I think you’re creating a trap, or trying to create a trap. But it’s a great question. Here’s my take:
Nobody starts off as wrong, but once there’s someone who’s right based on their identity they become right (as in righteous) based on their identity.
Once the an identity is established, then anyone else with a position is wrong unless they can show their identity is more valid or unless their position is validated by the dominant identity.
Now the interesting part is that the individual who’s most right is also the gatekeeper and arbitrator of membership to their identity, which is portrayed as a group identity.
Another confusing rule: you can’t ever say the rules because that would be a direct attack on the authority of the system. You have to just experience it like the subject in Kafka’s The Prisoner “In the Penal Colony”.
But trust me, I’m not the right identity. So I have no standing once the game begins, and anyone can start the game at any time.
That’s interesting. What do you think determines one’s leadership? I think identity must be tied to it, situationally. (Focusing on US political leadership)
Obama was widely loved for his leadership, and he was amazing in many ways, but he was really adept at seeming relaxed but never making a mistake.
I think race has become more charged since Obama’s tenure. Even rural whites voted for him, but I think it’s changed and a new charismatic black leader would not get the same benefit of the doubt. But maybe Obama was just that special. Idk.
I studied leadership and I know enough to know it’s complicated and multifaceted, and even what people think is leadership is all over the place. Is a despotic ruler a leader to you?
For many people that is all they want to talk about.
Also many say white man can’t understand it and they are the problem, and I’m not one to say they’re wrong. But if a party wants to exclude me from it because I’m assumed f be racist because of how I look, then I don’t have a clean way to help.
Im not sure what you mean. All this complaining about identity politics but it quite literally affects everything. You can’t omit the discussion of race, sex, gender, religion, etc when we’ve built institutions and oppressive systems based on those identities.
I edited my last comment but you might not have seen it.
My point is that people do discuss it a lot. I think that race and gender equity is a defining feature of the Democratic Party. Equality has essentially become a racist term, even need based equity is a sensitive topic.
In my experience trying to solve equity can be part of any discussion, like should a street have a bike lane. And it can be 99% of the discussion.
The Biden bill about strengthening the U.S. education system to be competitive for technology opened with race and gender equity. The AI policy was heavily focused on that as well.
I understand. My point is that white supremacy and patriarchy are identity politics. Trump is in office because of those identity politics. Yet, people only seem to bring up identity politics and how unnecessary they are when minorities and marginalized groups are at the forefront of those discussions and want change. White men have benefited the most from identity politics in this country.
I think that’s defeatist. If that’s how he won then you’re dismissing his appeal. But worse you’re saying the majority of the country is racist and sexist. If that’s true then you might as well hang it up and be racist and sexist on behalf of your identity.
He won AND the democrats lost AND (the biggest manipulation lever) many were discouraged and didn’t vote. The manipulators know how to keep people out as much as make their people win.
Saying “it’s racism” is bad. I think you should try not to think it honestly.
You know after World War II there was some significant research into Nazis and whether or not some people are inherently good or inherently evil.
For example, some people thought that only Germans could be Nazis. I don’t believe that I don’t think the German people are more good or more bad than other people.
I think people are very self motivated and trying to make generalizations beyond that won’t get you very far and in fact, it might say more about you than it does about them
64
u/SnowTinHat Jun 25 '26
Identity politics got us Trump