Skip Navigation
47 comments

  • I feel like if your politics are the primary part of your identity you might be putting the cart before the horse a little. The way someone views the world and the actions they take as a result are clearly a very important part of their person, but IMO those things should exist on top of a more innate self that isn't determined by macro-scale social phenomena. Not having any other foundation except your political identity might be a problem when the left fails again and again, due to factors outside any individual within the left's control. It also might hinder your ability to organize effectively because doing nothing besides party work probably will cause you to slowly lose your mind.

    I do see a problem where, given the state of the world, for tons of people there is no horse to put before the cart anyway, and their political worldview might be the only thing that gives their life meaning.

    • I think this occurs for every revolutionary that makes the internal decision that they're willing to die for it and I actually don't think it should be discouraged if it's what it takes to win.

    • I do see a problem where, given the state of the world, for tons of people there is no horse to put before the cart anyway, and their political worldview might be the only thing that gives their life meaning.

      how did you put a mirror in your comment?

    • a more innate self that isn't determined by macro-scale social phenomena

      You think you just fell out of a coconut tree? You exist in the context of all in which you live and what came before you.

  • the personal is the political

    • Yes, but yes. I feel like when I was angstier or more unanchored I identified more primarily with my politcs but as I've clarified what I want to concretely do with my life and taken steps toward that, the specifics of how it manifests itself in the "discrete" aspects of identity are more of what I think about.. but ig on a zoomed out level I feel my politics should (?) be a main takeaway

      I think i'm just at a point in my life where I'm wrapping flesh around the political skeleton to make my identity stronger and be able to manifest the political in the ways that I can

      Sorry for the odd metaphor lol

    • Also thinking about how this applies to the average comfy global northerner (maybe need a better term) is depressing af but a good summary of treat culture

  • I'm not sure exactly what you mean by this? Like is it my priority in everything I do?

    Doing right by my wife and kids and also our siblings and their kids and partners and our non-alienated parents are my primary priorities, followed by minimizing the harm I do to those around me as I do the things necessary to survive in capitalism. The things I determine to be helpful for those goals are definitely determined by my politics though. Like I want my kids to grow up to be good people (and consider contributing to that to be a significant part of doing right by them), and my conception of a good person is informed by being a communist.

    I guess the answer is probably no- my primary identity is probably something like "middle-aged dad."

  • It's all pretty integrated.

    I have always been playful, and loved reading, exploring, all kinds of learning. Multiple moves and an emotionally repressive home environment during childhood, along with physical characteristics and some random fortune, made me a misfit. The culture that I internalized made me sympathize deeply with the wronged, the oppressed, the defenceless.

    Very little of what I was born with is composed into my identity. Almost all of it is what I've chosen, or rather, put together and accepted for myself. The biggest descriptor there is someone who feels pain from experiencing the world as it is- whose dreams are cast to the margins by the modes of dominant society.

    But I feel like this is right for me. I can trace what I was born into and my early memories, and square these with who and what I am today. Ever since I started calling myself an anarchist a handful of years ago, it felt more than ever like the world made sense, my place in the world made sense, and my path was clear. I don't put much credit in destiny or fate or any other metaphysical intention, but for lack of a better word for it, it feels like I've become who I was "meant" to be.

  • What exactly is a primary identity for the purposes of this question?

    • If you assign/could assign "lenses" (plural) to the ways you interpret life et al. is the one you usually use your political one? Definitely an underdeveloped question feel free to interpret it as you think is the most conducive for discussion

      • I think all the facets of my identity are intertwined in such a way that it's difficult to interpret my life with multiple distinct lenses as such.

        I think I still have some contradictions in my life which I see as more pressing or primary, or some facets of my identity that I spend more time thinking about than others, or facets of my identity that I might emphasize more in some situations or be more acutely aware of in other situations... But I don't think I could really rate those things on average, necessarily, and I think that's again because everything is so intertwined.

  • my primary identity is "being a creative scrimblo"

    "being a communist scrimblo" is just an emergent quality resulting from having the ability to remember things

  • i just casually drop lenin facts in my daily life but otherwise i'm not out there prothletising

    Facts:

    • Bearded
    • Bald
    • Berry Cute

  • i'm basically not political outside of this site or talking about very major events (like today) with friends. it's mostly because this is the only place where people have views that i agree with, talking about politics on the wider internet (or worse, irl) just leads to an argument with braindead people.

47 comments