What strikes me with the US is that they can be very progressive on some issues (e.g. lgbt rights), yet totally backward on others (torture, death penalty, mass incarceration and so on...).
I disagree. I think we had torture so that a President could look tough on National Security as a re-election strategy. Not-torturing people and "identity politics" are not mutually exclusive, there is no reason that we couldn't have both. "Identity politics" is fundamentally about human liberty and the dignity of the individual, a.k.a. individualism, which is also the same moral foundation that most arguments against torture rest on. Advancing the rights of the individual advances the case against torture.
Is it no wonder that the police in USA murder black people, when the state also does so?
If you say they put X above Y, I feel like you should quantify that with something.
Today’s left are more right than yesterday’s right.
That said, at the local and house level there is an increase in left candidates getting elected. We'll see where that goes.
On what grounds? AOC, like Sanders, advocates for centrist policies like those in the UK. AOC is a left leaning centrist. The rhetoric in the US does label her and Sanders extreme left but that’s evidence in favour of my point - there is no left in the USA.
Who is the USA’s version of John McDonnell telling us all that there’s a lot to learn from Das Kapital?
GP is rightfully pointing out that political discourse is far often centered on identity politics to the exclusion of more important topics such as human rights.
No one is saying that one precludes the other except you.
1. Until June 16, 2020, that you could be fired for being gay or transgender. And that's not even a blanket ruling, as religious institutions in the US are basically exempt from the Civil Rights Act protections.
2. It's still illegal to use one bathroom or another as a transgender person depending on which state you're in.
3. Transgender people are not allowed in the US military.
The list goes on, that's just kinda off the top of my head.
[1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_rights_in_the_European_Un...
Additionally, some of the hormone blocking drugs can cause bone loss (presenting a real physical risk).
Obviously, this has innumerable risks in a military environment from an objective standpoint. In fact, even post-transition, suicidal ideation is still orders of magnitude higher than average.
You pass basic training just the same so half your arguments are null right there. If you can’t pass basic training they don’t care what’s between your legs, you’re going home.
Do you think basic training is enough to identify the risks associated with the bone density loss seen in some clinical transgender treatments? My understanding is that problems associated with that side effect could manifest at any time.
All the research we have on this says it's caused by the presence of transphobia, and isn't intrinsic to being trans.