It is baffling, how people could ever believe that
This week was intense for those of us, who know we are at a major turning point in history. The contradictions in our capitalist society are getting ever more extreme, which leads to ever more extreme outcomes on both sides of the political spectrum. It was hardly a surprise that Trump won the U.S. elections, given that the Democrats are just as fierce in protecting billionaire interests as the Republicans are. There was no alternative outcome. It is all just for the show.
And boy, what a show we got to witness. From the media that tries to force us to empathize with billionaires who lost one of their several homes to fire to tech platforms, with META in the lead doing a complete 360 on their identity politics agendas to appease the new administration.
Image from JD Lasica from Pleasanton, CA, US, via Wikimedia Commons
To the Capitalists, It Was Never About Identity Politics, but about Profit
I mentioned some time ago, that this was the core issue with identity politics in the first place. It is not that trans people, people of color, or women do not deserve equal rights. It is about the fact that their oppression is rooted in the same issue that presses all humans and nature. The capitalist’s endless drive for profit. This is why these platforms pandered to the ideology in the first place. It was a useful distraction from the fact that billionaire elites and corporations are exploiting us all. Regardless of skin color, gender, or whatever other identities you want to fixate on. As long as we divide ourselves along race, gender, beliefs, and other virtual constructs, the billionaires can happily exploit us. It was a genius money-making scheme for them as long as it lasted.
This is also the main reason, why most ‘left’ mainstream parties embraced identity politics as well. Whether it was Labour in the U.K., the German Green Party and Die Linke, or the Democrats in the U.S. What they all have in common is that they fully embraced neoliberal capitalism. These parties used identity politics as a vehicle to distract from the fact capitalism can only exist by exploiting humans and nature alike. You can not have economic growth without exploitation. Coincidentally, this has only fueled the extreme right-wing everywhere, because these extremist parties now have the monopoly on speaking on behalf of the victims of capitalism. Or, at least some of them.
The Focus on Identity as the Defining Issue Must End
My only hope is, that some of the people, who bought into this scheme finally wake up and stop believing that any billionaire whatsoever cares about your subjective identity, as long as they can exploit you and your labor to maximize their profit. The focus on Identity Issues must stop if we want to stand a chance against this exploitation. Only if we can collectively address and call out capitalist exploitation, do we have a chance of stopping the inevitable collapse of civilization and nature.
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