Quote:
|
Originally Posted by demonrail666
I believe everyone has the right to speak. The problem with Identity Politics (capital A capital P) is that it prioritises certain groups over others and prohibits the critique of certain positions through de-platforming, the introduction of 'safe-spaces', etc.
There's too many points here to address individually but a lot of what you say (most of which no reasonable person could disagree with) hinges on the idea that Identity Politcs is just a politics that acknowledges peoples identity. Of course, pretty much all politics does that, but the kind of politics I'm talking about is more specific than that. I'm talking about a particular kind of Marxism that emerged after 68, which replaced its emphasis on class and economics with 'oppression' and culture. This was welded to ideas about power from people like Foucault which gives rise to this strange topsy-turvy world we see now, where the daughter of a banker at Harvard can tell an unemployed guy from the rust belt to check his privilege. Where the 'Left' are willing to fall behind a politician if they say the right thing about an oppressed group, regardless of the fact their neo-liberal economics are essentially Reagonomics/Thatcherism on steroids - and unquestionably do more damage to the oppressed people of the world than someone who might innocently miss-apply a gender pronoun.
The world is in a seriously dangerous state right now so we need to be serious about it. Identity Politcs just seems like a frivolous distraction to me. Decadent in the broadest sense of the word.
|
Couldn't agree more with this!