10 Insights Into the American Character … from a Interesting Non-American Observer

THERE’S A WRITER in Finland that I occasionally do a little editing for who I haven’t heard from in a while. He sent me an email last week and he led off with this:

“How are you? The election is done and the next president has been chosen. How does that feel?”

I’ve gotten similar questions from other foreigners I know, and it doesn’t matter if they live in Europe or Scandinavia or Central America, because all of them are surprised that Americans voted the way they did in the November.

It’s hard to explain all the reasons why our presidential election turned out the way it did, and it will probably be something that people analyze for many years to come.

But a family member flagged me to a great explanation of our 2024 election that was aimed at Europeans but should resonate with a great many Americans too.

Insights from a “Politically Non-Binary Satirist”

IT COMES FROM Konstantin Kisin, who is described by Wikipedia as a “Russian-British satirist, author, conservative pundit” and podcast co-host who “speaks and writes on issues relating to tech censorship, comedy and culture war.”

He also lives in London and describes himself on X (formerly Twitter) as “Politically Non-Binary Satirist.”

I had never heard of him, but he is not only active on X but writes on Substack as well.

Back on Nov. 6, he posted this on both X and Substack under the title 10 Reasons You Didn’t See This Coming, and it’s his analysis of “why” the American presidential election turned out the way it did for those Europeans who don’t understand.

My family member who flagged me to Konstantin Kisin‘s post was encouraged by what he posted. I was too — and I’m interested in what you think. Here’s what Kisin wrote:

10 Reasons You Didn’t See This Coming

November 6, 2024

FOR MY BRITISH AND EUROPEAN friends who are “shocked” and “surprised,” (by the U.S. presidential election), here are 10 reasons you didn’t see this coming.

1. Americans love their country and want it to be the best in the world. America is a nation of people who conquered a continent. They love strength. They love winning. Any leader who appeals to that has an automatic advantage.
2. Unlike Europeans, Americans have not accepted managed decline. They don’t have Net Zero here, they believe in producing their own energy and making it as cheap as possible because they know that their prosperity depends on it.
3. Prices for most basic goods in the U.S. have increased rapidly and are sky high. What the official statistics say about inflation and the reality of people’s lives are not the same.
4. Unlike you, Americans do not believe in socialism. They believe in meritocracy. They don’t care about the super rich being super rich because they know that they live in a country where being super rich is available to anyone with the talent and drive to make it. They don’t resent success, they celebrate it.
5. Americans are the most pro-immigration people in the world. Read that again. Seriously, read it again. Americans love an immigrant success story. They want more talented immigrants to come to America. But they refuse to accept people coming illegally. They believe in having a border.
6. Americans are sensitive about racial issues and their country’s imperfect history. They believe that those who are disadvantaged by the circumstances of their birth should be given the opportunity to succeed. What they reject, however, is the idea that in order to address the errors of the past new errors must be made. DEI is racist. They know it and they reject it precisely because they are not racist.
7. Americans are the most philosemitic nation on Earth. October 7 and the pro-Hamas left’s reaction shocked them to their very core because, among other things, they remember what 9/11 was like and they know a jihad when they see it.
8. Americans are extremely practical people. They care about what works, not what sounds good. In Europe, we produce great writers and intellectuals. In America they produce (and attract) great engineers, businessmen and investors. Because of this, they care less about Trump’s rhetoric than you do and more about his policies than you do.
9. Americans are deeply optimistic people. They hate negativity. The woke view of American history as a series of evils for which they must eternally apologize is utterly abhorrent to them. They believe in moving forward together, not endlessly obsessing about the past.
10. America is a country whose founding story is one of resistance to government overreach. They loathe unnecessary restrictions, regulations and control. They understand that freedom comes with the price of self-reliance and they pay it gladly.

What do you think? I’d love to know

I WOULD BE INTERESTED to know what YOU might think of 10 Reasons You Didn’t See This Coming and if you read it as I do — as a excellent explanation of and insight into the American character.

Sometimes, non-Americans have better insights into America than our own analysts do. For example, French sociologist and political theorist Alexis de Tocqueville, wrote Democracy in America after he visited the United States. As History.com notes:

“Alexis de Tocqueville (1805-1859) traveled to the United States in 1831 to study its prisons and returned with a wealth of broader observations that he codified in Democracy in America (1835), one of the most influential books of the 19th century. With its trenchant observations on equality and individualism, Tocqueville’s work remains a valuable explanation of America to Europeans and of Americans to themselves.”

Important note: I’m not saying that Konstantin Kisin is another de Tocqueville, but he does have the same ability that de Tocqueville had to size up and analyze America in a way that only an insightful European can do — and he does it in 10 well-crafted bullet points.

He understands the American Character, and reminds me — and maybe you — of the many things that make the United States so special.

We’re not perfect by any means, but we should not let those who would tear us down dominate the conversation either.

I’m thankful for the insights of Konstantin Kisin. I’m betting he has many, many more in the months to come.

Please, send me your thoughts and comments at johnhollon@theskepticalguy.com. I’m hoping I get enough to publish some of them here.