Would you say that you have a political identity?

There only seem to be three shades of political identity- left, right and centre. Obviously there are shades in the shades 😎 but essentially there are only three in essence.

In most places red suggests leftist, from the assumption that it is best represented in the Red Army of Communist Russia 🇷🇺 and its empire which was the Soviet Union.

Blue, the Right leaning of political ideology, also has a black blue from more nationalist views. The Right tend to be more conservative and small state oriented.

Yellow has been seen as a Centrist ideology, but they often bleach with other colours and there are more confused ideologies who say they are green.

This page is a permanent link to the reply below and its nested replies. See all post replies »

hartfire · 61-69

I suppose I normally identify as Green and small-L liberal.
But loving Vipassana meditation and Buddhist teachings, I also see "Identity" or "Ego" as a trap.

We need an identity, a name, and a sense of self in order to function well in our society and relationships:
to be able to recognise
that others don't necessarily feel, think, need or want the same as we do,
may not react in the same ways,
and to be able to learn insight, empathy and responsability.

The trap is when we start thinking we ARE our thoughts, beliefs, values, preferences, roles, etc.
These might seem fixed if they stay with us for long periods, but in reality, none of these are fixed. We change over time. For most of us, there's enough overlap to create the sensation of being still the same person - yet who can recognise the old person from their photo as a baby?

Ego and identity can become such a huge trigger for feeling offended by insults and for angry reactions. Ego can be a source of neurosis and staying stauck in the past, or limited by societal expectations.