“The Abstract Nakedness of Being Human”; or More Zany Misadventures in Identity Politics

“The conception of human rights, based upon the assumed existence of a human being as such, broke down at the very moment when those who professed to believe in it were for the first time confronted with people who had indeed lost all other qualities and specific relationships — except that they were still human. The world found nothing sacred in the abstract nakedness of being human.” (Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 1951)

Tough white guys Sean Hannity (extreme right) with then-Texas Gov. Rick Perry on the Texas border, 2014. (Photo: Tweeted by Sean Hannity)

The same people who complain most passionately against “identity politics” will be the first to demand strong borders.

One particularly common thread among the grievances of authoritarian leaders around the world is the idea of purity, beyond basic rights of national self-determination.

Last fall, Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko created a refugee crisis by distributing Belarusian visas in the Middle East, allowing migrants into Belarus, encouraging them to move westward over the border and into European Union member nations like Poland, Lithuania and Latvia. “It is the EU as a whole that is being challenged,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said. “This is not a migration crisis. This is the attempt of an authoritarian regime to try to destabilize its democratic neighbors.” The EU had…