When I was twelve, I was really into the St. Louis Cardinals. They were “My Team” even though I knew almost nothing about them or baseball. It didn’t stop me from identifying with them. I needed a team and I picked one. I was really into them.

There are lots of problems with the term “identity” politics. I don’t use that term. I usually say that our current political factions have more to do with identity issues than policy. What I mean by identity issues is this: if your answer to the Delphic maxim “Know Thyself” has the intellectual depth of a marketing slogan, you missed the point. Post modern life has made group identity a quagmire. Many folks solve the conundrum by grasping at straws. That’s a mistake. While the foreclosure strategy seems to work, it really leads to psychological stagnation and alienation.

There are lots of identities that I find revolting. Lately, the folks talking about “Western Civilization” are the ones that make me crazy. I listened to Peter King, R-NY, defend some dumb-ass comment he made. It is clear to me that Peter King knows as much about the history of “Western Civilization” as I know about the St. Louis Cardinals.

I’m not hopeful. I’ve lost my trust in the wisdom of the yeoman farmer. All I see and hear are financial illiterates arguing about trade policy and people who barely passed high school social studies pontificating about geo-politics.

Call me an elitist if you want, but I find no commonality with many of my countrymen. If the guy who wrote you is white, then I’m not white. I don’t know what the fuck I am, but I’m not that.

Don’t worry about me, I can figure out the rest on my own.