Voting with the epidermis

Skin gets mentions (of course), but rarely do I see the ‘epidermis’ feature outwith the professional literature. But here — with the late Christopher Hitchens’ phrase — it does.

Identity politics can bring a more thoroughgoing fragmentation. In a country as diverse as the US, the number of ethnic groups — to take just that form of identity — will always exceed the number of social classes. To vote, as Christopher Hitchens once put it, “with the epidermis”, is to invite an endless subdivision of the electorate. And this does not even reckon with the criss-crossing variables of sex, sexual preference, religion and language.

Time for America to embrace the class struggle | Financial Times

Direct URL for this post.