines when he visits communities, such as the South Side of Chicago, that are not typically on Republican campaign trails. According to Politico, Ramaswamy had "30 interviews in one day and has appeared on more than 150 podcasts since launching his campaign in February." This media strategy leverages his primary strengths: confidence and quick-thinking.
Ramaswamy’s rapid rise should be unsettling, particularly for members of my generation, Gen Z. For starters, he seems hell-bent on silencing us. One of the mind-boggling policies Ramaswamy is advocating for is to constitutionally raise the voting age from 18 to 25, with exceptions for military or first responder service. Ramaswamy would also require Gen Z Americans to “earn” this fundamental privilege of citizenship by passing a naturalization civics test. Meanwhile, Ramaswamy’s campaign consistently hounds young people for being unpatriotic and lacking a sense of national pride and purpose.
Ramaswamy's logic for this proposed policy falls short on several levels. He seems to believe that stripping the vote from young Americans will somehow increase civic pride and engagement. In reality, this policy would disenfranchise tens of millions of Gen Z individuals, leading to one of the largest reductions of the US electorate in history. Also, this proposal echoes voting registration literacy tests that aimed to disenfranchise African American and immigrant voters, a practice that was curtailed only by the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Ramaswamy's approach, which would require a constitutional amendment, would alienate young people from participating in democracy and voting. (It’s worth noting that Republicans have already been targeting young voters, who tend to overwhelmingly support Democrats.) According to NBC News, Ramaswamy himself has voted in only two presidential elections.
Under Ramaswamy, things wouldn't look too good for Mother Earth either. As a self-proclaimed “scientist,” he has said the "climate change agenda is a hoax” that is killing more people than the climate crisis itself. There is no evidence to support this statement.
Going a step further, Ramaswamy contends that "human flourishing requires fossil fuels," and asserts that "the solution to temperature-related deaths lies in increased fossil fuel abundance." However, 2021 research highlighted by The Guardian indicates that fossil fuels were linked to 8.7 million premature deaths in 2018, contributing to almost one-fifth of all global fatalities that year. The vast majority of Gen Z adults express concern about climate change, but Ramaswamy vows to "abandon the climate cult."
Ramaswamy is like a high-end salesman who has deciphered the code to succeeding in a modern-day, media-driven presidential campaign, assuredly telling voters what they want to hear and strategically wielding selective, partial facts to sway the many who aren't thrilled with the prospect of a Trump-Biden rematch.
Ramaswamy’s campaign manifesto is based on his 10 "campaign commandments,” which he promotes with exuberant confidence. But most of his policy points are fundamentally flawed, crumbling under basic scrutiny and a mere second round of questioning.
Let’s take a closer look: He seeks to abolish the Department of Education, which promotes equal access and preparedness in education; he firmly states the existence of only two genders, has called being transgender a “deluded and mentally deranged state,” and extols the nuclear family as the "greatest form of governance known to mankind." Ramaswamy advertises these contentious right-wing ideologies, many of which are shared by his fellow GOP candidates, as something new and different.
But another of Ramaswamy’s viewpoints disturbs me even more. Like him, I am a first-generation Indian American Hindu. My well-educated immigrant parents, like his, came to this nation for job opportunities and an upbringing “with a focus on education” for their children. But I know that shared heritage doesn’t mean shared beliefs. Ramaswamy recounts the immigrants living the American dream narrative — the narrative from which his family benefited — only to narrow the path for others to achieve the same. He seeks meritocratic admission to attract the "right type of immigrants" who align with his vision of assimilation into America. Using dangerous rhetoric like "invasion," he has promised to send military troops to the border to prevent undocumented immigrants from entering the country. Contesting birthright citizenship and its protection under the 14th amendment, Ramaswamy has even vowed to deport the children of undocumented immigrants born in the US and are existing citizens.
It is also disappointing to witness a candidate with whom I share heritage tout "reverse racism as racism" instead of focusing on actual racism. As Ramaswamy ascends in national politics, he is spitting on diversity and compassion for others less fortunate.
This is also evident in his devotion to Trump, who remains the frontrunner despite having been indicted in four separate cases. Though Ramaswamy once tweeted that Trump’s role in the January 6 insurrection was “downright abhorrent” and criticized him in his book, the self-proclaimed contrarian pulled out the Uno Reverse card and hailed Trump as “the best president of the 21st century” in the recent primary debate.
Beyond the 2024 race, Ramaswamy's current popularity speaks to a larger issue: the attraction to charismatic personalities devoid of principles. His career centers on self-serving pitches, as he’s transitioned from a Big Pharma leader who profited from a failed Alzheimer's drug to a politician vying for the highest office in the country.
Morphing into his college-era rapper alter-ego, under the pseudonym "Da Vek," Ramaswamy recently performed Eminem's "Lose Yourself" at a political rally to an awkwardly quiet audience of Gen X'ers and Boomers. (Eminem promptly asked Ramaswamy to stop playing his music.) No matter what happens to his candidacy, it’s likely he will continue to promote himself on podcasts, social media, and beyond, building his personal brand — and profiting from it.
While campaigning recently in Iowa, Ramaswamy asserted, “It takes a person of a different generation to reach the next generation. Young people have lost their sense of national pride.” Vivek Ramaswamy is not that person. My generation takes pride in diversity, critique, and the pursuit of securing rights to enhance the nation we call home. Though Ramaswamy and his charisma may now be riding a wave of support, Gen Z should not be fooled by either.
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