PART 3 in a series explaining "identity politics." Earlier, I explained that identity politics is "a species of collectivism that groups people together, not on the basis of their thinking, their chosen beliefs," but by irrelevant unchosen physical attributes. It then proceeds to divide and rule -- reducing politics to a straight-out game of pressure-group warfare – with the pressure group into which you belong not even chosen by you, but assigned to you by the "group" or tribe into which you are allegedly born.
This is pressure-group warfare, and of a peculiarly tribal type. And you know what that means...
Tribal Politics Means Zero-Sum Conflict
"We are not a capitalist system any longer: we are a mixed economy
i.e., a mixture of capitalism and statism, of freedom and controls. A
mixed economy is a country in the process of disintegration, a civil
war of pressure-groups looting and devouring one another."
~ Ayn Rand
Modern democracy has been described as “the counting of heads regardless of content.” In a tribal age like ours is becoming, when headcounts matter more than heads’ content, when group action will always have more political reach than individuals’ ideas and values, then each particular “group” is desperate to gain not just the ear of government, but its power.
We are living in a reign of fear not only with respect to the government itself [explains George Reisman] but also with respect to any private group that can create enough of a social commotion as to threaten possible government action against one, irrespective of the matter.This is not hyperbole.
Democracy encourages the rise of pressure groups. In its unrestricted form, after all, it's just a form of mob rule. Grafted onto the contemporary mixed economy -- that mongrelised mixture of freedom and controls with no principles, rules, or theories to define either -- in which governments are free to dispense largesse and power to groups ever-eager to beg for both -- these pressure groups are encouraged to war with each other for scraps from the political table. And pressure groups spawn power-lusters to "speak for them," to pull down some part of the power they so lust after.
The modern mixed economy raises the push for power to an artform -- each group set against every other group, "each group fighting for legislation to extort its own advantages by force from all other groups," each would-be leader elbowing their way to the top, with the main winners being politicians, egging on the warring parties like bookies at a bare-knuckle brawl. Only, in today's politically-driven mixed economy, they're not harvesting losing betting slips, they're shilling for political power. Which means votes.
Every election around the world sees pundits discussing “the black vote,” or arguing about “how Maori might vote” – as if your vote is determined by something as trivial as skin pigmentation. This is said to matter. Brexit was said to be swung by white northern voters, Trump’s election by dispossessed, angry white voters -- voters’ “groupness” being considered more important than whatever ideas or values they may individually hold.
We see government action being called on to enforce gender quotas on private boards, and Maori quotas in local elections. Or insisted upon to shut down criticism of Islam, or suppress debate about the high number of Maori in jail, or to silence those like J.K. Rowling who might question transgenderism.
The "group" must be protected!
This groupness extends to the nation. Team USA as a group are said to be "losing" a trade war to Team China. Team Britain were said to be losing out to Team Europe. And (depending on your location) the values, culture and way of life of "your team" are said to be under threat by immigrants from Team Mexico, Team Poland, Team Middle East or (if by boat into the northern shores of Team Australia) from Team Other.
Every group is said to be at war with every other -- either metaphorically or literally. In this zero-sum game of tribal politics – when every group is said to be a threat to every other group – then one’s own group must demand the power of government just to survive.
In such a war of group upon group, any action however odious seems justified – and the benefits of tolerance, peaceful coexistence, and the economic harmonies of a division-of-labour society praised and explained by the likes of Adam Smith and Frederic Bastiat seem very far away indeed.
Tribal politics is a zero-sum conflict. Nobody wins but those who've grabbed --or are grabbing -- political power.
CONTINUED IN PART 4: Some causes for all this, especially politics and polylogism, Marx and Marcuse...
PART 3 in a series explaining "identity politics," excerpted from one of my chapters in the 2019 book Free Speech Under Attack.
- Part 1: 'What is Identity Politics?'
- Part 2: 'Determinism isn't dead, it just smells that way'
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