In one sense, the reduction of politics to “culture wars” has never made less sense.
And that redistribution is shifting power in the direction of the least honest, most bigoted and most authoritarian social forces on the political right. That is, in even the most realpolitik of terms, the struggle being waged has real-world effects on redistribution of social and political power.
The idea that concrete, “material” issues ought to mean a narrow focus on jobs and the economy – and not, say, uteruses – seems hard to justify.Įven the most hard-nosed materialist, ought to notice that decisions about school curricula determine whose values are listened to, and whose aren’t. It couldn’t be clearer, then, that the view of “culture wars” as purely distractions from “real”political struggle is seriously mistaken. Perhaps most dramatically, the recent leak from the supreme court suggests that the court may strike down Roe v Wade, a critical blow against the bodily autonomy of women, trans men and non-binary people with uteruses (even more legislation aiming at uncomplicating this sentence will surely be forthcoming). Meanwhile, Alabama and Texas have criminalized care for trans youth. Florida legislators may have a problem articulating the reasons for banning the books, but they have banned 40% of math books anyway. The standard bearers of the opposition to critical race theory have had a tough time saying what it even is that they oppose, and Florida textbook reviewers assigned with rooting out CRT from math textbooks didn’t fare much better.īut this vagueness on the side of justification is paired with a frightening clarity of tactical purpose on the side of action. The details have always been squishy in the particulars: defending constitutional analysis of the “original intent” of the slaveowners of yesteryear has long been difficult to take seriously on the intellectual merits. It’s right to note, as detractors of the “culture wars” have, that something is dishonest about these battles.
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