With due respect to Tucker Carlson and being “all in” on America  

Tucker Carlson spoke at a conservative political conference over the weekend and didn’t hold back on his diagnosis of America’s serious problems.

But at one point, he also railed against having a second citizenship.

Initially the question from the audience was about US politicians who also hold Israeli citizenship. Tucker found that “obviously absurd”. He said that “no man can serve two masters” and that a politician “can only really pledge your loyalty. . . to one country, and that’s just a fact.”

That’s a perfectly valid assertion. But Tucker then went beyond politicians having dual citizenship and brought up members of the military:

“Anybody, by the way, who serves in a foreign military should lose his citizenship immediately. There are a lot of Americans who served in the IDF [Israeli Defense Forces], they should lose their citizenship. . . You can’t fight for another country and remain an American. Period.”

Well, in that case we’d have to posthumously take US citizenship away from John Paul Jones, the Revolutionary War hero who is known as the Father of the United States Navy; he later served as a rear admiral for Catherine the Great to help defeat the Ottoman Empire.

Then there was Eugene Bullard, America’s first black fighter pilot who had to join the French Foreign Legion in World War I because of racial discrimination in the US military. He flew dozens of combat missions and was highly decorated for his service to the Allies.

Then there are legendary figures like Davy Crocket and Jim Bowie– both American citizens who fought and died at the Alamo to help Texas win its independence against Mexico in 1836.

The list goes on and on. Seriously? Davy Crocket isn’t an American patriot? Give me a break.

But then Tucker went even further– beyond politics and the military. “Everyone can see that America’s in trouble. . . the country is decaying, its cities are falling apart. . . but there’s something about being lashed to the mast. . . that totally changes your thinking.”

His central idea is that patriots should be “all in” on America… which means having no other options, no choices, and no Plan B. Just accept the consequences that are coming and take it in the teeth.

He got a lot of applause… a lot of “wooooooo’s” and “U-S-A” from the audience. But I just don’t find his logic to be rational.

America does have a lot of problems. Undeniable, gargantuan problems. The national debt is $36 trillion and rising. By 2033– the same year that Social Security’s major trust funds will run out of money– the national debt will be well over $50 trillion, at which point interest alone could consume more than 40% of tax revenue.

The Federal Reserve will have to step in to bail out the Treasury Department by expanding the money supply (i.e. ‘printing’ money) to the tune of $15 to $20 trillion, likely resulting in the worst inflationary episode in US history.

Tucker earned $10 million per year at Fox News and probably has quite a fortune socked away, so he can afford to be “lashed to the mast” of a sinking ship. Inflation could reach 20% and it wouldn’t affect him too much.

But most people don’t earn hundreds of thousands of dollars for a 30-minute speaking gig. Most people don’t get flown into a political conference on a private jet. Rather, most people have to worry about the rising cost of food, or how in the world they’re ever going to be able to afford retirement, or whether their streets and schools are safe.

Thinking about options that might improve your life, improve your children’s lives– whether those options are at home or in a foreign country– is a completely sensible thing to do. Having a Plan B doesn’t mean you’re unpatriotic; it means you are rational.

A Plan B is essentially like having an insurance policy– a way to mitigate the consequences of a wide range of sovereign risks.

And yes, part of that insurance policy might mean obtaining legal residency in a foreign country where you and your family enjoy spending time, or a place where you could see yourself retiring because of the great weather and ultra-low cost of living.

It might mean looking at your family tree to discover that you are entitled to Irish (or Polish, Italian, etc.) citizenship through ancestry– citizenship gives you the right to live, work, travel, and invest virtually anywhere in Europe.

You might never use it. You might never need it. But if the day ever comes and you do, you’ll be much better off for having extra options.

Now, you might love your home, but you still have an insurance policy to protect yourself financially in case the house burns down. Having an insurance policy doesn’t mean you love your home any less… and it certainly doesn’t mean you are praying for a hurricane.

Bottom line, being patriotic doesn’t mean forcing your kids to suffer because of other people’s stupid decisions.

You can love your country and still have a ‘sovereign risk’ insurance policy that will keep you and your family in a position strength through the obvious challenges ahead.

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