Somehow, the West has gotten into a real twist about identity, especially that of minorities. Identity is being used to undermine equality and liberty in the name of justice for minorities. Minority group identity is used as a weapon against the alleged privileges of the majority. As a consequence, common humanity and individual freedoms are being undermined. More insidiously, merit is being undermined.

Much of the work on behalf of minorities, built on their group characteristics, comes after they have succeeded. Liberalism was their friend. It may have taken longer than others, e.g. white working-class people, to succeed, but they got there or are well underway. New tricks are not helping anyone except the elite of the said minority trying to capture more of the spoils.

For example, the University of Technology Sydney announced in 2018 that it intended to build a national First Nations College. Fortunately, it has not progressed too far, with the 2018 announcement boasting that it would open in 2023 unfulfilled. It is a pity that Monash University had no Working Class College when I attended in the 1970s. Imagine how I could have avoided those middle-class private school wankers by hanging around with grunters from my old suburb. Well, those that made it to university.

It is true that other identities, such as Catholics and Anglicans, built university colleges, but they mostly raised their own money and had a deep history of scholarship. There are women’s colleges, but these, like single-sex schools, are fading, although there remain debatable reasons to keep the sexes apart during formative and sexually very active years.

The idea of the UTS college is to help ‘forge a more inclusive society’. What, by separating one race from others? Mind you, race is a bit of a stretch. The students who would likely attend would be from the suburbs or probably the children of intermarried parents; in other words, they are highly integrated – think Noel Pearson, Marcia Langton, Megan Davis, Larissa Behrendt, et al.. Judging from the burgeoning faculty that claims Aboriginal heritage, the ‘race’ race, for university, has been over for some time. Only slightly slower than for working class students.

What about TAFE? Aboriginal and working class students are not so successful as a group at university, but those who are bright can and do make it. That is the point. Others may not want to attend, preferring to follow in their parent’s footsteps, where TAFE beckons and practical skills, less susceptible to identity propaganda, are available. Even a Labor prime minister has woken up to free fees for TAFE.

University of Technology Sydney (UTS) also boasts its purpose is ‘to remove the real and perceived barriers that prevent Indigenous participation in higher education and the broader economy’. They made it to university on merit, didn’t they? The rest is up to them, or should be, unless they are to be cosseted forever. The fear of segregated colleges (UTS says they will allow some non-indigenous students) is that they discourage integration and shun inclusion.

According to Helen Pluckrose and James Lindsay’s Social (In)justice: Why Many Popular Answers to Important Questions of Race, Gender, and Identity Are Wrong – and How to Know What’s Right: A Reader-Friendly Remix of Cynical Theories identity politics emerged in the 1960s within the broader manifestation of post-modernism. Post-modernism emerged in academia as a philosophy that questioned everything. Post-modern philosophy is so sceptical that it does not believe in objective truth or knowledge. Post-modernism believes everything, even knowledge, is corrupted by politics and political power. It opened the door to identity as a powerful tool to undermine common humanity, individual freedom, and merit.

A more prosaic explanation of identity politics is that of Yascha Mounk’s The Identity Trap. He explains that the left was lured by collective action against the majority, where, despite the triumph of liberalism, minorities were marginalised. The minorities only had to wait; liberalism was their saviour. Actions such as a First Nations College come after the triumph of liberalism. It is an attempt by successful Aborigines to capture more power and glory undeservedly.

The antidote to the evils of post-modernism and identity politics is, of course, liberalism; it is their saviour. Pluckrose appeals to secularism’s principle: ‘In a secular society, no one should be punished for rejecting religion or any other ideology.’ In other words, stop the cancel culture gig. The former President of Harvard University, professor Gay, resigned because she was the culmination of cancel culture. When pressed by a Congressional committee on virulent anti-Israel protests on her campus, she defended the cancel mob. Simple direct questions from a single Republican representative outed her.

Mounk recommends that leaders cultivate a spirit of tolerance of ideas; for example, when racist accusations are made, he recommends not disciplining anyone until the facts are clear. That seems obvious, but the rush to judgment fuels the fire. Let the heat die and ensure proper processes to hear matters in the cool light of day. Don’t let craven editors and the X (Twitter) mob be the judge. Gay was forced out not because she wanted to let things settle before acting against anti-Semitic hate speech but because she was in a vanguard that selected students on race and brooked no demur from those in the hate speech camp.

Essentially, there are no ‘identity’ ideas, just ideas. Joining in this crusade for liberalism, our group, Close the Gap Research, is working to uncover one of the engine rooms of the identity industry as it materialises in Aboriginal politics. We are reviewing the qualifications of professors who claim Aboriginal heritage. We are also analysing reconciliation action plans where organisations profess to do good but often reinforce separate identities and undervalue the contribution of people as employees: workers. Now, there’s an old-fashioned idea.