Truth Bomb by OVD : Juneteenth, platitudes, identity politics and policy

Happy Juneteenth everyone,

  This holiday represents the last slaves in Texas finally finding out they were freed from slavery. A worthy holiday. It will bring attention to the horrors of slavery while white supremist's  try and block teaching about it in schools. This is a good thing. But it's not near enough. it's mostly a platitude to the Black community. 

  What are platitudes and Identity politics? How are the used? What are the benefits and failures?

Platitudes are gestures aimed at showing a group of people you noticed or care about their situation. They don't change things much in real life. they aren't policy. Examples : naming schools, creating holidays, wearing a black lives matter shirt.

Identity politics are when you use a person(s) to fill a roll to show you notice and care about a group of people. Again this isn't policy and doesn't change much in real life. Example naming a female of color as your VP even though her policies are against the same groups and she couldn't even win her own state in the primary(zero delegates). I'm not picking on the VP...there are many others. she's just an easy example. 

  Platitudes and Identity politics are used to make a group of marginalized people think you are on their side and have their interests in mind. Used to gain votes mostly. This is a way to get those votes without enacting policy that actually helps these folks. 

  The Democrats are a great example of this. They use people to check boxes and show "they care" "they are changing things" without actually doing anything. Nothing changes...just the faces screwing us. It doesn't matter what sex, color, religion or preference a politician is if they still work for the 1% and fight against the changes we need. The only good that comes from it is that it may inspire others that normally wouldn't run for office to do so. That's it. 

  Policies and passing actual laws it what changes things. Lets take Medicare for all (Universal healthcare) for example. If passed it would save the nation trillions of dollars and save/prolong millions of lives. It would take a huge financial burden off of businesses. It would save people from shitty jobs as they can now leave without losing healthcare coverage. It would drastically save money on drugs and medical equipment as the nation would be buying in mass and have serious leverage. It would ensure all area's in the nation have proper personnel and  facilities(Rural America is seriously lacking). So why hasn't it been done yet...easy answer corruption. Insurance companies and big Pharma bribe politicians  through "campaign donations" to keep things as they are. 

  If they really cared about a marginalized group...lets take Black Americans as an example. they would pass policies that would help them. Like a national data base of violent or racist law enforcement to ensure they couldn't be rehired by other departments. The could give reparations. The could enact policies to close the wealth gap. The could make voting very easy and a protected right for all Americans. The could kill the Filibuster that was created to stop progress and sure up white supremacy.

  So please be aware of the differences and don't fall for these tricks. If they aren't pushing and delivering policies that help...they are just scamming your votes. 

Happy Juneteenth and Semper fi

-Otto Von Danger