Identity Politics: How All Your Identities Sway Your Vote

People throw out the term "identity politics" as a way to say that someone is wrong, but the truth is, it's something that affects the way all of us vote.

Hosted by: Anthony Brown
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[collbackk]

Great way to end the episode: “We can check to make sure our image of a candidate matches what they’ve said and done, rather than what we might have assumed about them because of our identities”

[NewMessage]

Ingrouping and outgrouping will kill us all.

[parmsib]

Huh yeah I WOULD be surprised if the driver that cut me off turned out to be a dog lol

[Erotemic]

In a nutshell: make sure you are aware of and consciously check your biases.

[ziqi]

Psychology 101 should be taught in all high schools...definitely helps with adulting.

[tristansuarez-perez]

Imma be honest, this was not at all the type of “identity politics” I was expecting

[videowatcher]

People are generally illogical, fall into logical fallacies, and are biased in many different ways. It takes conscious effort to perform critical thinking on the issues. I wish the video would take a clearer stance against falling into these traps and make clearer that these lines of reasoning and persuasive techniques are bad and we should be suspicious about the people who rely on these techniques to influence us

[shadowfox]

Can you do a video on anxiety and PTSD? Your videos on Depression and BPD have been great for showing my family by explaining it in ways I wouldnt be able to do, and it helps me better understand whats going on in my own head! Thank you so much!

[BrainsApplied]

Maybe we should prohibit political ads so that people actually have to do some research on who they should vote.

[YCCCm]

I've always used the terms "identity politics", "tribalism", etc to refer to people who just vote X every time, be it local or large, because it's their party. Those people kinda get my goat.

[bthrkay]

Don't read the comments.

EDIT: It's slightly better now.

[LePedant]

If I ever feel a type a way about something I know little about I always ask myself "Why do I feel this way?". Since I have started asking myself that, my choices hurt me less in the long run.

[gawayne]

When someone cuts me off in the freeway, "rude and thoughtless" are not exactly the words I use to describe them

[elisam.r.]

I find things like Ballotpedia and Vote Smart can help mitigate some of these identity-linked biases.

[mrdonetx]

I've never seen the term identity politics used to make an argument to the opponents illogical or bad decisions. I've always seen it used to point out those who would use people's identities as a grouping method pandering to them even if said pandering is at odds with the other groups they have formed. or to fearmonger about what one group will do to the other if you don't vote for said politician. That in turn causes you to have multiple groups with opposing goals or different ideas on how to reach common goals. Eventually the loudest group no matter how large or small starts implementing rules laws and goals for everyone else. All while building resentment and increased tensions between them. Because eventually someone's going to get what they want and other group's get nothing. You end up creating laws and enforcing laws that benefit one group and harms the other. It's completely untenable And more times than not leads to internal conflict within a region. It was one of the downfalls of Rome, It contributed to the Ottoman empire's demise and countless others. It's one of the main reasons our system of government is set up the way it is, to do its best to keep that from happening. And even as brilliant as those who set our system up I fear the lure of power over others is very strong and will soon be overwhelmed and eventually dismantled. Broad political ideas are the only thing that truly works. And in a society such as ours that professes equality and demands equality identity politics is the antithesis of equality.

[CaptainFSU]

Ernest Becker wrote on this topic in the 1970s before identity politics became a formalized study (Denial of Death (Pulitzer prize winner) and Escape from Evil) and his findings were both prescient and absolutely terrifying.

[combinor]

Anthony, that was a fascinating and enlightening presentation. I hadn't seen you before, yet thank you.

[wezul]

I research every candidate for every position and vote for the one that best aligns to my views. I never vote down party lines. Unfortunately I know many people who DO vote down party lines, or even genders! (I know someone who just votes for all the women. It's so gross.*) So anyway, given that it takes me a week to research my ballot, I guess I'm in the minority of voters? It probably also helps that I don't closely identify with any political party. It also may help that I have yet to actually see any candidate as being "like me" - Andrew Yang came closest (he seems like a nerd!) but I'm also atheist, a gamer, and a ferret parent, and nobody's running on those identities. ;)

*While I would indeed like to see more equal representation across genders in politics, I don't think gender identity should influence our votes. Voting for a woman because she's a woman is just as gross as voting for a man just because he's a man. This was one of the biggest turn offs from Hillary Clinton's campaign (even tho I still reluctantly voted for her) - there were women saying "If you're a woman and don't vote for HRC, you're a traitor." and I find that whole viewpoint DISGUSTING and regressive!!

[arturo_cruz]

Let's all pretend, that 2 main parties are any different from each other; in that they don't both serve the rich and powerful...

[mozismobile]

Would be interesting to see if there's a change as the number of candidates goes from large to ridiculous. The "tablecloth ballots" in Australian Senate elections, for example, with more than 100 options (you have to rank them, but sometimes only 8 or 10).