Quote Originally Posted by LDAHL View Post
I think perhaps the best part of this country's history has been the process of breaking out of the tribal mindset as various waves of immigrants arrived and learned to think of themselves as Americans rather than Puritans, Irishmen, Southerners or anything else. I think you can feed the sense of belonging and mutual support through family or any number of voluntary associations, rather than some sort of identity you're born with and can't escape. We are a nation of mongrels, and should take pride in that.

While we haven't reached the Hutu and Tutsi stage yet, we're already seeing the destructive nature of identity politics here as we sort ourselves into increasingly granular categories and push various grievances.
To some extent I definitely agree with you. As I said, I don't think an "identity straitjacket" is a good thing at all. But I believe that a sense of group acceptance - a small group, maybe 30-100 people at most, a group of familiar faces - is essential to the formation of character of a fresh, defenseless little human. You have to know the faces. Once a group is so big that it's no longer about individual people but about some larger identity, it's not necessarily a good thing ... at any rate, it's not the thing that makes a baby a secure and sane individual. I also think that knowing there is a trodden path ahead of you - an identity, if you will - is stabilizing, even if you should choose a different path entirely.

In my perfect world, there would be tribal understanding that in our evolving world, a baby might grow up to be anyone. Might be a gymnast, might be a lawyer, might be a stay at home Dad, might be gay, might be just another ordinary schmoe. I would vote for acceptance of their chosen identity, their individuality, as well as acceptance and welcoming of their unformed new presence.