Many Americans Say the Democratic Party Does Not Share Their Priorities

[Paine]

Long story short, the youngster is just saying that the Democrats should focus less on identity politics ("I'm black!" "I'm white"! "I'm gay!" "I'm a mongoose!") and more on bread-and-butter economic and/or labor politics.

Essentially yes, thank you. The other piece of it is the conflation of leftists who believe in this type of identity focused politics with leftists who believe in a class first (materialist) approach. I find that liberals often conflate the two camps. As I say, there is overlap, but they are distinct. You see this in the catch-all term that a lot of liberals use: “far-left.”

Then there are also liberals who wield the cudgel of identity against others on the left who want to put class and economics first. See: Hillary vs Bernie in 2016.

 

[mynameisbond]

It's less that I have something against socialism and more that I think even a link to the term is a poison pill in politics for about 75% of the country.

Actually, if I had to predict the future, I'd predict a predominantly socialist society for about 95% of the populace in the next hundred years. The rest will live in an effectively different society of privilege.

IOW like most of Europe

 

[superrific]

("I'm black!" "I'm white"! "I'm gay!" "I'm a mongoose!")

Really? Mongoose? WTF, man?

Whether or not you agree with identity being a main plank of the party, there is no reason at all to be denigrating peoples' identities. If a black person wants to be proud of being black, what the fuck is wrong with that, and why does that get comparisons to animals? If a gay person is proud of being gay, and wants equal treatment regardless of sexual orientation, why does that merit such a derogatory response?

 

[breepf]

Really? Mongoose? WTF, man?

Whether or not you agree with identity being a main plank of the party, there is no reason at all to be denigrating peoples' identities. If a black person wants to be proud of being black, what the fuck is wrong with that, and why does that get comparisons to animals? If a gay person is proud of being gay, and wants equal treatment regardless of sexual orientation, why does that merit such a derogatory response?

You're right. I should have gone with sparrow.

It's clearly a joke, as evidenced by the fact that I included "I am white!" too. But please froth away in the form of a 10-point pedantic reply with numerous citations to your own undergraduate work.

 

[superrific]

You're right. I should have gone with sparrow.

It's clearly a joke, as evidenced by the fact that I included "I am white!" too. But please froth away in the form of a 10-point pedantic reply with numerous citations to your own undergraduate work.

How old are you? "It was just a joke" hasn't been an acceptable excuse for that shit for a generation or two.

Including "I am white" doesn't address the problem. Nor does lashing out at me. Of all people to complain about pedantry, Mr. "I'm going to tell you what melodrama is even if it bears no resemblance to how that word is typically used" is probably not the best choice. And whether I type 1 point of 100 doesn't affect the truth of what I'm saying.

 

[breepf]

You know what, if the joke offended the shared liberal sensibility of the board, I apologize for committing an unintentional offense.

 

[ZenMode]

Really? Mongoose? WTF, man?

Whether or not you agree with identity being a main plank of the party, there is no reason at all to be denigrating peoples' identities. If a black person wants to be proud of being black, what the fuck is wrong with that, and why does that get comparisons to animals? If a gay person is proud of being gay, and wants equal treatment regardless of sexual orientation, why does that merit such a derogatory response?

There are adults who identify as a cat, dog, wolves, etc. There may very well be a mongoose out there somewhere. At the very least, mongoose isn't a stretch.

 

[superrific]

You know what, if the joke offended the shared liberal sensibility of the board, I apologize for committing an unintentional offense.

Listen. One of the most impactful and bravest social movements in our recent history was the coordinated effort by gay people to come out of the closet. "I'm gay" was and remains a powerful political statement. When you denigrate that by comparing it to a mongoose, I mean, I don't know what to say.

 

[breepf]

Listen. One of the most impactful and bravest social movements in our recent history was the coordinated effort by gay people to come out of the closet. "I'm gay" was and remains a powerful political statement. When you denigrate that by comparing it to a mongoose, I mean, I don't know what to say.

First I’m hearing of this. Thanks for the lesson, champ.

 

[mynameisbond]

I didn’t read into it as deeply. I took it as an offhand throwaway term rather than a backhanded denigrating comparison.

 

[superrific]

I didn’t read into it as deeply. I took it as an offhand throwaway term rather than a backhanded denigrating comparison.

That's fine. So when I pointed it out, he could have said no offense intended instead of doubling down on sparrow.

 

[ZenMode]

I didn’t read into it as deeply. I took it as an offhand throwaway term rather than a backhanded denigrating comparison.

People often see what they've been conditioned to see.

 

[an0maly]

Bannon's desire was to "flood the zone" with bullshit. Currently it is not a flood. We are beneath an ocean of bullshit. The Republicans and Trump/Zuckerberg/Musk efforts have filled average American minds with lies and distortions of reality to benefit themselves and secure a fascist America. Here we are. We have seen --and believed-- the enemy, and now, it is us. Good essay:

In the past decade, we have witnessed the fallout from the largely unrestricted spread of bullshit on the internet. People have died or have become seriously ill as result of following bad medical advice that they heard on social media. A recent Healthline study found that, among those who had started a new wellness trend in the past year, 52% of them discovered the trend in question on social media. The same survey found that only 37% of participants viewed their doctor as their most trusted source of medical information. There is a concerning new trend of children self-diagnosing mental disorders, and sometimes even developing symptoms of those disorders that they did not previously exhibit in response to watching the videos. The spread of conspiracy theories on social media has led to people falling deep into rabbit holes, often losing their most valued relationships with friends and family members as a result. People sometimes develop racist, sexist, and xenophobic attitudes toward people they have never met on the basis of internet bullshit. We are staring down the barrel of even fewer restrictions on bullshit in light of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s recent announcement that his platforms would no longer include fact checking of questionable posts. The White House has also announced that it will open press briefings up to “new media”—podcasters, YouTube personalities, and social media influencers who need not have any formal training in journalism or commitment to codes of conduct that govern ethical behavior in the field.

Adrift in a Sea of Bullshit - 3 Quarks Daily

by Rachel Robison-Greene

3quarksdaily.com

 

[UNCatTech]

There are adults who identify as a cat, dog, wolves, etc. There may very well be a mongoose out there somewhere. At the very least, mongoose isn't a stretch.

Trump, is that you?

No, there wasn't kitty litter in the women's bathroom at a school. No, they were not eating the pets....

 

[BluHevn]

Bannon's desire was to "flood the zone" with bullshit. Currently it is not a flood. We are beneath an ocean of bullshit. The Republicans and Trump/Zuckerberg/Musk efforts have filled average American minds with lies and distortions of reality to benefit themselves and secure a fascist America. Here we are. We have seen --and believed-- the enemy, and now, it is us. Good essay:

In the past decade, we have witnessed the fallout from the largely unrestricted spread of bullshit on the internet. People have died or have become seriously ill as result of following bad medical advice that they heard on social media. A recent Healthline study found that, among those who had started a new wellness trend in the past year, 52% of them discovered the trend in question on social media. The same survey found that only 37% of participants viewed their doctor as their most trusted source of medical information. There is a concerning new trend of children self-diagnosing mental disorders, and sometimes even developing symptoms of those disorders that they did not previously exhibit in response to watching the videos. The spread of conspiracy theories on social media has led to people falling deep into rabbit holes, often losing their most valued relationships with friends and family members as a result. People sometimes develop racist, sexist, and xenophobic attitudes toward people they have never met on the basis of internet bullshit. We are staring down the barrel of even fewer restrictions on bullshit in light of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s recent announcement that his platforms would no longer include fact checking of questionable posts. The White House has also announced that it will open press briefings up to “new media”—podcasters, YouTube personalities, and social media influencers who need not have any formal training in journalism or commitment to codes of conduct that govern ethical behavior in the field.

Adrift in a Sea of Bullshit - 3 Quarks Daily

by Rachel Robison-Greene

3quarksdaily.com

The enemy is Trump and whoever voted for him.

 

[hereforthefun]

Really? Mongoose? WTF, man?

Whether or not you agree with identity being a main plank of the party, there is no reason at all to be denigrating peoples' identities. If a black person wants to be proud of being black, what the fuck is wrong with that, and why does that get comparisons to animals? If a gay person is proud of being gay, and wants equal treatment regardless of sexual orientation, why does that merit such a derogatory response?

Ah, "superrific," your indignation is palpable, though regrettably symptomatic of a certain intellectual provincialism endemic to contemporary political discourse. Permit me to elucidate why your fixation on symbolic identity affirmation, however well-intentioned, is both strategically obtuse and epistemically reductive.

Ontological Myopia and the Fetishization of Identity

• Your argument presupposes that identity categories are axiomatic sites of political mobilization. However, as Judith Butler's Performative Acts demonstrates, identity is neither static nor innately coherent. Treating it as such risks reifying precisely the social constructs one ostensibly seeks to deconstruct.

Nancy Fraser’s Redistribution-Recognition Dilemma

• Fraser's seminal work delineates the inherent tension between claims for cultural recognition and demands for economic redistribution. By privileging the former, contemporary progressivism engenders a political schema devoid of material exigency, thus alienating those whose lived experiences are defined less by symbolic affronts and more by economic precarity.

Empirical Fallacies in Electoral Strategy

• Quantitative analyses (see Piketty et al., 2020) unequivocally demonstrate that economic populism garners broader electoral appeal than identity-centric appeals. Voters, regrettably indifferent to postmodernist jargon, tend to prioritize policies that impact their material conditions rather than symbolic gestures of validation.

The Psychosocial Dynamics of Tribalism

• Excessive emphasis on identity politics exacerbates out-group antagonism, as delineated by Tajfel's Social Identity Theory. This cognitive entrenchment undermines coalition-building efforts essential for durable political change.

Historical Antecedents of Class-Based Solidarity

• The New Deal coalition, a paradigmatic case study, succeeded precisely because it subordinated identity divisions to class-based solidarity. Labor historians have long extolled its efficacy in engendering structural reforms that benefited marginalized communities without fetishizing their identities.

In summation, while your zealous defense of identity affirmation may earn plaudits in the echo chambers of niche academic circles, it is tactically myopic and politically self-defeating. One might suggest recalibrating your rhetorical arsenal to include a modicum of empirical humility and strategic foresight.

I await your response, though I suspect it will be a postmodernist pastiche wrapped in impenetrable verbiage.

 

[an0maly]

The enemy is Trump and whoever voted for him.

Facts, but the world perception is now that we are an ignorant and dangerous enemy.

Edit: ChatGPT glop above.

 

[JCTarheel82]

A single minute between the new account being created and the ChatGPT copy/paste being posted

 

[Healing]

Ah, "superrific," your indignation is palpable, though regrettably symptomatic of a certain intellectual provincialism endemic to contemporary political discourse. Permit me to elucidate why your fixation on symbolic identity affirmation, however well-intentioned, is both strategically obtuse and epistemically reductive.

Ontological Myopia and the Fetishization of Identity

• Your argument presupposes that identity categories are axiomatic sites of political mobilization. However, as Judith Butler's Performative Acts demonstrates, identity is neither static nor innately coherent. Treating it as such risks reifying precisely the social constructs one ostensibly seeks to deconstruct.

Nancy Fraser’s Redistribution-Recognition Dilemma

• Fraser's seminal work delineates the inherent tension between claims for cultural recognition and demands for economic redistribution. By privileging the former, contemporary progressivism engenders a political schema devoid of material exigency, thus alienating those whose lived experiences are defined less by symbolic affronts and more by economic precarity.

Empirical Fallacies in Electoral Strategy

• Quantitative analyses (see Piketty et al., 2020) unequivocally demonstrate that economic populism garners broader electoral appeal than identity-centric appeals. Voters, regrettably indifferent to postmodernist jargon, tend to prioritize policies that impact their material conditions rather than symbolic gestures of validation.

The Psychosocial Dynamics of Tribalism

• Excessive emphasis on identity politics exacerbates out-group antagonism, as delineated by Tajfel's Social Identity Theory. This cognitive entrenchment undermines coalition-building efforts essential for durable political change.

Historical Antecedents of Class-Based Solidarity

• The New Deal coalition, a paradigmatic case study, succeeded precisely because it subordinated identity divisions to class-based solidarity. Labor historians have long extolled its efficacy in engendering structural reforms that benefited marginalized communities without fetishizing their identities.

In summation, while your zealous defense of identity affirmation may earn plaudits in the echo chambers of niche academic circles, it is tactically myopic and politically self-defeating. One might suggest recalibrating your rhetorical arsenal to include a modicum of empirical humility and strategic foresight.

I await your response, though I suspect it will be a postmodernist pastiche wrapped in impenetrable verbiage.

 

[Zoo_View]

Let’s stop replying to the troll.