There is a paradox inherent to social activism, where the urge to create a world in which class, race, gender, disability, etc. are not painful ways of justifying prejudice requires distinguishing what makes different groups and experiences distinct from one another.
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There’s a common objection to such causes: these activists are attention whores who are fussing over nothing, and if they just shut up they would see that identity is not a big deal.
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I see this echoed in people’s well-meaning spiritual pleas to give up on identity and ego, which are sometimes redirected towards those engaging in “identity politics.” It seems that doing this would end much suffering.
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Trust me, I wish that my identity was not a issue and I wish I didn’t have to give a shit about it. It isn’t the most essential thing about me. When I let go of the ways I describe myself or others describe me, there is less suffering. And I keep working to relinquish such labels
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But telling other people to let go and that they are solely responsible for their own pain is a convenient excuse to not understand why society tries to convince them that their existence is a problem.
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End of conversation
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