Excellent article, Joe!

You talked about the collectivism around blacks:

"Consider the more confusing case of 'black society' or 'black Americans' or 'African-Americans'. It is possible to simply talk about the fact that some people have "black" skin color, but instead they are treated as members of a group or collective. Instead of claiming the achievements of members of their race, they tend to focus on the crimes perpetuated again members of their race. They have "spokesmen" for their collective. They are expected to share certain values. They are expected to vote the same way. When a black person disagrees with their politics, they are said to be betraying their race. And they are expected to have allegiance to other members. They've been asked to vote not guilty in criminal cases on the principle that too many black people are sent to jail, as just one example."

I'm thinking about how Socialists start out with basic collectivism, and they break it down as an on-going revolution between collectively defined groups - workers and capitalists.  Then along comes Progressivism and uses the idea of conflicting groups to create "Identity Politics".

Then look at the tactics where they use race as a political identity group.  They want to get blacks to vote as a block.  To do that they need them 1.) to think alike on political issues, and 2.) to be strongly motivated to vote Progressive on those issues.  They need a set of what they call "Wedge Issues" - issues in the current political scene that will act like a wedge between the races - separating them not just along racial lines, but in a way that is powerfully motivating for black voters.

They spread the meme that government agencies, particularly the legal system, is full of racism.  Then it gets amplified and concentrated as "Cops are hunting down and killing young, unarmed black men."  Then progressives take the position that they will stop this, that they will pass laws to protect blacks from a racist justice system.

They encourage the "Black Lives Matters" organization even after the group chants death to cops on multiple occasions.  Then when there are black individuals who go out and asassinate white cops, the progressives still can't help themselves from continuing to milk the wedge issue to maximize the collectivist, racist identity politics black vote.

How tightly and cynically can ironies be packed into one set of poliitical issues?  Using outraged cries of racism (even where there is none) to encourage angry feelings of victimhood and fear.  Then to offer to be the only one who can fix this problem.  Then when members of the race become so collective in their viewpoint, and so enraged over the false charges that they kill people of the other race, the progressives are seeing it as success and pushing it harder.  "Vote for Hillary or cops will hunt down and kill your young black men."

Isn't that how politics works as a principle?

Well, imagine an area on a political spectrum - and inside of this part of the spectrum people can vote.  There are different parts of this area - in one, they can vote to have the government give them stuff, in an adjacent area, you can vote, but it is for who will be the strongman.  When you move away from this whole vote section, in one direction, you get pure totalitarianism and no vote (unless it is a shame).  If you move away from the vote section in the opposite direction, there is still voting, but only for representatives and they can only look after individual rights ("Make property, liberty, life a nonnegotiable guarantee, abolish legal theft")

That is where we are right now... in the voting section that is about voting for stuff and for privileges and for my group, not yours.  But it can easily become a vote for a strongman.  The direction we appear to be heading is towards the vote becoming a sham.  The direction we want to go, the other direction, doesn't seem to have a strong player or significant force that is trying to move things in its direction.