Identity Politics is Post-Modernism + the Lebanonization of the Whole Country
Communism is Soviet power + the electrification of the whole country. — Vladimir Lenin
Identity politics, even the one aimed at peaceful coexistence, is not new: Lebanon tried it and failed. The National Pact of 1943 stated that
[t]here always be a ratio of 6:5 in favor of Christians to Muslims and Druze in the Lebanese Parliament.
Did someone say apartheid? Oops, sorry, you are only allowed to say that about one country.
Anyway, we know what happened next:
The generally poorer Muslim population has increased faster than the richer Christians. Additionally, the Christians were emigrating in large numbers, further eroding their only marginal population edge, and it soon became clear that Christians wielded a disproportionate amount of power. As years passed without a new census, dissatisfaction with the government structure and sectarian rifts increased, eventually sparking the Lebanese Civil War [of 1975-1990]1.
150,000 people died, 100,000 were permanently handicapped by injuries, and 900,000 displaced.
If an identity-based distribution of power failed in a binary setting of Lebanon, what should one expect from the 1056-node-strong four-dimensional intersectionality hyper-matrix in our woods? They are already feeding off themselves. Examples include:
Descendants of the American slaves already want “anyone who migrated here and appears to have black or ‘brown” ancestry,’ … white women, people with disabilities, immigrants, and now people who are LGBTQIA+” to be off the affirmative action wagon.
LGB already wants a divorce from TQI+, as it is “horrified at the growing push to introduce gender ideology to children and vulnerable teenagers.”
Los Angeles politics already transpired to be cracked along the Latino vs. African-American front lines.
And for a local, UMass Boston flavor: The war between the wise rich white opportunists (our Chancellor of color) and the naive middle-class equally white revolutionaries (our relentless Comrade) has been raging for years.
We are still all equal on paper; but no longer in reality. The 60% of the qualified but disqualified Asian-American university applicants can attest to the “no longer” bit. The new constitution is around the corner, short of being codified… with the “codified” thingy already in the air.
But, but, but… can we… maybe… keep the old-fashioned, Enlightened
not … by the color of their skin
instead, can’t we? Can we all be friends?!
As the main result of the war, the Christian to Muslim+Druze ratio in the Parliament became 1:1.