Re:Made in China, Exported to the World: The Surveillance State
by mindslight on Wednesday April 24, 2019 @02:30PM
(#19741404)
That is appealing to the concept of "freedom" to advocate for a specific goal, not advocating for the wider concept in general. Paraphrasing, what you've basically said is "movement based on [its members being not subject to] violence, [its members not being subject to] discrimination, and [ability to have the state facilitate its members] to marry. I agree that any reasonable person should agree with the first two, and at least cede the third under the current system - but specific non-prohibited actions have little to do with freedom itself!
The point is that this movement has been based around advocating for specific proclivities to be overtly accepted into wider society, rather than a general concept of freedom for everyone to live and let live.
If the only reason one is at odds with society is because of their sexual orientation, the two have the same effect. And for sure, positive-identity collective action is needed to organize to push back against the wrongs of anti-identity oppression.
But over time, these groups calcify and become prescriptive. For anyone that is otherwise marginalized, the two framings are drastically different. Which is why this identity politics then splinters into a million different group narratives - because it's ultimately based on emphasizing people's differences and tweaking top-down models in service of new "majorities" (quorums within subcultures, really).
I don't expect to get this across well, precisely for the same reason we're in the political bind we're in - most people can't fathom simply not meddling with others because they are extroverts and don't understand not being meddled with! But dictating other's personal choices is what each of these political teams has ultimately become fashioned around - essentially just bikeshedding over base bodily functions. From my perspective, whether you're insisting that I think a certain way due to the age old space ghost or a reformist political movement, you're still trying to force me into adopting an overprescriptive model.
(Likewise marijuana is being generally deillegalized, but the state continues on restricting the general freedom to alter one's consciousness. Getting to choose between specific state sanctioned options is not freedom!)
The point is that this movement has been based around advocating for specific proclivities to be overtly accepted into wider society, rather than a general concept of freedom for everyone to live and let live.
If the only reason one is at odds with society is because of their sexual orientation, the two have the same effect. And for sure, positive-identity collective action is needed to organize to push back against the wrongs of anti-identity oppression.
But over time, these groups calcify and become prescriptive. For anyone that is otherwise marginalized, the two framings are drastically different. Which is why this identity politics then splinters into a million different group narratives - because it's ultimately based on emphasizing people's differences and tweaking top-down models in service of new "majorities" (quorums within subcultures, really).
I don't expect to get this across well, precisely for the same reason we're in the political bind we're in - most people can't fathom simply not meddling with others because they are extroverts and don't understand not being meddled with! But dictating other's personal choices is what each of these political teams has ultimately become fashioned around - essentially just bikeshedding over base bodily functions. From my perspective, whether you're insisting that I think a certain way due to the age old space ghost or a reformist political movement, you're still trying to force me into adopting an overprescriptive model.
(Likewise marijuana is being generally deillegalized, but the state continues on restricting the general freedom to alter one's consciousness. Getting to choose between specific state sanctioned options is not freedom!)