An eloquent and deeply considered critique of a disturbing contemporary trend

I was introduced to this text by a Sam Harris podcast where Yascha Mounck was the guest. Both Sam and Yascha self describe as liberals, whose politics lie to the left of centre. Like them, I am distressed by the ideological excesses of identity politics. The categorisation of individuals by external labels united only by their historical oppression by a bland oversimplified class of individuals (white, European, male) without regard to the historical contexts in which oppression occurred (and continues to occur) is a denial of the reality of progress. In an era when barriers to self actualisation and true individualism are progressively attenuating, and the promise of people being truly able to be themselves actually seems possible, an academic class born of this liberal tradition seem intent on trapping people into arbitrary categories with predetermined scripts and beliefs. That the majority of adherents to what Mounck describes as the identity synthesis are indeed white and European smacks of self-loathing. The best excuse for their denial of self legitimacy is guilt for their cultural history. Surely the path to freedom of identity and personal fulfilment is to continue on the magnificent path to political and moral equality which we have been striding since the enlightenment. Yes, our distant history is loathsome, but our modern history is admirable and our future promises to be wonderful. The identity synthesis is indeed a trap, easily ensnaring those without a sense of historical progress, those who woke up finding they were not in utopia and whose only response is to dismantle the whole culture.

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An attempt to critique that fell flat

Yascha Mounk creates a monolithic global ideology he calls the Identity Synthesis and then proceeds to tear it down in favogur of liberal democracy. On its own terms he makes some interesting points. However the ideology he attacks is not actually a unified monolith, with substantial differences between several competing political positions. In fact many of the people applying equity policies consider themselves to be classic liberals. In the end I wasn’t convinced

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