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by weirdstuff 3161 days ago
I don't really get the identity politics thing. Aren't all politics identity politics?
3 comments

Conservative Christian right wingers might have trouble in diverse workplaces but pot smoking gays are in deep shit anywhere outside of some coastal strongholds which ran out of places for newcomers years ago, oddly enough in part because of pervasive acceptance of neoliberal economics.
Oh, no. Identity politics is limited to issues specific to an individual's identity, as opposed to politics of nationalism, economics, broader social issues, etc.
It's just another word the right has latched on to in order to sound more intelligent, c.f. "cultural marxism". It's the same as people who throw around words like "Social Justice Warrior" as if that's a bad thing and make critiques of feminism without having actually taken even a second to read feminist literature on topics like intersectionality. It's the age of buzzwords. Ironically, caring about "identity politics" is identity politics as well, but the people using the term will still feel holier-than-thou and pretend they're rational, impartial, impassionate, and indifferent beings.
Another commenter mentioned your tone, but you're right about what I think is your general point, identity politics is a political codeword for the "catering to the needs of minorities" that specifically democrats and other leftists do, not politics tied to any identity, which sort of includes a lot of politics in general.
There’s that word “just”, here used to broadly denigrate anyone who might have an issue with how those topics are approached in the real world.

Not very conducive to discussion, and quite ironic in a thread about divisive echo chambers.

Thankfully you policed my tone instead of being constructive to the discussion.
Tone and lack of respect for the person being conversed with is one of many reasons politics have become so divisive - let's not pretend it isn't important when the topic is constructive discussion.