I'm with Eric on that more general bit about ideological absolutes, too. If you mean by this what I think you do - that to disagree is to betray and that to include 'the trenches and fortifications of the bourgeoisie' in your menu of sites for political practice is to betray - then there remain even today a fair few leftie sects who fit the bill.
Good on you! Rob.
>Actually, the tendency that most gets on my nerves is with the white
>activists who claim that we need to "listen" to the wants, needs, and
>thoughts of black people or other particularly oppressed groups, then
>choose a sect as the "spokepeople" for blacks; the group itself being
>completely out of touch with most black people and much more popular
>among chic white radicals.
>
>If we truly "listened" to the average black person, and heeded his/her
>political wisdom, we would all be voting for left of center democrats.
>Furthermore, we would be Christian with a great deal of ambivalence
>about abortion and drug legalization. This is the absurdity of the
>white identity politic trend.
>
>Better that we speak for ourselves and base our political action on our
>own perceptions, however limited they may be. The key is to expand our
>perceptions, and to understand why a vote for a democrat who will
>guarantee a few more millions in social programs is worth voting for,
>even if we choose to avoid "lesser evil politics" because the difference
>has little or no meaning for our personal lives.
>
>In my opinion, the racism on the left is most profound in ideological
>absolutes, and identity politics where we pick and choose the
>"spokespeople" for another community.