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Walking and Chewing Gum at the Same Time

By Big Tent Democrat, Section Other Politics
Posted on Wed Oct 04, 2006 at 07:18:29 AM EST
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(Guest Post from Big Tent Democrat)

Kevin Drum writes:

Walter Benn Michaels thinks that liberals have become too obsessed with "diversity." Why? Because, he says, "celebrating diversity" is easy and makes us feel good -- we're fighting racism! and sexism! and homophobia! -- while doing what we should be doing is hard and makes us feel tired. And what is it that we should be doing? Reducing income inequality and helping the poor

. . . I have a certain amount of sympathy for this point of view.

I don't. Heck, why are we concerned about Iraq? Education? The environment? Why pick the fight for racial, gender and sexual orientation justice as the thing that is distracting us? It is the paranoid style, a la Jesse Helms. It is, in a word, disgusting -- deserving of censure, not sympathy.

Kevin even gives away the game:

So I have some appreciation for Michaels' thesis. Despite that, though, I have to confess that I don't really see much evidence for his main point: that the reason liberals aren't fighting very hard for economic justice these days is because we're directing all our energy instead to promoting diversity. There are other reasons for this lack of attention (post-60s exhaustion, the fact that the middle class has stagnated at a pretty comfortable income level, and the "boiling frog" nature of increases in income inequality, to name a few), and I very much doubt that mere distraction has much to do with it. After all, liberals have managed to continue fighting a lot of other battles just fine during this time.

But hey -- I could be wrong. Maybe identity politics really has distracted us from economic issues. Over at The Valve they're going to be discussing Michaels all week, so if you're interested in this kind of thing go check it out. Next Monday I expect to see a complete game plan for putting income inequality back at the forefront of liberal politics.

I am not interested in a Democratic Party that will not fight for racial justice AS WELL AS economic justice. I am not interested in a race baiting Democratic Party.

To top it off, Kevin must know that Michaels is describing a racial paranoid populism for Democrats. And even if that were not morally repugnant, it is politically stupid - do you really think Democrats can convince non-minority voters that they are not fighting for racial justice? Would doing so be helpful politically?

These are the moments when I get the most frustrated with Democratic Party insiders and the stupidity they spew. Now we are supposed to debate morally repugnant, politically stupid political alternatives? Include me out.

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    Walking and Chewing Gum at the Same Time | 11 comments (11 topical)
    Re: Walking and Chewing Gum at the Same Time (none / 0) (#1)
    by theologicus on Wed Oct 04, 2006 at 08:19:46 AM EST
    Wrong again, BTD. Identity politics does indeed too often function as a distraction. Moreover, having this worry is not what Hofstadter meant by the "paranoid style." You could look it up. There are too many people who are caught up in identity politics who don't give priority to the needs of working people, the environment, bombing civilians, torture and the disintegration of democracy, etc. These people may not be everywhere, but there sure are a lot of them in academic life. And they have a foothold in the Democratic Party, too.

    Re: Walking and Chewing Gum at the Same Time (none / 0) (#3)
    by theologicus on Wed Oct 04, 2006 at 08:45:52 AM EST
    By the way, I do agree that race and class ought not to be separated. Authors like William Julius Wilson, bell hooks, Andrew Hacker, and David Cole have made the point well. But that's exactly the problem with so much identity politics. It leaves out the dimension of class. It doesn't have a robust concept of economic justice. The Democratic Party -- which today is essentially little more than a party of the center right -- has a long ways to go here.

    Re: Walking and Chewing Gum at the Same Time (none / 0) (#5)
    by soccerdad on Wed Oct 04, 2006 at 09:25:05 AM EST
    IMO the reason the Democratic party as an organization is not interested in economic conditions of workers is that the party is supported and, therefore, owes it alliegence to corporations. Liberals have little to do with the Party hierarchy that decides what is important

    Re: Walking and Chewing Gum at the Same Time (none / 0) (#6)
    by theologicus on Wed Oct 04, 2006 at 09:35:47 AM EST
    alliegence to corporations Exaclty. And parliamentary democracy doesn't work very well without economic democracy. Why do you almost have to be a millionarie to run for office?

    Re: Walking and Chewing Gum at the Same Time (none / 0) (#7)
    by scribe on Wed Oct 04, 2006 at 10:02:48 AM EST
    Apropos of the headline, check out the image here: The Unit, Brownie, and Foley walking around post-Katrina New Orleans.

    Re: Walking and Chewing Gum at the Same Time (none / 0) (#2)
    by Big Tent Democrat on Wed Oct 04, 2006 at 11:32:15 AM EST
    Theologicus: Distracted? Evidence? And what of the environment? education? Iraq? Civil liberties? etc? Are those distractions too? If not, why not. As for Hofstadter, I strongly disagree, as a reading of the Age of Reform makes clear.

    Re: Walking and Chewing Gum at the Same Time (none / 0) (#4)
    by Big Tent Democrat on Wed Oct 04, 2006 at 11:32:15 AM EST
    Ypour second comment contradicts the first in my opinion. Unless you deny that race is an issue. Do you?

    Re: Walking and Chewing Gum at the Same Time (none / 0) (#8)
    by theologicus on Wed Oct 04, 2006 at 12:23:15 PM EST
    I'm sorry, BTD. You seem to me to be a fuzzy thinker. You don't understnd Hofstdter, you don't understand Kevin Drum, and you don't understand me. Of course I think race is an issue. The problem is with an identity politics that has no working conception of class. It's too often a form of feel-good politics for limosine liberals. The other writers I cited all point out the deep conneciton between race and class.

    Re: Walking and Chewing Gum at the Same Time (none / 0) (#9)
    by theologicus on Wed Oct 04, 2006 at 12:25:56 PM EST
    [Sorry for the typos.]

    Re: Walking and Chewing Gum at the Same Time (none / 0) (#10)
    by Big Tent Democrat on Wed Oct 04, 2006 at 03:19:15 PM EST
    Whatever Theo. I lovw bald assertions, they are really worth my time. Have a nice day.

    Re: Walking and Chewing Gum at the Same Time (none / 0) (#11)
    by aw on Wed Oct 04, 2006 at 07:14:47 PM EST
    The only people I've ever seen complain about identity politics are members of the dominant identity group: white men.

    Walking and Chewing Gum at the Same Time | 11 comments (11 topical)