Identity Politics is Eroding Public Discourse

Why Identity Politics is Eroding Public Discourse and Stifling Progress: Part 1

I would like to open a discussion about identity politics, explain why I think it is extremely harmful towards making social improvements, and why it puts free speech/expression at risk. Please join the discussion in the comments below, and share your insights on the ways in which identity politics might have actual utility or other ways in which it is problematic that I have not touched upon here. Thanks!

Identity politics, and group based policy is saturating the political climate like I have never seen before. Whether it be on the basis of gender, ethnicity, race, religion, sexuality, or political affiliation, people seem to be less concerned with the content of an issue at hand than the group(s) supporting a particular side. It is natural, and unavoidable that our experiences and positions in life will inform our opinions and views; there is nothing wrong with having an acute knowledge of a topic from exposure to it from your background. This is not what I am referring to. Rather, I am speaking about deriving a value, or set of values, solely from what the average or predominant view is shared by those who have some common feature with you. For example: It is perfectly fine and reasonable to advocate for the legalization of Marijuana because you do not want the government to have a say in what people put in there bodies as a democrat. But if advocating for legalization because you are a democrat, then there is a problem. Your political positions should be in line with your beliefs (based on rational consideration of your values) and not necessarily in line with the common position of a group you consider yourself to be a member of.

When evaluating the merit of a given policy, you should not care whether the policy was proposed by a member of the same party as you or not. It should not matter whether Obama or Bush was in office at the time of a tax proposal, it should only matter whether you think it is fair, effective, practical, and so on. The videos of people responding differently to reporters on the bases of the terms Obamacare vs. the Affordable Care Act illuminate a serious problem. Democracy can only be successful when we support policies on the bases of how good they are. We should care about the validity of an idea, and not whether it is written in red or blue ink.

Using your identity to determine your political stance drives a demagoguery that banishes anyone from a group who does agree with every little point that the group makes. It provides a climate in which it is unsafe to criticize individual aspects of a movement due to fear of conflation of the whole movement. This hurts the minorities within the minorities. It sounds appealing for a minority group of any valiance to insure complete homogeneity of ideas; but, this only weakens the group, the individuals within it, and prevents improvement and innovation. If it was taboo for any Apple employee to criticize a specific aspect of the latest iPhone, then there wouldn't be improvements to be made on the next one. It is vital for society at large that we refine and change our views as new evidence surfaces. There is no excuse for labeling someone a 'sexist evil bigot' simply for holding the view that abortion should be illegal. Perhaps they hold the view because they are a sexist, but perhaps they hold the view because they see the fetus as being a human entitled to the right to live; perhaps they are a women, and perhaps they agree with you on every other issue. We need to listen to each other, especially when we disagree, and especially when we belong to different groups.

Another problem with identity politics is that it discourages or even prevents conversation. Anyone, regardless of who they are is entitled to an opinion, even if they have never experienced a situation at hand. You do not have to care about their opinion, you can lose respect for that person for publicly expressing it, but you should not tell them that they have no right to think the way that the do. Maybe you can learn something from someone with an outsider perspective on a situation; maybe they can learn something from your perspective. But censorship is never the solution. Censorship takes power away from words and gives it to force. After all, all that we have are our voices and our fists. 

Thanks for reading and sharing your thoughts! I will be posting part two shortly!