[lbo-talk] Graeber

[Wojtek S]

Joel: "I found American identity politics as intolerable as I find racism in
Europe. I don't know, in the end, whether either is ultimately more or
less objectionable. The Americans, I think, do a better job of
harnessing difference, for reactionary ends. The Europeans, I find,
are not as disingenuous, or as clever, in this regard."

[WS:]  I cannot agree more.  It is the main thing that divides the US
working class (broadly defined) and allows the rich have their way
with little or no opposition.  Theda Skocpol made a similar point
arguing that identity politics of a sort explain why the US does not
have a social policy similar to European countries - her argument was
that in Europe exclusion coincided with class lines, but in the US
different identities split the working class.  So when it comes to
identity politics I'd say it is more than intolerable, it is more
damaging than fascist reaction.

-- 
Wojtek

"An anarchist is a neoliberal without money."