Everything That's Wrong With Identity Politics

This article nails it.

It privileges culture, instead of politics. My first point is that when you fight for identity, you’re giving up politics in favor of culture. And that’s exactly where neoliberalism wants you, fighting for your culture (or what you imagine is your culture), rather than the arena of policies, where the real consequences occur. You may gain some recognition of your identity, but you may also have to pay the price of losing everything else that makes life worth living. 

In many American cities, as in mine, the fight is on for transgender bathrooms, even as local government leaders, who often fit the bill where identity politics is concerned, have worked closely with supercapitalists to gentrify the urban centers, leading to the mass eviction of working people who created the interesting cultural realities in the first place. You can have your bathrooms, but gay people can’t live where they want to. During the Obama years, a crisis of affordable housing arose all over the country, which has gotten little attention because that is a policy discussion not suited to identity politics.

Which is exactly what my last post was about.

And then there was this nice little local piece in the LA Times this weekend: Bye-bye Silver Lake, hello Pacoima: How one couple tackled L.A.'s sky-high real estate prices.

So, if you're a politically minded millennial interested in owning a home one day - be aware the choice to throw your energies into Pussy Hats and Transgender bathrooms will result in living in Pacoima (or similar type of area) unless you stand to inherit a lot of money.