Identity Politics Are Destroying America.
Friday, August 2nd, 2024
I want to share a great substack article published recently by John Leake.
Here is an excerpt:
"Yesterday I listened to a fascinating podcast interview with behavior expert Chase Hughes in which he describes precisely why identity is such a decisive driver of what most people believe.
The reason why people will obstinately maintain an attachment to a logically untenable idea is because whatever challenges the validity of the idea also challenges the validity of their identity.
The simplest expression of this is in people who strongly identity themselves as either Democrats or Republicans. If you identity yourself as a Democrat, you have an emotional investment in your membership in this club, and will therefore be reluctant to discard ideas that are championed by your fellow Democrats. The same applies for people who identify themselves as Republicans.
The personal identity afforded by membership in one of these clubs is amplified by the way both parties invite their members to adopt an Us vs. Them mentality, which is extremely appealing to tribal primates."
This article reminds me of why my own views fly all over the place, bolstered by my endless curiosity, diverse sources of information, a wide array of friends with very different views, and the FREEDOM of my political affiliation as an INDEPENDENT.
In 2015, I was a common Democrat. I believed the Democratic Party was a champion of American Ideals of self-government, through an electoral system that lifted up the voices of the people.
Yes, I was naive.
In the Fall of 2015, I stepped up my game, joined the 34th Dems, and began attending monthly meetings, volunteered to chair the advertising committee for the upcoming caucuses in our district, and even signed up to be our island’s Lead Area Caucus Coordinator.
While involved at this level, I discovered the EXTREME HATRED felt and openly expressed toward Republicans, et al, and also toward Bernie Sanders (despite the fact that he was one of our Democratic Party Candidates).
The entire primary season was a celebration of corruption, abuse of power and the intentional disenfranchisement of new and long time members of the Democratic Party. The DNC in Philly was the proverbial straw that broke my back, and I became an Independent, then and there.
I would like to say, to all the good people I know who have fallen into the trap of believing one must belong to the Democrats or the Republicans in order to engage meaningfully with our nation's political system -- OUR SYSTEM WORKS BEST WHEN WE DON'T ALIGN OURSELVES WITH A POLITICAL PARTY.
Doing so, as touched upon in this podcast, causes far, far, far more problems than it solves, and as George Washington tried to warn us, political parties will inevitably corrupt our beautiful system.
Read. Listen. Think for yourself...
And — if you’d like to pick up a book about how Americans can “leave identity politics in the dust” and have done so, in years past, here’s one that may suit you:
With a fighting spirit, a fresh perspective, and flashes of humor, John P. Avlon tells the story of the vital center in American politics, from Theodore Roosevelt to the present day. Independent Nation is a rallying cry for the moderate majority of Americans who are tired of the intolerant voices on the far right and left and choose instead to walk an independent path between these extremes in the belief that what we share as Americans is far greater than what divides us.