Identity politics

      Every human being is unique.  However, we all can be classified and grouped based on our personal demographic traits.  You may be similar to other people based on many factors, such as:  your race, ethnicity, religion, age, gender, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, marital status, professional credentials, family origins, health, body-fat ratio, political lean, attractiveness, and many others.  Likewise, it is very natural for each of us to feel an attachment to other people who may be similar to us, perhaps using some of the demographic traits listed above.   

      (Here's mine, in case you're interested:  male, white American-Cajun, married, heterosexual, Christian, 60-something, middle class, graduate degree, healthy but with crummy eyesight, libertarian.  Oh, and very good-looking!)

      Again, there's nothing in the world wrong with bonding and grouping with others similar to me.  It's all perfectly natural.  Likewise, when we see someone within our own demographic group being treated badly simply BECAUSE of his/her demographic group, we feel a very personal, vicarious hurt.  Hey, I'm a victim, too!

      And this is how identity politics comes to be.  It starts when one of our fellow group-members suffers.  The "suffering" could run the gamut from being insulted, to losing a job (or not even getting hired), to outright violence, and everything in between.  So people turn to the government, and convince the governing authorities to DO SOMETHING so that we and our fellow group-members will never have to endure demographic-related suffering again!

      My faithful readers already know where I am going with:  There are many flaws with demographic group identity politics.  This has become an issue of late, with the US Supreme Court preparing to rule on LGBTQ employment-related law. 

      Let us back up a bit and start with the most serious of the offenses listed above:  violence against people because of their group demographic.

      Violence and theft have ALWAYS been against the law, and always will be.  Even if it is not a crime in every corner of the word, it certainly is a crime everywhere in the USA, where a murder conviction will get the perp the maximum sentencing allowed.  Yet there are advocates for so-called "hate crimes".

      Why do people feel a need to take something that is already a crime and ... make it against the law?  Answer:  it's just a useless manifestation of identity politics, which requires the government to analyze and identify the demographic groups of all of us.  When one worships government, there's no such thing as too much government or too many laws.

      Here are the facts:  Violence is violence is violence is violence.   The Declaration of Independence correctly states that "all men are created equal".  That means that ALL people have a God-given right to be free of from the initiation of force, coercion, theft, and fraud against life and property.  Protecting people and property thusly is the one and only legitimate function of government, and protecting ALL means just that: ALL PEOPLE.  Demographic grouping is not relevant here.

      Furthermore, "hate crimes" imply that attacking someone from some other reason is not so bad.  Example:  the bad guy simply WANTS THEIR MONEY.  Baloney!  A robbery victim is just as dead or hurt as the victim of a "hate crime".  In fact, a robbery is probably WORSE because then the bad guy takes your money.

      And now let us address the not-quite-so-serious "crime" of discrimination against people based on their group demographic.  Let me state right up front that I have nothing personal against LGBTQs.  I have many friends who are so, and even one of my own children is in a same-sex relationship.  Frankly, I don't care one smidgeon who you love or what you do in the privacy of your home.  You are an adult, and you make your own decisions and run your own life.  I judge people on the quality of their character.  Martin Luther King would be proud of me.

      But there is a big problem when LGBTQs - or any other demographic - goes crying to the government to recognize them as a group and grant them special privileges.  I addressed this phenomena in my article the right to say "No".  

      Like it or not, so-called "discrimination" is nothing more than one exercising one's right to say "No".   Yeah it sucks if you apply for a job and don't get hired, or had a job and got fired.  You might have reason to believe that it was BECAUSE of your LGBTQ status or some other demographic trait.  But employers, just like us all, have a right to say "No".  The last thing we need is to have a lawyer and a bureaucrat looking over the shoulder of every business-person in the land, ready to over-rule their decisions and take legal action if he/she says "No".

      So how do we prevent businesses from discrimination against people because of their demographic identity?  This is NOT a job for government.  Do not jump to the conclusion that this occurs because the government is too small, too weak, doesn't have enough laws, and doesn't prosecute and imprison enough people. 

      No, the answer is to realize that the free market works, if you let it.  The desire to earn a PROFIT is a very, very strong motivator, and smart businesses understand that the best way to make a lot of it is to hire the best people.  Let me state that again:  hire the BEST people.  One more time, in case you missed it:  get the BEST people.  Notice that I didn't say that they should seek to hire black or brown or green or straight or gay or Christians or Atheists or males or females or good-looking or ugly people or anything.  No.  I said that successful businesses seek to hire, and keep, the BEST people.

      Ditto for selecting customers.  SMART businesses make more profit by serving anybody and everybody.  Not-so-smart businesses turn away potential customers for the wrong reasons.  Let the market reward the smart ones and weed out the others.  Here, as in so many other situations, the conclusion is the same:  big (or bigger) government is the problem, not the solution.