Current philosophy of winning elections, gaining power and control is the dogma of ‘identity politics’ that arises by telling people and groups that they are different from everyone else and we have a program for you. When Mr. Obama offered the mantra of ‘Hope and Change’, Blacks were told that they would have a better life if they would just vote Democratic for Obama. About 95% of the Black minority helped elect their political evangelist; he was re-elected in 2013.
What Blacks were told and what happened was that their unemployment numbers didn’t change much, their incomes didn’t increase and they were sold mortgages with nothing down and high payments.
Many families of all races purchased homes, many guaranteed by Uncle Sam. The euphoria and rapture of home ownership for all had come to pass. But wait, that mortgage payment of $1,400 per month coupled with a $300 monthly car payment plus annual property taxes of $5,000+/- and fire and hazard insurance on the home and car(s) was another couple grand. The storm clouds of finance replaced the sunshine of home ownership by foreclosure and faulty securitized mortgages. The world’s economies went into a tailspin costing trillions.
Similar words were spoken about low-cost health care reducing premiums by $2,500 annually while you would be able to keep your doctor. Empty words; the liberal administration kept changing the rules to accommodate special groups and people (identity politics). We were told that jobs would increase in the 8-year liberal reign of Mr. Obama. That didn’t happen as regulations and tax increases drove corporate production overseas and across our southern and northern borders.
In the liberal world of identity politics words are honed and tuned to the melodic refrain that is pleasing to be heard. Words are supposed to precede actions of new jobs, increased profits, reduced taxes and increased incomes. But these promises were smoke and mirrors; the fantasies of our liberal leaders were really ideologies of government elites whose ranks of control were saturated with academics, theorists, demographers and actuaries who foresaw the growth of retirement plans and payrolls. Broad increases in welfare (48 million on SNAP food stamps), $1.4 trillion in student debt and low workplace participation rates resulted.
Identity politics is a moving target; votes sought after by politicians altered from natural and manufactured crises to the next counterfeit conspiracy. However, we all know the basic labels of liberal segmentation; pregnant women awaiting an abortion, working women whose compensation is less than men doing the same jobs, LGBTQ, Black minorities, Hispanic minorities, ‘Dreamers”, illegal aliens called ‘guest workers’, sanctuary city advocates, paramilitary groups that constantly flaunt the law by interrupting traffic and sitting in trees, interrupting peaceful protests, union members (teachers, postal workers, factory workers) and a host of other population segments including Hillary’s ‘deplorables’.
Here is where the greatest flaw in the principle of ‘identity politics’ fails miserably. By segmenting individual and population groups, our people become divided encouraging friction between union members and non-union workers, Blacks from other citizens such as whites and people of all ethnicities, jealousy of the poor toward the rich, protection of one religion over another (Muslims, Catholics, Jews, Protestants, etc) all become fractious that synthetically retards and impairs healthy relationships among population groups. The result is that debate cannot proceed because both sides of every issue are intractable (stubborn) and thus the lack of solutions continues untethered.
A political party or any other organization that separates, segregates or divides any individuals or groups into disparate segments is doing exactly what we have tried to wipe out over many years. The Brown vs. Board of Education Topeka Supreme Court case settled the segregation issue on May 17th, 1954. Further legislation in the ‘50’s and 60’s detailed the requirements to adhere to the provisions of Constitutional Amendment XIV (ratified July 9th, 1868)
The policy of ‘Identity Politics’ is high risk because government can only provide funding for one group by taking it from another group and by adding debt that is now $21 trillion. Julius Caesar in his ruling days (BC) used the expression ‘divide et impera’ (divide & conquer); Abe Lincoln responded on June 16th, 1858 with ‘A house divided against itself cannot stand.’ Rome fell; The US stands. Think strategically when voting!
Dick Baynton