Dear Editor,

Major newspapers in Jamaica have decided to follow the international left-wing media by focusing on identity politics and feminist propaganda. Left-wing analysis has its place, but contemporary leftist ideologues do not seek to propose a viable economic alternative.

Economic critiques of capitalism have failed to garner mass-based support for socialism. Therefore, left-wing identitarians have sought to undermine capitalism through the promotion of identity politics.

Under free market capitalism equality of outcomes and representational diversity are not fair assumptions. People have different skills, interests and resources, so it is not logical to expect that all groups will be equally represented in every field.

Arguing that identity trumps class is an efficient way to redistribute resources along cultural lines. When identitarians notice disparities among groups, they immediately identify capitalism as the natural cause. Inter-group differences in culture, family structure and ideology never appear in the analyses of identitarians. Diversity initiatives, therefore, emerge as a strategy to correct disparities.

Because of this prevailing ideology in North America, institutions have to prove their enlightened status by ensuring that minority groups are sufficiently represented. Criticising the utility of diversity programmes is objectionable and usually results in the critic being publicly shamed.

It does not matter that empirical data support his views, any opposition to identity politics has to be censored. By eradicating dissent identitarians can ensure that all minds think alike, thus further cementing their power.

Yet the irony of this is that the beneficiaries of identity politics are not poor minorities, but rather non-white, middle-class professionals and women who form no part of a minority group. Intellectuals who feel entitled to political and economic power use identity politics for their advancement. These individuals have sophisticated conversations about Judith Butler and being ‘woked’ to the detriment of their poorer counterparts who have been misled.

Contrary to public opinion identitarians are not radicals, none of them would leave their bourgeoisie lifestyle to set up communes or refrain from listening to the best classical musicians like Bach and Beethoven. The present debates on gender equality, identity, and now race are nothing but distractions that serve no function in Jamaica.

Lipton Matthews

lo_matthews@yahoo.com