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Originally Posted by Illuminaughty
Alright, I definitely had some fun with this whole pro wrestlingesque election sham, of what apparently qualifies as a modern day expression of democracy. If I offended anybody....... well I guess I'm sorry, but there's a conscious choice being made there by the person taking offence. What we saw play out was intentional classic division by polarization, it's A or it's B paradigm. This works effectively because humans have a natural want to identify with some construct, it's our tribal nature. Just look at sports fandom.
I'm not sure if you are aware of how much you are demonizing your perceived political opponents. Saying that Trump won because of bigotry and uneducated voters is ridiculous. A large number of people that voted for Trump this go round, were likely the same ones that voted for Obama twice. They both ran on the promise of some form of change. I understand you are upset that your candidate lost, but try to keep a bit of reasonable perspective. Hillary was wildly unpopular for obvious reasons, people don't trust her. It's hard to imagine her beating anybody in a democratic election, especially given the result. She was being investigated by the FBI for actions that could be perceived as treason, while being able to run for president. You can't get around the optics of that, that's why she lost, not because she's a woman, that's a complete cop out on your part and anybody else trying to make that argument. Yes the media and celebrities definitely helped Trumps bid, inadvertently.
The issue people have with identity politics, is when it is being used as crutch to dismiss anybody's arguments against said (insert issue). It's very telling that the same people preaching tolerance and inclusiveness, are the same ones yelling white privilege when it suits them. It's identity politics that are part of the problem of creating division, and silencing the discussion that needs to take place for people to get to a place of universal tolerance in society. If the cause you are championing can only resort to identity politics to legitimize itself, maybe it isn't a worthwhile cause to be championing then.
Your whole post is one big appeal to identity politics and moral superiority. You clearly define what you are and what you are about, and act like how could anybody hold a different opinion. That's what I get out of it anyway. These are complex issues with nuance, not just it's black or it's white, or wrong or right.
You claim you wan't inclusiveness and equality for all, but how do you hope to accomplish that? Just calling somebody with a different opinion or vote, an uneducated bigot won't work to achieve this goal. You need well thought out arguments, not just tactics of division and dismissal.
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In many ways this election year was a banner year for identity politics; Identity politics by white working class voters appears to be a big part of why Trump won. In particular, I think there's a group of people that identified with being called racist and sexist for speaking plainly, and voted for trump based on that identity. These are the people that voted for trump because he "says what he thinks". Too often the reaction to identity politics is more identity politics.
Identity has it's uses; in particular for grouping common traits among groups of people so you know where to go to study the problems and test the solutions to the problem that some people face. It becomes harmful when availability of the solutions is determined by the identity itself, and not affliction that underlies the problem, it becomes harmful when people vote or support a person based on a common identity instead of their character and policy proposals, and it becomes harmful when individuals are condemned based on their irrelevant traits like skin color instead of their character and the things they claim to support.