Basque philosopher Fernando Savater criticizes ethnic-totalitarian ideology (what Cinderellabloggerfeller) calls identity politics. I hope the Chinese note my italics:

For historical reasons, the borders and area of modern Spain are not those of 1,000 years ago and may be different again in 1,000 years� time. The same goes for the United States or anywhere else. But that doesn�t have anything to do with minorities. The world has about 200 countries and more than 5,000 languages, which means most countries contain many languages and ethnic groups....We all belong to minorities that are caricatured by others�to groups of enthusiasts, interest groups or religions. I belong to the minority of people who love horse-racing, but anthropologists don�t talk up for us and we�re not represented at the United Nations. The world is full of such groups, and there�s nothing wrong with that.

but:

I don�t think we need to crave difference or be horrified by similarity. Being different is not good in itself. Some differences are valuable and enriching and increase the joy of human existence, but others are terrible ancestral leftovers best forgotten as soon as possible. So slavery is different to an employment contract, but an employment contract is better and it would be silly for the sake of diversity to have some people with work contracts and others as slaves. I would like the whole world to be educated, have social security and give protection to children, pregnant women and old people.

His mention of social security is a disappointment to me; although he's opposed to identity politics, he still doesn't fully recognize that one of the strengths of capitalism is for people to take control of their financial destiny. And he doesn't really like capitalism:

It�s a pity that the world is becoming more uniform only in commercial terms, with speculative capital rushing back and forth, and not in desirable things like education and the defence of human rights.

A lot of us feel that "speculative capital" actually rewards those who do what people want. Anyway, in these days of diversity gone mad, it's nice to hear someone say:

Conservation of some oddity because �it�s always existed here��when in fact it�s a matter of four or five folklore experts, archaeologists or anthropologists conjuring up a historical identity that everyone then has to conform to�really doesn�t help at all....The whole history of humanity is a constant process of mixing. The greatness of the human species is precisely that we�re all a mixture of something. When the human race started in Africa, we were probably all black and identical, but bit by bit we became different, taking on various ethnicities, colours and sizes. Those multiple mixtures are the salt of the earth, and will be even more so in a century, when you�ll be able to travel and circle the world in just a few hours, or communicate through a computer at the other end of the planet.

And of course I love this:

You say education can also change things and describe it as �supreme anti-fatalism, the only way to free people from their fate.� Please explain.

Societies where education plays no part are stratified societies, in which each group is supposed to follow in the footsteps of its ancestors or the minority they belong to. The peasant�s son learns from his father how to till the fields, mothers exchange information about children and childbirth, and soldiers learn how to shoot arrows or ride horses because that is the destiny society has given them. Education, on the other hand, moulds open-minded humans who can fit any number of roles within society.