The "US" that is no longer about us
- Das K
- Dec 21, 2025
- 4 min read
We often speak of the “US” - the United States, as a fixed entity: a powerful nation, a land of opportunity, a global leader. But what is this “US”? How did this superpower come to be?
Is it a community born of a single tribe, bound by blood and soil, shaped by willpower and blessed by natural abundance?
The answer, upon examination, is not so.
A snapshot of the origin of the American population as of today is as follows. European Origin: 62–67% , African Origin: 14.5%, Asian Origin: 7.5, Indigenous Origin: 3%, Latin American Origin (Cultural Category): 19%, Multiracial/Other/Unspecified: 5–10%
Isn’t it striking that the original tribes,the true natives of the land, constitute less than 3% of the population? They are also largely absent from the nation’s power structure.
Visitors came seeking new lands and opportunities and realized that this remarkable place seemed to reward not inheritance but audacity — the will to take, to claim, and to stay.
Their unspoken rule was simple: only those who dare survive. Over time, the United States evolved into a gathering of like-minded people; individuals willing to do whatever it took to win. “US” thus became less a place and more an ethos; a shared spirit of survival, ambition, and self-determination. It was an ecosystem for those driven to achieve, a collective formed not by kinship but by mindset.
From Aspiration to Entitlement:
Slowly and gradually success got to the head. It brought a subtle corruption.
The simple understanding that power was to be earned gradually turned into a conviction that it was deserved.
The ethos of striving transformed into one of entitlement — a belief that the “US” was inherently special, even superior.
The open, exploratory energy that built America gradually constricted into a closed circle guarding privilege. The once-fluid identity became bordered, defended, and codified within passports, visas, and power structures.
The Cost of Contraction:
The contraction began as the expansive idea of “us” started to shrink into a collective of entitled few who deserve the very best.
In this evolving scenario, the pursuit of the “best life” becomes a zero-sum game. Since energy and wealth do not appear from nowhere; one group’s abundance often depends on another’s labor.
Now, if other nations do not oblige, mechanisms of coercion follow: wars are created, governments toppled, crises manufactured to ensure that this elite group remains in the dominant position. All this is done not out of villainy, but due to desperation, from fear. That fear is the clenched fist of an identity terrified of dissolution.
In this anxiety, the modern “US” forgets its original wisdom: that it was once simply people coming together to form an “us.”
A Broader Vision of ‘Us’:
When I reflect on this personally, I too see an “us.” But my understanding draws from India’s age-old idea — Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam: the world is one family. This “us” knows no geography, privilege, or exclusivity. When you see the world as family, the question shifts from “How do I protect mine?” to “What can I do for ours?”
Reclaiming the True Power of the Collective:
The real power of the United States never lay only in its military or economy; it arose from collective endeavor — the human power of us. The tragedy is that success transformed unity into separation.
If the 'United States' was actually about the "us" mindset, and if it is made up of some of our own, we need to understand that we too can create a similar environment that our very citizens have created in a different land.
And rather than crave to be a part of the country, to migrate, to struggle to become a citizen of this geographically bound land of opportunities, we need to embrace a new paradigm.
We must remember that there is no ‘US’ without all of us !
If we learn to activate this deeper, inclusive power, we may yet transcend the illusion of division. We can build systems where power is not hoarded but shared, where relationships replace rivalries. Where we strive to reclaim the inclusive power of “us” and outgrow the illusionary power of what has ceased to be “US". And most importantly become cognizant of the fact that, the true superpower across millennia has always been—and will always be—'us'
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For those interested in data
US Population by List of Origins (Highest to Lowest)
German - ~42.8 million
Mexican - ~33.2 million
Irish - ~28.5 million
English - ~23.5 million
"Colonial American before Independece" - ~17.6 million ( Hence this group originally came from other European countries)
Italian - ~15.9 million
Polish - ~9.4 million
French - ~6.8 million
Scottish - ~5.9 million
Puerto Rican (U.S. territory origin) - ~5.4 million
Norwegian - ~4.0 million
Chinese (incl. Hong Kong, excl. Taiwan) - ~4.0 million
Asian Indian - ~3.7 million
Dutch - ~3.3 million
Swedish - ~3.0 million
Filipino - ~3.0 million
Russian - ~2.7 million
Salvadoran - ~2.6 million
Cuban - ~2.3 million
Dominican (Dominican Republic) - ~2.1 million
Vietnamese - ~2.0 million
Korean - ~1.7 million
Portuguese - ~1.3 million
Japanese - ~1.1 million
Greek - ~1.0 million
Iranian (Persian) - ~0.6 million
Pakistani - ~0.6 million
Arab (pan-ethnic, e.g., Lebanese, Syrian, Egyptian) - ~0.6 million
Haitian - ~0.6 million
Hungarian - ~0.5 million
West Indian (non-Hispanic, e.g., Jamaican, Trinidadian) - ~0.5 million
Ukrainian - ~0.5 million
Guatemalan - ~0.4 million
Nigerian - ~0.4 million
Danish - ~0.4 million
Czech - ~0.3 million
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