Spencer Pratt Says India Has Produced ‘Zero Mozarts,’ Ro Khanna Pushes Back

India-West News Desk

WASHINGTON, DC -A social media exchange over Jeff Bezos’ vision of a future with a trillion humans living in the solar system sparked a broader argument over India, cultural achievement, immigration and what makes America exceptional.

The exchange began after a post highlighted comments by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos about why he wants to see a trillion humans living in the solar system. Bezos said such a population would mean having, at any given time, “1,000 Mozarts and 1,000 Einsteins,” arguing that the solar system could support a civilization of that size with its resources.

That drew a response from Spencer Pratt, the Republican who lost the Los Angeles Mayor primary to Nithya Raman.

“Yeah that’s not how greatness works, Jeff,” Pratt wrote. “India has 2X more people than the entire earth did in Mozart’s time and they’ve produced precisely zero Mozarts. Numbers don’t produce greatness, cultures do.” He added, “It’s baffling how such smart people think and say the stupidest things.”

Rep. Ro Khanna, (D-CA) who has frequently spoken about the contributions of Indian Americans, pushed back against Pratt.

“You don’t have to run other people down to lift us up,” Khanna responded. “Time literally called A.R Rahman the Mozart of Madras and Tyagaraja was a melodic genius.”

“What makes America exceptional is an embrace of the best traditions of the world, not an ignorant rejection of them,” Khanna added.

And as it always is in social media, the exchange moved into a broader argument over immigration and national allegiance. While some sided with Khanna there were others like

America First Tech who accused him of having divided loyalties. “You’ve made your allegiance to India clear,” the account wrote. “If that is where your loyalty lies, take your talents back home and help make India great again.”

It said U.S. immigration and visa system is broken and singled out the H-1B visa program, claiming that Indians account for roughly 70% of H-1B visas. The post further criticized benefits available to foreign workers and their families and raised national security concerns over foreign workers in STEM fields. “They view the U.S. as an economic opportunity zone while still holding allegiance to their country of birth,” the account said.