Reply #92: Yeah, it seems beside the whole point of this topic...

[belle]

I just wish more of us would *listen* to each other. I think the original poster was expressing a genuine interest in listening to other peoples' experiences/perspectives. I wish there were more of us like that.

I'm not a huge fan of identity politics, at least the way they've been 90's style, having been on various sides of various debates (as a queer white woman of upper-middle-class background). I do have issues with the "it's a ____ thing, you wouldn't understand" meme that was bigger then, but still lives (I just extracted myself from a heated discussion on a mixed gay board where we--gay men, "queer" SM people in het relationships, and bi women with children, were basically playing "my group's oppression is a more righteous cause than yours; therefore MY PAIN is more important than yours, therefore you have no right to complain when I throw epithets in your direction..." Blergh). Basically, I think when one says "you just don't understand," whether it's justified or not (usually this comes out of frustration at the other person not listening, it's true)--it's a conversation-stopper. It's the equivalent of "never mind."

That said, obviously it's important to discuss these issues; racism certainly hasn't gone away, or sexism, or (hello??) homophobia. And I hate the phrase "victim mentality." There *is* such a thing, yes, and we're *all* capable of it. As with the joke about paranoia, (just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they aren't out to get you)--the reality of "my oppression is bigger than yours" doesn't mean that people aren't also genuinely oppressed. (Not to mention that the right-wingers have long since surpassed the rest of us in the "poor me" department; but then, preaching to the converted, here...)

I do think that the "identity politics" thing is/was an important phase for people to go through, both on a personal and collective level. Maybe it isn't fair or reasonable to go "okay, we should all be over that by now!" Personally, I just think we can't afford it. Not now. Not under this government.

Short term, we need to focus on the primary goal of getting these fuckers out of office, first and foremost. ("We must all hang together or we will assuredly all hang separately). Long term? I think we (as Democrats, "progressives," what have you) need to find a new frame for all these issues, one which includes the "bigger picture" (economics, obviously, and more). We need, in short, a philosophical overhaul, root and branch.