"And identifying yourself as what it already draws itself in contrast to (any marked group), plays into the way it creates its power. It will tolerate those marked groups the whole time it oppresses them."
The above is where we disagree. I'm not saying that you're not right. I have often wanted their to just not be race, or for everyone to be mixed. It's a nice idea. I'm saying you're not being realistic, and in the mean time, objecting to marking yourself has as many negative psychological repercussions as being angry about it, not to mention that I don't think people will ever stop marking themselves. So you have this wonderful long-term goal, but it's never going to happen, and in the meanwhile, your short-term requirements are impossible to meet and detrimental to the human soul. That is how I see it. I don't know how you can be outspoken about who you are - and yes, what ethnic group you belong to - without marking yourself. And I don't know how you're going to accomplish telling people they are not allowed to mark themselves ethnically. Realistically, that is.
The best way to do it in terms of elections is by doing cross-cutting cleavages and forcing moderate ethnic parties to cooperate. That has tended to work in terms of keeping radical politics out of power and keeping violence low, but does it mean that in everyday interactions India and Malaysia are free from ethnic hierarchies? I doubt it. Still, it's something. People not dying in ethnic riots is something. And I think in terms of political results, not everyday results. I feel like the everyday stuff is just something you have to deal with, because that's what it was like in Indonesia - it's the institutionalized stuff in legal books that I worry about, and that stuff is a lot easier to fix.
no subject
The above is where we disagree. I'm not saying that you're not right. I have often wanted their to just not be race, or for everyone to be mixed. It's a nice idea. I'm saying you're not being realistic, and in the mean time, objecting to marking yourself has as many negative psychological repercussions as being angry about it, not to mention that I don't think people will ever stop marking themselves. So you have this wonderful long-term goal, but it's never going to happen, and in the meanwhile, your short-term requirements are impossible to meet and detrimental to the human soul. That is how I see it. I don't know how you can be outspoken about who you are - and yes, what ethnic group you belong to - without marking yourself. And I don't know how you're going to accomplish telling people they are not allowed to mark themselves ethnically. Realistically, that is.
The best way to do it in terms of elections is by doing cross-cutting cleavages and forcing moderate ethnic parties to cooperate. That has tended to work in terms of keeping radical politics out of power and keeping violence low, but does it mean that in everyday interactions India and Malaysia are free from ethnic hierarchies? I doubt it. Still, it's something. People not dying in ethnic riots is something. And I think in terms of political results, not everyday results. I feel like the everyday stuff is just something you have to deal with, because that's what it was like in Indonesia - it's the institutionalized stuff in legal books that I worry about, and that stuff is a lot easier to fix.