Some liberal Democrats are begging their fellow progressive Democrats to give up on identity politics. Gun control was always an integral part of the left’s identity game, so, if the left gives up on identity politics they might shelve gun control right along with it.
The debate the left is having with itself right now is whether or not they should change tactics. Check out this article which highlights the intra-party identity politics fight by comparing essays by Mark Lilla and Alexander Fury: (by Kevin D. Williamson over at National Review )
[quote_box_center]Lilla’s understandably Europhilic column does not grapple with the demographic facts — that Switzerland is full of Swiss people and Mississippi isn’t — but his prescription for liberal reform is the right one, one that certainly would please conservatives even if it made no impression on the Left, which does not have very many liberals anymore. A liberal education system, Lilla writes, would acquaint students with the structures and dynamics of American government and prepare them for the duties of citizenship. A liberal press would take more than an “anthropological interest in the angry white male” and “would begin educating itself about parts of the country that have been ignored, and about what matters there, especially religion.” (Learning the elementary facts about firearms would be something, too.) The most interesting and insightful part of Lilla’s essay is his argument that the right-leaning rural and small-town Americans are not in fact revolting against the fact of American diversity but against the “omnipresent rhetoric of identity, which is what they mean by ‘political correctness.’” That is exactly right[/quote_box_center]
Wow, if only all liberals had Mark Lilla’s insight, they might stop with the political correctness and identity politics.
When you think about it, gun control propaganda usually targets two groups: women (who are less likely to own guns) and inner-city residents (who experience lot’s of gun violence but have little opportunity for recreational activities with guns). Gun control fits perfectly into the present day identity political dynamic for the left. But, what if the left heeds the advice of liberals like Mark Lilla?
I don’t think anyone is suggesting that Democrat’s will give up on gun control completely, but the type of gun policies and the rhetoric that surrounds gun issues will change drastically if liberals can convince the Cultural Marxism loving progressives that it’s time to give up on the identity politics game.
It’s a long shot that the left changes in any substantive way, but here’s to hoping!