Vera Verba

Q: You often talk about collective identities like they’re bad things. Don’t we all belong to collective identities? French, German, male or female, athletic or non-athletic, and so on?

A: Before I get all the way into this, note a crucial word, “belong.” It is sometimes used in ways that can create confusion.

Now, it is certainly true that we can all be seen as members of various groups, so let me be a bit more specific. The issues here are self-identification and the grouping of ideas.

By self-identification I mean this: You were born in a certain place. Let’s presume for this example that you were born in Canada. You can see yourself as either:

“A person who happened to be born in Canada”

or

“A Canadian”

Notice the self-definition implicit in these two statements. The first leaves your individuality unblemished. The second demotes you to being a part in a big machine.

Are you an individual, or a member of a collective?

This matters a great deal in terms of the grouping of ideas. If I am “A Canadian,” then I probably feel like I should accept “Canadian” ideas. In actual practice, people who self-identify this way will tend to accept any idea that can be convincingly packaged underneath the tag, “Canadian.”

This is a fundamental error. We should not accept any idea, based on tags or groupings. Each idea stands on its own, and each individual should conceive of him/herself as an independent unit, regardless of shared characteristics.

Finally, back to belonging: Do you actually belong to a group, or do you merely share some characteristics with certain other people?

The difference is crucial.