Modern liberalism is simply identity politics

The Conservative Mama points out another instance of liberal identity politics on prominent display by Senator Barbara Boxer. And of course there's the current issue of the nomination to the Supreme Court of Justice Sotomayor, who appears to have a penchant for reverse discrimination (i.e. discrimination) also pointing out the same set of ideals or game plans.


So why are liberals this deeply involved in identity politics? Is it because they truly think that they are helping the downtrodden or is it a matter of political calculation? That's a chicken and egg discussion, but there's no denying that it's something liberal-leaning politicians attempt to use to their advantage - either by suggesting that those who disagree are socially wrong (a la Boxer) or just calculating the number of special interest groups that they need to cobble together for political victory.

The sad reality is that after 50 years of a welfare experiment, in the wealthiest country in the history of the world, there are still millions at or below the poverty line. What does that say to liberals? We need more - we haven't done enough. What it says to rational people is that maybe the method being applied isn't working. Maybe it doesn't work. Maybe there's a different approach we should consider?

In the coming weeks I'm going to be taking a look at the Law of Unintended Consequences - this is one area that liberal socialists need to take a long hard look in the mirror and start to face the reality of their actions. Otherwise we might be forced to come to the conclusion that they already know that their policies don't work. They might already know that their policies in some cases, in fact work in quite the opposite direction of their stated goals. And if they know that already, then maybe the liberal democrats, backed by an oddly high percentage of the wealthy, are the ones who are really against equality, opportunity and freedom and are actually interested in preserving the status quo.

Something to think about.