LET'S ALL GO TO WIGAN PIER.

The freak magnet is still with us.  "I've never fully understood how every sort of exotic preference somehow attaches itself, or gets itself attached, to Marxian thinking."

"Progressives Won’t Help the Working Class by Abandoning Marginalized Groups" does little to enlighten me.

Working class is as much an identity as gender, religious affiliation, immigrant status, place, race, and ethnicity. All of us hold multiple identities. But in the political context, “identity politics” is often a dog whistle for Black and brown communities or members of the LGBTQIA+ community. Political leaders and pundits’ calls to deprioritize communities of color and marginalized groups distort the nation’s power dynamic and risk sidelining voices working to build a more equitable society. Such takes also pretend the far-right offers credible solutions to pressing economic issues while minimizing the critical role progressives play in challenging the systems that drive economic inequality. Any critique of movement or “identity politics” without a power analysis misses the forest for the trees.

That passage does a pretty good job illustrating why critical theory is not Marxian.  "Working class" means alienated from ownership of the means of production.  The populist right never lacks for opportunities to produce white folks with normal sexual appetites who get privilege-shamed in order to "prioritize" those holding more Oppression Olympics medals.  That "power analysis" (I'm using "power" to mean "the ability to direct the action of others," which can mean at the point of a gun, on pain of your job, or by the trading of cash or favors) elides the very real power the human resources department has over an employee's promotion, or Student Affairs has over your Permanent Record.

These columnists had something else in mind, which might disaggregate the sources of an individual's ability to direct the action of others.

Last month, Demos released its Power Scorecard, a data-driven tool that tests our core theory: Political and economic power are inextricably linked, and one is predictive of the other. The tool ranks and measures people power in all 50 states (called a power score) by examining 30 indicators of economic well-being and 30 indicators of civic and democratic vitality. Some economic measures include the percentage of households that can cover everyday costs, avoid debt, maintain stable housing, and access affordable childcare. Measures of civic vitality include voter turnout, percentage of unopposed elections, ease of voting, and descriptive representation in government.

Our findings shed light on how conditions in each state influence the agency and control ordinary people exert in our democracy and economy. Common threads among the highest-ranked states include lower rates of child poverty and incarceration, less concentrated poverty, a greater percentage of workers represented by unions, higher voter turnout rates, and more state checks on corporate contributions to political candidates.

There is no link (good work, Common Dreams) to this Dēmos publication let alone to whatever discussion papers underpin its construction.  We're dealing with a lobbying organization, quite possibly one of those non-governmental organizations that relies heavily on government funding, and its data and interpretation ought be evaluated accordingly.  "With a vision to build a just, inclusive multiracial democracy and economy, Dēmos works to build power with and for Black and brown communities through research, policy analysis, and strategic partnerships with state-based and grassroots organizations."  Accordingly, those findings ought be understood as policy advocacy.

We could not disaggregate data by race for all indicators, but a limited analysis reveals “identity groups” are most disempowered in all states. This is not surprising, and it’s precisely why progressive activists advocate for bold, structural changes such as living wages, access to healthcare as a human right, expanded labor rights and protections, and policies to curb corporate power. And yes, they also call for political leaders to address racial and gender inequalities. Movement activism is rooted in the understanding that economic disparity, systemic racism, and gender inequality are interconnected problems requiring interconnected solutions.

It's nyekulturny to suggest that schools that don't teach or ward-heeler politicians who base their campaigns on the continued misery of their constituents or soft-on-crime prosecutors or a general absence of bourgeois norms might have some effect on that agency.  It's easier, though, to blame the continued misery Dēmos types hope to fix on The System.

Culture wars are a divisive political tactic, not an economic policy solution.

To put a finer point on it, average incomes will not increase as more corporations shut down their DEI offices. Housing will not be more affordable due to mass deportation. Grocery prices will not decline due to state legislation banning transgender people from public bathrooms. And tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations will not and have never trickled down to ordinary people.

Black and brown communities bear a disproportionate share of economic hardship, from unaffordable housing and inflationary pressure on consumer goods to exploitative labor practices. There are historical and ongoing systemic reasons for this disparity—a historical record that the far-right is actively trying to erase with book bans and factually diluted K-12 curriculums.

Bourgeois norms might do more to raise individual incomes, and that might push up the average.  If you want cheaper housing, build more houses.  If you want cheaper food, raise more food.  We're talking about zoning codes and land use, which have nothing to do with identity politics.  And yes, let us tell the story of sundown suburbs and snob zoning truthfully, and yet let us recognize that a new birth of freedom might be more productive than the intersectional political economy.

Progressive leaders must reject false choices rooted in the idea that social and economic advancement is a zero-sum game or that working-class people must spar over scraps while all the spoils go to the elite few. Instead, they should amplify the voices of those actively challenging systems that sustain social injustice and vast economic inequality.

Your vanguardism is your error.  Deconstruct that.