Shared Identities Disrupt Identity Politics

Under the Iron Curtain, the socialist nations waged an aggressive propaganda campaign with the aim of demonizing the Western nations and their people. According to the communists, the US with its imperialist and war-like tendencies was considered to be an affront to all that is good and even to humanity itself. Its citizens, living a lifestyle which was so fundamentally different than that of the Soviet people, were unrelatable and barely human in the eyes of the Party.

Given this narrative, it is of no surprise that in Romania, just like in the USSR, rock music was banned and any recording of an American rock song was considered contraband. Its owner could likely expect a visit by the secret police.

This is despite the fact that in the US many rock bands were considered left-leaning, some even communicating outright communist messages to their audiences. But the Romanian Communist Party would have none of it. In fact, the more left-leaning the band and the more they praised communism, the more the Party would hate it.

After the fall of the communist regime, we found out why the communists had this irrational hatred and bigotry for the foreign.

You see, the problem was not that the music would taint the mind of good communists living in the Eastern Bloc. The problem was that it humanized the foreigner. By showing that American people are capable of creating beautiful art, with sentiments that resonated with those living under the Iron Curtain, it would create a shared identity between the capitalist and the communist - the identity of a ‘rock fan’.

This would throw a wrench in the Communist Party’s efforts to try and demonize the American people, as it would allow a small spark of compassion to form in the minds of the people. They could start thinking that Americans, just like Europeans, where people as well. And thinking was something the Party could never allow.

It is an undeniable truth that similarities bring people together rather than pushing them apart. This is why many rulers throughout history have formed nations using various "shared identities". These could have been based on genetics (we are the descendants of the Dacians), religious (we are all Muslims), ideological (we are all communists) or geographical (we are all Americans). But regardless of what the shared identity is, it is pivotal in getting people to trust and be compassionate to one another, helping a neighbour be empathetic with other neighbours.

Today in many modern world nations these shared identities find themselves under relentless assault by ideologues, the media, and politicians. They are thus attacking the very fabric that keeps people together.

The United States is a great example of this. Throughout history, the people of Europe have been through much strife and outright warfare. Historical grievances have and still do plague the continent. There are different languages and traditions as well as different faiths, often outright hostile towards each other.

And yet, these people managed to come together under one roof, that of the United States. They collaborated with each other, even while a world war was raging in Europe. The key to success was a shared identity. A shared identity in language, culture, the Constitution of the US, the pledge of allegiance and even unique celebrations such as Thanksgiving.

Today, expecting an immigrant to learn English is racist, the Constitution is often considered to be just a piece of paper, the pledge of allegiance is oppressive, and you can find a plethora of articles from prestigious publications explaining why Thanksgiving is racist and, of course, evil holiday.

The shared identity is destroyed in favour of identity politics, which serve nothing but to segregate people back into tribes and to create conflict.

It seems that many corporations are aware that this is the goal. They use identity politics as a way to create union-busting techniques.

When the ideologue says something like "you can't talk about X because you're white/male/cis etc," they are actively saying that you as a human being are so fundamentally different than this other human being that you cannot even begin to grasp their lived experience.

When the ideologue says something like "if this comic had more female superheroes, more women would read it," they are saying that a woman cannot possibly relate to a male superhero, and as such, cannot empathise with a man.

A further example can be seen in the destruction of the ‘gamer identity’. During the Gamergate controversy, concentrated efforts were led by video game journalists to destroy the anonymous and yet unifying shared identity of a gamer. This was, yet again, done to create division and discord in a friendly and peaceful community with the sole purpose to divide and conquer.

This is why activists claim that ‘everything is political’ and that when you go on a knitting forum you will see discussions about ‘Drumpf’, immigration, and everything under the sun except for knitting.  This is due to the fact that no hobby can be left alone as any hobby that would be left alone would create a shared identity between the people using it. These people would realize that even though they are of different races, genders, or sexual orientation, you can still have the Trump supporter and the Biden supporter putting aside their differences and just knit.

The question has to be asked: why do the journalists, influencers and politicians really despise that picture?

A Romanian persecuted for trying to put smiles on people's faces.

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