Where do Koreans come from?

Where do Koreans come from?

In fact,

Where do any of us come from?

Americans. Germans. English. Kurds. The Luo. The Lakota. The Yanomami. The Arrernte.

What does, 'us'

and 'come from'

...even mean?

That is exactly the subject I want to cover today.

While I'll be mostly talking about Koreans,

I'm using them because I'm Korean and I know some things about Koreans.

As you will find out, 'us' and 'come from' are much more complicated than they seem to be.

- ה -

According to Wikipedia:

Koreans (한국인; Hanguk-in) are an East Asian ethnic group (한민족; Hanmijok) native to the Korean Peninsula (한반도), primarily living in South Korea (한국; Republic of Korea) and North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea), with a global diaspora of over 7 million people in countries like the United States, China, and Japan. They share a common language (Korean; 한국말/한글), unique cultural history, and traditions.

Korea is a peninsula located in East Asia, surrounded on three sides by the ocean, with its only land border to the north, where it currently borders China and a tiny slice of Russia. The Yalu (압록강)  and Tumen (두만강) separate modern day Korea from the mainland. To its immediate south is the Japanese archipelago. Topographically the peninsula is overwhelmingly mountainous, with steep terrain covering nearly 70% of its surface area.

One of the most fascinating aspects of Korea is its classification as a true 'homogeneous nation' (단일민족). In a modern world where 90% of countries are complex, multi-ethnic mixtures, the Korean peninsula remains an overwhelming 97-98% ethnically Korean.

Achieving this level of biological and cultural purity is incredibly rare, and the few other countries that share this trait only did so through extreme circumstances. Japan and Iceland, for example, achieved it by being literal islands, locked away by oceans. Poland achieved it through profound historical trauma, transforming from a multi-ethnic empire into a homogeneous state only after the exterminations and forced border shifts of World War II.

But Korea’s closest structural mirrors are actually Armenia and Finland. Like Korea, neither country is an island, and both have spent their histories wedged between massive, expanding empires. To survive without being absorbed, they had to weaponize their geography. Armenia used the jagged Caucasus Mountains as a fortress; Finland used dense, freezing forests and lakes. Korea did exactly the same thing. By leveraging a rugged, highly mountainous peninsula, capped by freezing northern rivers and surrounded on three sides by the sea, Korea created a geographic funnel that locked its people in, and kept the rest of the world out.

South Koreans call their country: 한국 (Hanguk)

Its citizens: 한국인 (Hanguk-in)

Its people: 한민족 (Han-minjok)

Let's explore each of these words in Chinese:

韓國 (한국; Hanguk; Korea)

Where,

韓 (한; Han); the 'Han' + 國 (국; guk) means Country.

"Country of the Han"

韓國人 (한국인; Korean)

Where,

韓 (한; Han); the 'Han' + 國 (국; guk); 'Country' + 人 (인; in); people

"the Han People"

韓民族 (한민족; Korean people / ethnic group)

Where,

韓 (한; Han); the 'Han' + 民 (민; min); folk + 族 (족; jok); clan / tribe / family

"the Han Ethic Group"

///

A small note about the word 'Han'.

While they both sound similar, the Korean 'Han'; 韓 and the Chinese 'Han'; 漢 are not the same if you look at their individual characters.  They're just two neighbors that share the same sounding word.

///

A fascinating footnote to the peninsula's geographic history is its deep antiquity: the land has hosted anatomically modern Homo sapiens for the last 40,000 years, and archaic Homo erectus populations dating as far back as 700,000 years ago.

And that's pretty much Korea in a nutshell.

Or at least that's what I've been told.

- ה -

And then I learned something new and it completely tore everything down.

And it was hiding right inside the word; 韓 (한; Han).

I learned that the last king of Joseon (조선; 朝鮮), the last kingdom of Korea, declared himself the "Emporer of the Great Han Empire (대한제국 황제; 大韓帝國 皇帝)" on October 12, 1897. And in so doing, he made all his subjects the People of Great Han (대한의 인민)" and as a result, the "Han People" were declared into existence. 

On October 11, 1897 they were Joseon (朝鮮) People.

On October 12, 1897 they were Han (韓) People.

     No mass migrations.

     Nobody's DNA changed.

     Nobody suddenly started speaking a new language.

     Nobody's grandmother disappeared.

     The mountains didn't move.

Yet, overnight 17 million people became a new People, called the 'Han' (한; 韓)

That completely blew my mind.

Dude just invented an 'us'.

And it made me wonder where 'us', 'came from'.

Who the fuck were the Han?

Like I said in the opening, I know a little about Korean history.

Korea (1945-)

↑

Japanese occupation (1910-1945)

↑

Joseon (1392–1910)

↑

Goryo (918-1392)

↑

Shilla / Balhae (698-935)

↑

Goguryo / Baekjae / Shilla (57 BCE-698)

↑

Gojoseon (2333 BCE–108 BCE)

Not a Han in sight.

Thankfully, King, or should I say Emporer, Gojong explained everything in his edict, the day before his coronation as empire.

"Our country is the old land of the Three Han (Samhan). Previously, in the early days of the nation, the territory was divided and the people were fragmented... But the Goryeo Dynasty unified the Samhan. Now, our dynasty has expanded the territory further... Therefore, it is only fitting to determine the name of the nation as 'Daehan' (大韓)."

("大抵我邦乃三韓舊疆, 初有馬韓、辰韓、卞韓, 裂割分治, 及高麗時統合爲一。及我太祖龍興, 輿圖益廣... 於是乎定有天下之號曰 ‘大韓’。")

And yes, he did write it in Chinese, which I find ironic as hell.

OK. Samhan. A little obscure, but I've heard of Samhan. They were a bunch of loosely affiliated chiefdoms / tribal confederacies / proto-kingdoms in the south of Korea, consisting of Mahan (마한; 馬韓), Jinhan (진한; 辰韓), and Byunhan (변한; 弁韓).

But why that period? Joseon already took its name from Gojoseon (Go, or 古, just means 'old'), founded in 2333 BCE, and the very first Korean nation. If it was legitimacy and lineage he wanted, wasn't keeping Joseon the more rational choice? After all he was the King of Joseon.

And then two things occured to me:

1. 'People' is a completely made up construct

King Gojong (Emporer Gojong) literally made 'Han People' up.

2. 'Lineage', and 'Legitimacy'' is like drawing a line across a flowing river

You pick a point in time, or a factoid, and force fit that into whatever narrative you want to push.

Wow. What I thought as a foundational, fundamental piece of who I thought I was, what I identified as, was pure made-up bullshit. If I declare my home the 'Empire of Kong" and convince enough people, I can become the 'Emperer of Kong', and the people who live in my empire become the 'Kong people'.

Mind-blown.

- ה -

The Duck-ness Test

I quack like a duck.

I act like a duck.

I believe myself to be a duck.

The other ducks say, "Yep, that's one of us."

"Duck-ness" is a social construct, not a scientific definition.

Self-identity and social acceptance is what drives it.

Not location (where you live)

Not language (what you speak)

Not food (what you eat)

Not passport (which country claims you as a citizen)

Not DNA (what DNA markers you carry)

There is no fixed essence, because there was none to begin with.

So at once a duck is a thing, and a non-thing.

So the question of:

"Where did Koreans come from?"

is a ridiculous question to start with.

The only possible answer is, and always will be:

"We are all Africans."

However, what we believe as "duck-ness" and "not-duck-ness" is important. Because in the end it is a subjective construct that is harmonized across many people. A group of people both identify with and share a common intelligible "duck-ness". That choice is interesting, for that choice is what says things about us.

By definition, a circle doesn't have a beginning or an end.

But we humans choose an end, and trace it back to an arbitrary starting point and call it:

Nation, People, Ethnic Group.

So let's do some "Duck-ness" Tests.

1. Korea / Korean / Korean People

• Country: South Korea (Republic of Korea)
• Citizen: Korean (한국인)
• Sub-Groups: Hanguk-in (South Korea), Joseon-in (North Korea), Josun-jok (ethnic Koreans in China), Goryo-saram (ethnic Koreans in Uzbekistan / Kygistan / Kazakhstan / Russia etc.) + millions of Korean expats (gyopo) spread across the world.
• People: Han People (한민족; 韓民族)
• Ethno-Group: ???
• Linguist: (in the past) Altaic → (today) Language isolate
• Historian: Ye (濊), Maek (貊), Yaemaek (濊貊), Tungustic
• Genetisist: Northern pastoralist + Southern agriculturist
• Y-chromosome (paternal):
• O2 (~40%): Sino-Tibetan peoples (황하유역 농경민)
• O1b2 (~30%): Koreans, Japanese, some Manchurians (남부 벼농작인)
• C2 (~15%): Siberians, Mongolians, Tungustic/Manchu peoples (북방 유목민)
• mtDNA (maternal):
• D: ~30-35%: Northern Asian, Siberian, some Native Americans
• A and G: ~15-20%: Northeastern Siberia, Siberia, Ainu
• B (~10-15%): Southern China, Taiwan, Southeast Asia, Austronesians
• M7 and F (~10-15%): Southern and East Asian

Things get fishy very quickly.

     A Brazilian who emigrated to Korea; Korean or not?

     A Korean who emigrated to Brazil; Korean or not?

     A Goryo-saram who doesn't speak a word of Korean; Korean or not?

     A French kid who speaks perfect Korean because she loves BTS; Korean or not?

     A Korean kid who hates kimchi and loves reggaeton; Korean or not?

Korean-American. Born in Ohio. American passport. Speaks only English. Eats hamburgers. Four Korean grandparents. Calls himself Korean. Other Koreans call him Korean.

Country: ❌

Citizenship: ❌

Language: ❌

Location: ❌

Cuisine: who cares

DNA ancestry: ✅

Self-identification: ✅

Social recognition: ✅

Duck.

A Nigerian-born man immigrates to Seoul, naturalizes, speaks flawless Korean, raises Korean children, lives there for fifty years and regards Korea as his home.

Country: ✅

Citizenship: ✅

Language: ✅

Location: ✅

DNA ancestry: ❌

Self-identification: ✅

Social recognition: ???

Not-Duck?

As you have seen all the traditional constructs/markers we use to define 'us' stop making sense as soon as it comes into contact with reality. Not only that, each construct often contradicts another.

But that's Korea. Let's look at a few more.

The "Duck-test" gets even stupider.

2. Japan / Japanese / Japanese People

• Country: Japan
• Citizen: Japanese
• Sub-Groups: Yamato, Ryukyuan/Okinawan, Ainu + millions of Japanese expats (nikkei) spread across the world.
• People: Japanese
• Ethno-Group: ???
• Linguist: (in the past) Altaic → (today) Language isolate
• Historian: Jōmon, Yayoi/continental migrants, Torajin (渡来人)
• Geneticist: Jōmon + Yayoi
• Y-chromosome (paternal): D1a2a (formerly D2) (~30-40%), O1b2 (~30-35%), O2 (~20%), C2 (~5-8%)
• mtDNA (maternal): D (specifically D4) (~35-40%), M7a (~7-10%), B (~10-15%), A, G, F (~15-20%)

With the exception of D1a2a (Y-chromosone), every single haplogroup is represented in significant amounts among Koreans (even D1a2a makes up ~1-2% of Koreans). Makes sense since D1a2a is associated with the Jōmon culture. Yet Japan traditionally traces its lineage to Yamato culture (O), not Jōmon. Their 'Us" is a genetic lie.

3. Germany / German / Germanic People

• Country: Germany
• Citizenship: German
• Sub-Groups: Bavarians, Saxons, Swabians, Frisians, Sorbs + millions of German expats spread around the world.
• People: Germans
• Ethno-Group: Germanic Peoples (which include Saxons, English, Scandinavians etc.)

Nazi ideologues took an ancient linguistic concept, combined it with the pseudoscientific theories of a few European racists (Arthur de Gobineau and Houston Stewart Chamberlain), hijacked Nietzsche's concept of the Übermensch, and proceeded to invent the Herrenvolk.

They claimed they were an ancient, primordial master race of Nordic and Germanic descent, defined entirely by physical hardware: tall stature, blond hair, blue eyes, and specific skull measurements.

But here is the dark mechanics of the Duck Test: once the Übermensch (the ultimate "Us") is invented, you are structurally obligated to invent a "Them" to compare yourself against.

They needed Untermenschen (subhumans):

Jews, Roma, Slavs, disabled people, drug addicts, gay people...all fit neatly into that box.

You look like a Not-Duck.

You act like a Not-Duck.

You believe I your'e a Not-Duck.

Your records say your grandparents were Not-Ducks.

Not-Duck.

→ Auschwitz

4. Israel / Israeli / Jewish People

• Country: Israel
• Citizenship: Israeli
• Sub-Groups: Ashkenazi (Central Europe), Sephardic (Iberia), Mizrahi (Middle-Eastern), Beta Israel (Ethiopia), Abayudaya (Uganda) Romaniote (Greek), Italkim (Italian), Bene Israel (India), Cochinim (India), Kaifeng (China), Teimanim (Yemen), Juhurim (Caucasus) + millions of the Jewish diaspora.
• People: Jewish
• Ethno-Group: Semitic People? Which would include Arabs, Assyrians, Arameans, Tigrayans and countless other people.

According to Israeli law, one can claim Israeli citizenship if you meet one of the following conditions:

(1) Your mother was a Jew

(2) You formally converted to Judaism

Millions of Jews scattered throughout the world claimed citizenship and many emigrated.

However in 1919, a few decades before the establishment of the state of Israel, a Ugandan military leader named Semei Kakungulu was introduced to the Bible by missionaries. He read it, completely rejected the New Testament, severed ties with the Europeans, and declared that he and his followers were Jewish. He circumcised his sons, began observing the Sabbath, and independently built a Jewish community from scratch. His followers kept kosher, strictly observed Shabbat, built synagogues, learned Hebrew, and sang traditional Jewish liturgy.

And then some applied for Israeli citizenship. The Israeli Ministry of Interior said "No. You are Not-Duck," stating that self-identification doesn't count without a formal religious conversion by a recognized rabbinical authority.

So, in the early 2000s, a delegation of Conservative rabbis from the United States traveled to Uganda and formally converted the majority of the community.

Finally, the Jewish Agency (the institutional gatekeeper) said, "You are Duck."

Unfortunately, the State (the Ministry of Interior) continued to say, "You are Not-Duck," ruling that they were an "emerging community" and their conversions didn't meet the state's strict orthodox criteria.

Abayudaya: “We are Jewish.”

Conservative Judaism: “Yes, you are.”

Jewish Agency: “Yes, you are.”

Israeli Ministry of Interior: “No, you're not.”

The Abayudaya remain in Uganda keeping kosher and observing the Sabbath.

The irony is that DNA analysis shows that "Duck" Sub-Groups like the Beta Israel of Ethiopia and the Cochinim of India have almost nothing in common with classical "Jewish" DNA; they are genetically almost identical to their local host populations.

In fact, the three main Jewish Sub-Groups; Ashkenazi (Central Europe), Sephardic (Iberia), and Mizrahi (Middle-Eastern), are significantly genetically distinct from one another due to centuries of mixing with their host countries.

If you strip away the software and look purely at the biological hardware to see who carries the most concentrated, ancient Levantine DNA... guess who is the most similar?

Palestinian Arabs.

Jew: Duck.

Palestinian: Not-Duck.

DNA: "I can't tell you apart."

5. ??? / Kurds / Kurdish People

• Country: none
• Citizenship: Turkish, Iraqi, Iranian, Syrian
• Sub-Groups: Kurmanji (Turkey), Sorani (Iraq), Pehlewani (Iran), Zaza-Gorani (Turkey)
• People: Kurdish
• Ethno-Group: Iranic Peoples (which includes Persians, Pashtuns, Tajiks etc.)

The Kurdish people raise additional interesting problems.

The Kurds are an ancient people who live across a continuous mountainous region spanning southeastern Turkey, northern Iraq, northwestern Iran, and northeastern Syria. Despite their long history (of Saladin fame) and ties to the land they live in, they do not have a country of their own. So while their identity, and DNA, remains fiercely Kurdish, they live as Iraqis, Iranians, Turkish, and Syrians.

A Turkish Kurd cannot easily meet an Iranian Kurd.

An Iranian Kurd cannot understand what a Syrian Kurd says.

     Same People.

     Different countries.

     Different citizenships.

     Different governments.

     Different alphabets.

     Sometimes different mutually difficult languages.

And yet:

“Are you Kurdish?”

“Yes.”

“Is he Kurdish?”

“Of course.”

Duck.

6. China / Chinese / Han (漢) People

• Country: China (PRC)
• Citizenship: Chinese
• Sub-Groups: Cantonese (?), Hakka (?), Hokkien (?), Wu/Shanghainese (?) + millions of Chinese expats (華僑) spread around the world.
• Ethno-Group: Sino-Tibetan Peoples

China is a different animal altogether. They are like a black hole. Anyone who comes into contact with the Chinese, has a tendency of becoming Chinese (kinda like the Indians and the Romans). 

Even their definition of a People, the Han (漢), constantly expands. It is an identity that aggressively overwrites whatever hardware it touches.

~1000 BCE: People who lived in the central Yellow River valley (the Huaxia) → Han.

~200 BCE: Indigenous tribes living south of the Yangtze River (the Baiyue) → Han.

~500 CE: The invading northern nomads who conquered them (the Xianbei) → Han.

Today, the Han make up 92% of mainland China, roughly 1.3 billion people, claiming to be a single, unbroken "People."

Biologically, this is impossible. The DNA of a northern Han from Beijing is closer to a Korean or a Mongolian than it is to a southern Han from Guangzhou. But the software insists they are exactly the same.

And when applying the "Han" label becomes geographically or historically untenable, they just shift the parameters of the Duck Test to culture. If they can't claim the blood, they claim the output.

Confucianism → Chinese.

Goguryeo history → Chinese.

Hanbok → Chinese.

Kimchi → Chinese.

If “Han” cannot absorb the people, “Chinese civilization” can absorb the inheritance.

Duck-ness is an actively used weapon.

7. USA / American / ???

• Country: USA
• Citizenship: American
• Sub-Groups: ???
• People: ???
• Ethno-Group: ???

Perhaps the weirdest of them all.

The USA was founded by a bunch of merchants who read a little too much Rousseau, Montesquieu, and Locke. These philosophers provided a template, the British provided something to throw that template against, and the realities of North America shaped the contours of a nation to be.

Individual Freedom.

Property Rights.

Representative Government.

Religious Pluralism.

A uniquely American obsession with Commerce.

And perhaps most importantly, the idea that you could become one of them.

No American soil.

No ancient American ethnicity.

No American language.

No American bloodline.

No American religion.

No American tribe from which everyone claimed descent.

Just a container called the United States, and an increasingly bizarre collection of Englishmen, Scots, Irish, Germans, Dutch, Africans, Jews, Italians, Poles, Chinese, Mexicans, Koreans, Indians, Nigerians, and everyone else who eventually climbed inside it.

'Duck' was an ever-expanding concept. So much so that 'Not-Duck' became the definition of 'Duck'.

Native Americans: Not-Duck.

Enslaved Africans: Not-Duck.

Chinese immigrants: Not-Duck.

Catholics: suspicious Duck.

Jews: suspicious Duck.

Italians, Polish, Greeks: suspicious Duck, until the next Not-Duck.

Japanese Americans: Not-Duck, then Duck, until suddenly Not-Duck.

Mexicans: Duck for lunch, Not-Duck as neighbors.

But unlike the Chinese, the USA was not a black hole that sucked everything in and Duck-ified everything it neighbored. It was an expansionary Duck that filled in the vacuum created by World War II and changed everything in the world to US Duck.

Liberal Democracy.

Market Capitalism.

Supported by the strongest military the world has ever known.

On the back of the strongest economy the world has ever known.

The USA Duck-ified the world that we live in today.

China assimilated peoples and culture.

America assimilated systems.

China says "You are us."

America says "Stay yourself. Just do things our way."

As a Korean-American living in the US,
I'm often faced with this question:

"So where are you from?"

"I mean where are you really from?"

- ה -

So we've seen how all this "People" crap is pure made-up bullshit.

Now some truly dark shit.

We said People generally means:

"I believe I am."

"Yes, I believe you are."

But what happens when you don't look like a duck, or act like a duck?

Sixteen Kingdoms period (오호십육국 시대; 五胡十六國時代)

Literally the Sixteen Kingdoms of the Five Barbarians period.

Between roughly 304 and 439 CE, northern China basically fell apart.

The Western Jin (西晉) dynasty collapsed under civil war, famine, rebellion, and invasions, leaving a massive political vacuum across northern China. Into that vacuum stepped a collection of peoples the Chinese collectively called the Five Hu (五胡), who proceeded to establish a constantly shifting series of kingdoms across the former Jin territories.

For more than a century, Xiongnu, Xianbei, Di, Qiang, Jie, Han Chinese, and others fought, allied, intermarried, betrayed one another, founded states, destroyed states, and generally made an unbelievable mess of northern China until the Northern Wei (北魏), founded by the Xianbei Tuoba (拓跋), finally reunified the north in 439 CE.

The Five Hu (五胡) were:

Xiongnu (匈奴), 

Xianbei (鮮卑), 

Di (氐), 

Qiang (羌),

Jie (羯), 

The Xiongnu (匈奴), Xianbei (鮮卑), Di (氐), and Qiang (羌) apparently looked enough like the Chinese. So after causing much havoc, and possibly founding two major dynasties; The Sui (隋) and the Tang (唐), they eventually got absorbed into the larger Han (漢) people, and disappeared from history.

But the Jie (羯) were not that lucky.

According to the Book of Jin (晉書), the Jie (羯) were described as:

• Deep-set eyes (심목 / 深目)
• High nose bridges (고비 / 高鼻)
• Thick, heavy facial hair (다수염 / 多鬚髥)

Historians and anthropologists today generally believe the Jie were of Indo-European (specifically Eastern Iranian/Sogdian) or Yeniseian descent, having migrated eastward from Central Asia to become a vassal tribe of the Xiongnu before striking out on their own.

Because the Jie looked so physically distinct, they could not easily blend into the general population when the political winds shifted. In 350 CE, a Han Chinese general named Ran Min (冉閔) overthrew the Jie-ruled Later Zhao (後趙) dynasty and issued a famous "extermination order" against them.

Because the Jie could be identified on sight, Ran Min's forces slaughtered anyone with a high nose and a thick beard. It is recorded that over 200,000 Jie were killed in the massacre, nearly wiping them out entirely, simply because they lacked the physical traits required to trigger the "collective amnesia" of assimilation we discussed earlier.

If this was the only time in our history this happened, then I'd chalk it off as a tragic event. But unfortunately "Non Duck-ness" has led to some of mankind's darkest times in history. We even have a word for it: Genocide.

The Holocaust (1941–1945): Germany. ~6,000,000 to 11,000,000 killed

The Holodomor (1932–1933): Soviet Union. ~3,500,000 to 5,000,000 killed

The Eradication of the Western Xia (1227 CE): Mongols. ~3,000,000 killed

The Cambodian Genocide (1975–1979): Khmer Rouge. ~1,500,000 to 2,000,000 killed

The Armenian Genocide (1915–1923): Ottomans Turks. ~1,000,000 to 1,500,000 killed

This is just five that I could think of and I'm not even including things like; the Conquest of the Americas (caused by disease brought over by Europeans), the Great Bengal Famine of 1770 (caused by inept British bureaucrats), the Atlantic Slave Trade etc.

Notice also how "Not Duck-ness" is not a single dimension.

It's equal opportunity "not Duck-ness, covering;

Race.

Religion.

Ideology.

Education / Class.

Sexual orientation.

And whatever fucking thing people made up throughout history.

- ה -

"This land is your land, this land is my land 

From California to the New York island, 

From the redwood forest to the Gulf Stream waters; 

This land was made for you and me." 

- Woody Guthrie -

And finally the pattern is made visible.

Step 1. Define the 'Us'.

At a minimum, it requires two pillars: Blood and Soil.

Blood: We are special and belong to one another.

Soil: This land is ours by right, and it is where we come from.

Step 2. Make the 'We' constantly refresh the 'Us'.

Keep the 'Us' running. There is no better distraction than a circus, and as Foucault noted, the greatest jail is the one you've built inside their heads. Make them police each other's loyalty. Make them terrify each other into acting like Ducks.

Step 3. Point the 'Us' at a fictional point and compare that point with where 'We' is right now.

Compare the current reality to a mythological destination. The destination doesn't have to be real, it’s nothing more than a feeling. Pick a sanitized past or a utopian future where that feeling fits, and you're good to go.

This is where Destiny comes in, you have completed the trifecta: Blood, Soil, Destiny.

Make sure that you are the only one that can get 'We' there.

Step 4. Pick a 'Not-Us' and blame them for that gap.

Getting there is impossible, you know that. So prepare yourself. You need a scapegoat that you can muster the 'We's anger against. Love is good. Hate is powerful.

Pick one, anyone:

     Mexicans.
     Jews.
     Muslims.
     Elites.
     Communists.
     Capitalists.
     Foreigners.
     Intellectuals.
     Degenerates.
     Colonizers.
     Minorities.
     Globalists.

     Not-Ducks.

Step 5. Never run out of 'Not-Us'.

You probably will never get to that point and taking from the 'Not-Us' to give to the 'Us' has a limit. Eventually you'll run out of 'Not Us' then the 'Us' will feed upon themselves. Hopefully, you'll be dead by then.

Now let's apply this to some real world examples.

The first one is the most obvious:

1. Hitler and the Nazi Party

Step 1. Define the 'Us'.

Blood:The Herrenvolk. The Aryan master race.

Soil: Lebensraum. Living space. The land the German People supposedly required by right.

Step 2. Make the 'We' constantly perform the 'Us'.

The Nuremberg rallies. The Hitler Youth. The SS. The uniforms. The flags. The salutes. The mandate that every greeting become: "Heil Hitler."

Everywhere you looked, everyone else was performing the same Duck.

So you performed it too.

Step 3. Point the 'Us' at a fictional point and compare that point with where 'We' is right now.

Destiny: The Thousand-Year Reich.

A purified German empire that would last a millennium.

Compare that destiny against Versailles. Weimar. Defeat. Humiliation. Inflation. Unemployment.

The gap was enormous.

Someone must have stolen Germany's destiny.

Step 4. Pick a 'Not-Us' and blame them for that gap.

The Jews. 

The Roma.

The Slavs.

The Communists.

The disabled.

The "November Criminals" who supposedly stabbed Germany in the back and lost the First World War.

Not-Ducks.

Step 5. Never run out of 'Not-Us'.

As the war turned against Germany, the circle tightened.

External enemies were no longer enough.

Now there were defeatists.

Traitors.

Cowards.

Insufficiently loyal officers.

Ordinary Germans who listened to foreign radio, criticized the war, questioned the Führer, or simply failed to perform the 'Us' enthusiastically enough.

The Duck Test moved inward.

Eventually, even being German was no longer enough.

You had to prove you were the right kind of German.

Just to prove that this is very much well and alive today, and is flexible enough to work in a functioning democracy with solid institutions:

2. Donald Trump and MAGA

Step 1. Define the 'Us'.

Blood: "Real Americans."

Soil: The Heartland. The border. The country that was supposedly taken away.

"America First."

Step 2. Make the 'We' constantly perform the 'Us'.

The red hats. The flags. The boat parades. The rallies. Truth Social. The slogans repeated until everyone knows them by heart.

MAGA.

America First.

Build the Wall.

The hat matters. The flag matters. Saying the right words matters.

Everyone else is performing the same Duck.

So you perform it too.

Step 3. Point the 'Us' at a fictional point and compare that point with where 'We' is right now.

Destiny: "Make America Great Again."

Not any particular year.

Just Again.

A sanitized America of booming factories, secure borders, unquestioned global power, traditional families, affordable homes, and a culture that supposedly knew exactly what America was.

Compare that against today.

Lost factories. Immigration. Changing demographics. Cultural upheaval. Declining institutions. "American Carnage."

The gap is enormous.

Someone must have stolen America's greatness.

Step 4. Pick a 'Not-Us' and blame them for that gap.

The Deep State.

The Radical Left.

Illegal immigrants.

Fake News.

Globalists.

Elites.

Not-Ducks.

Step 5. Never run out of 'Not-Us'.

Eventually the Duck Test moves inward.

There is already a word for it:

RINO.

Republican In Name Only.

You can be a Republican.

A conservative.

A senator.

A governor.

A vice president.

It doesn't matter.

Disagree at the wrong moment and suddenly you're not a real Republican anymore.

The circle tightens.

Yesterday's Duck becomes today's Not-Duck.

And everyone still inside the circle learns the lesson:

Keep performing.

And to prove that this model works beyond politics:

3. Steve Jobs and Apple

Step 1. Define the 'Us'.

Blood: "The Crazy Ones." 

     The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The pirates.

     People with taste.

     People who saw what everyone else couldn't.

Soil: The intersection of technology and the liberal arts.

Apple wasn't just another computer company.

It was where artists built computers.

Step 2. Make the 'We' constantly perform the 'Us'.

Think Different.

     Insanely Great.

     "A-players."

     Obsess over the curve of a corner.

     Make the circuit board beautiful even though the customer will never see it.

     Don't ask the customer what they want. Know what they want before they do.

At Apple, being good at your job wasn't enough.

You had to get it.

Step 3. Point the 'Us' at a fictional point and compare that point with where 'We' is right now.

Destiny: Put a "ding in the universe."

Build the bicycle for the mind.

Make technology disappear until nothing remains between the person and what they want to do.

Compare that against the world as Jobs saw it:

     Beige boxes.

     Ugly interfaces.

     Buttons everywhere.

     Corporate committees.

     Focus groups.

     Mediocrity.

Someone had to make it better.

Step 4. Pick a 'Not-Us' and blame them for that gap.

IBM.

Microsoft.

Android.

Focus groups.

Styluses.

Buttons.

Green chat bubbles.

But underneath all of them was the real Not-Us:

Bad taste.

Step 5. Never run out of 'Not-Us'.

IBM disappeared as the enemy.

Microsoft stopped mattering.

Apple won.

It didn't matter.

Because the real enemy was never IBM or Microsoft.

It was the bozo.

     The person willing to ship something merely good.

     The designer willing to accept an ugly compromise.

     The engineer who said something couldn't be done.

     The executive who didn't understand.

The moment Apple stopped fighting everyone outside, the Duck Test simply turned inward:

Is this insanely great?

If the answer was no, there was still a Not-Duck somewhere in the room.

Blood creates the People.
Soil gives the People somewhere they supposedly belong.
Destiny gives the People somewhere they supposedly need to go.

Then the machinery follows:

We maintains it.
Destiny creates the gap.
Not-Us explains the gap.
The Leader claims exclusive ability to close it.

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And so we're at an end to this post.

I hope you appreciate irony.

Because, after spending 2,752 words arguing that 'Us' doesn't exist, I am going to devote the next post to try and answer: 

Where do Koreans come from?

...fully knowing that 'Koreans' don't exist.

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