Identity Politics and Work
Americans spend too much time working on their identity and not enough time identifying meaningful work
Being obsessed with one’s self- identity is a cheap way of ignoring one’s own lack of life direction and achievement.
After all busy and accomplished people rarely spend time thinking about the tribal details of their personal history.
Rather successful people spend time doing not daydreaming.
That our current age, however, lionizes marginalized identities covers up the lack of technological, artistic, or economic progress made under our nation’s most “progressive” century (1920-2020).
And this is by design.
By redirecting so much of the public’s attention to thinking about tribal identities politicians, academics, and pundits can refuse to take blame for not working on more substantial issues.
In other words, identity politics allows the elite to take a socio-political vacation from doing substantial things so they can feed their gluttonous minds with fatty trivialities and fake substance while encouraging the masses to do the same.
All of this, then, is a diversion from where people truly find life satisfaction.
At work.
Work gives us meaning and direction that our identity doesn’t because identities don’t do great things. Great people do. And great people not only take pride in their work because it enriches them -- financially, physically, and existentially -- but because it enriches others.
Likewise work has the added benefit of bringing people together -- while a cultural emphasis on our own petty identities cuts us off from one another.
Thus to reignite the American’s people self-confidence and trust in others we must work -- and work on getting others to get over themselves and do the same.
Zigmund Reichenbach holds a M.A. in Philosophy from West Chester University. You can find him stirring up conversation in his Talk Politics Facebook group or you can follow him on Twitter @zreichenbach1. If you too want to talk politics subscribe to our Talk Politics YouTube to be notified when our discussion goes live every Wednesday at 8:30PM.