Vivekisms
American phenom presidential contender Vivek Ramaswamy is exceptionally quotable, his every soliloquy replete with punchy, powerful, penetrating statements, instant aphorisms as it were.
Let’s call these terms and statements Vivekisms.
Herewith a growing compendium, a living artifact of the burgeoning intellectual and political legacy of the smartest U.S. Presidential candidate since Thomas Jefferson.
Updated: August 28th [20th 19th 18th]
George Washington America First Conservative
The scope of Vivek’s thinking is illuminated by declaring himself a George Washington America First Conservative. He’s not limited to or obsessed with Trump, unlike most everyone else across the political spectrum. More importantly, he draws from the entire American pantheon to inform his campaign and the revolution he seeks to lead. Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Lincoln, Teddy, Reagan & Trump are all grist for his #AmericaFirst mill.
Great Reset vs. Great Uprising
Vivek says the “fundamental divide of our time is not black vs white, gay vs straight, or even Democrat vs Republican. It is the Great Reset vs the Great Uprising. It’s the managerial class vs. the everyday citizen. Aristocracy vs sovereignty. Self-governance vs monarchy. It’s a 1776 moment.”
Hungry for Purpose
Vivek correctly diagnoses the hole inside so many people today, especially within the younger generations: Millennials and post-Millennials. Their hunger for purpose has been filled with climatism, transgenderism, wokism and racism. No wonder they suffer from spiritual indigestion. Now, Vivek aims to fill that spiritual hole with a new birth of Americanism. The man is nothing if not bold, with off-the-chart leadership qualities.
I'm in favor of revolution.
Vivek ain’t playing, a fact that all will soon learn. Yet, he makes clear that he seeks to lead a peaceful revolution, one that is completely constitutional and deeply within the American tradition.
Inflation is cumulative.
This simple statement of fact has not been similarly articulated by any pundit I can recall. Gifted leaders like Vivek have a knack for making things easy to understand. 5 + 8 + 4 = 17
People are feeling 17% Bidenflation now in 2023 due to 5% inflation in 2021 plus 8% in 2022 plus ~4% average YTD as of August 2023. 17% hurts, plus it’s even higher at the grocery store.
Partisan Goggles
This terrific term has been around for years, but has new life due to Vivek's frequent use. He wields it to push back against professional politicians of both parties who reject new ideas due to reactionary thinking. It has the virtue of instant understanding and the naughty association with Beer Goggles.
SuperPAC Puppets
These are presidential candidates dependent on big donors, so must temper themselves to their financial masters. Vivek is most assuredly not a Super PAC puppet.
He provided color on this following the second debate on September 27. "Every candidate jumps to the tune of their biggest donor. My biggest donor is me."
TRUTH.
It’s right, fitting and canny as hell for the Trump 3.0 candidate to brand his campaign with the most powerful word that Donald J. Trump commandeered for himself. Trump communicates mostly via Truths! on his Truth Social X clone.
Vivek’s use of TRUTH. is both foundational and next level, the former because he grounds everything on his Ten Truths and the latter because it is his main touch-point for leapfrogging Trump.
Tyranny of the Minority
An activist at the Iowa State Fair asked Vivek for his opinions on the “LGBTQ community”.
Vivek first inquired of her opinion and then extemporaneously delivered this wonderfully cogent and respectful response, centered on the Vivekism Tyranny of the Minority:
“I don’t have a negative view of same-sex couples, but I do have a negative view of a Tyranny of the Minority. In the name of protecting against a Tyranny of the Majority, and there are times in this country’s history when we have had a Tyranny of the Majority, we have now in the name of protecting against Tyranny of the Majority, created a new Tyranny of the Minority. And I think that that’s wrong. I don’t think somebody that’s religious should be forced to officiate a wedding that they disagree with. I don’t think somebody who is a woman who’s worked really hard for her achievements should be forced to compete against a biological man in a swim competition. I don’t think that somebody who’s a woman who respects her bodily autonomy and dignity should be forced to change clothes in a locker room with a man. That’s not freedom.
That’s oppression.”