Ignore the real enemy, guys. Mhm.
Dude.....what?
This is a good conversation going...at least I am enjoying it.
Ever heard the phrase "Know thyself"?
And I personally think these are distractions. Race, social class, gender. These make is OH SO EASY to divide us into factions. We're far stronger united, and people can argue about whos the most specialest snowflake after we're safe from tyranny. After we've won.
True and true. But conversations, debates, blowing off steam is necessary. It's like someone with PTSD, they can't just get up and walk away, they have to work through it, understand themselves in a different light, then move forward. Same with intergeneration-cultural PTSD. Gotta work through it. The fact that bigotry still exists, that so many are afraid to talk about it, and that even fewer can sit down and debate points, should be a sign that more work on ourselves needs to be done.
And second, such discussions often point to the root of certain problems, and give clues as to how to remedy them...something that avoidance and denial would ....deny you the chance of ascertaining.
Take the civil rights movement- do you know much about it? They didn't just spring up ready to resist. They underwent serious community bonding, training, reflection, etc, to prepare them for resistance. Those that spring up willy nilly are just as quickly put back down, re-divided, and silenced. Those that take the time to share ideas, share experiences, and heal as a group do much better.
So if you want to fight a war with a large unattended wound in your belly, see how long you'll last. Uniting against a common enemy is an incredibly delicate, and unstable, operation. Uniting with a common vision is far more powerful and long lasting.
Think of it like this, if the elite or whatnot have a common vision they will always be more powerful as long as we don't. We can unite against an enemy and be repeatedly thwarted, growing more and more frustrated with one another, or we can unite for a common vision and emerge victorious. We need discussion, we need exchange, and we need respect for one another. Calling someone else's hardship a distraction can be seen as offensive, and be far more divisive than lending an ear.