Holy shit, Krad fucking nails it in their new zine, The Box of Doom.
I totally agree with all of this; it’s why I refuse to give a single little fucking shit about your identity politics. Yes, I see color. But if you aren’t more than your color, or your gender, or your nationality, or your religion, or your class, then what are you? If you are nothing but your identities, are you even a human being? Or are you nothing but a miserable little pile of labels?
I previously touched on some of these themes in 2021 when I wrote “The Wrong Kind of Diversity”. Your diversity will be punished unless it can be exploited. Why? Because no lives matter.
On a related note, “No Lives Matter” by Body Count digs into this a bit deeper. This is why I think the only valid identity is class. It’s the rich against the rest of us; they don’t give a fuck if you’re black, white, male, female, cis, trans, nonbinary, gay, straight, young, old, indigenous, Christian, Muslim, disabled, able-bodied, liberal, conservative, neurotypical, or neurodivergent. When it comes to the poor, no lives matter.
We say that “Black Lives Matter”
Well truthfully they really never have
No one ever really gave a fuck
Just read your bullshit history books
But honestly it ain’t just black
It’s yellow, it’s brown, it’s red
It’s anyone who ain’t got cash
Poor whites that they call trashThey can’t, fuck with us
Once they realize we’re all on the same side
They can’t, split us up
And let them prosper off the divideDon’t fall for the bait and switch
Racism is real, but not it
They fuck whoever can’t fight back
But now we gotta change all that
The people have had enough
Right now, it’s them against us
This shit is ugly to the core
When it comes to the poor
NO LIVES MATTER
Here’s the thing: I can pass for a straight white neurotypical cisgender heterosexual Christian man. I’m not any of these things, but you do not necessarily see any of that; I have learned that flying false colors means smoother sailing.
Flying my true colors where I live still isn’t safe. I still occasionally get hassled by people merely for having long hair. One would argue that I should “be authentic” (at least, somebody else’s idea of authentic) for the sake of those who cannot pass, but I regard people who make this argument as people who don’t see me as a person with my own needs, desires, and concerns. Such people see me as nothing but a means to their ends.
I face enough exploitation at my day job. Why should I tolerate more for your idea of a good cause? I am not your ally, and if you don’t understand why I’d suggest you start with a mirror. You’re no friend of mine, you’re not on my side, and I need not ask what you’ve done for me lately. If I ever strike my false colors, it will not be to fly your rainbow flag.
In the meantime, when I am finally ready to live my truth in public, I will live it under Jolly Roger because I don’t need your community. It was never there for me, so don’t expect me to be there for it.
Before you castigate me for my stance, ask yourself this: what if your identity is just another silly hat? What has your identity done for you that you should devote yourself to it or others who seem to wear the same silly hat?
After all, remember what Krad said about identities demanding a kind of factional loyalty. Should I be loyal to other white people because I look white? Be careful what you wish for; identity politics was originally a right-wing tool, even if some leftists tried to adapt it for their own use, and you should be grateful to those who reject it and prefer instead to focus on universals.
We’re all human, and we all have inalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness by virtue of our common humanity. Get away from that and you play into the hands of those who would rule you and see you extinct because you aren’t just like them. Remember that the fundamental tenet of conservativism is that law and custom should protect the in-group without binding it, and bind the out-group without protecting it.