Identity Politics

So I have been against identity politics forever, but have always been interested in how difficult it is to fully divest from them. It is almost impossible not to counter an identity politics claim with another identity politics claim, as in, "You think YOU are against identity politics? Well, if YOU, had MY experience, you would know just how terrible they are . . . " And so on.

As a member of no minority group with any cachet, I've always felt distanced from the idea of voting with group identity in mind. But recently, the housing complex where I live has been holding elections that present me with my first real urge ever to vote my identity.

I live in graduate student housing that is mixed single people and families, and I live near some households with small kids where the parents are pretty inconsiderate of their neighbors--lots of yelling, mostly, including in the early morning, and leaving their toys all over the place. Not really a big deal, but it affects my life enough that I notice there's a real difference in lifestyle. In the elections that are coming up, the candiates separate pretty cleanly into those with kids, who are advocating for more family-friendly use of resources, and those without.

The famililes have a tougher time economically than the single grad students, and also use the housing "community" services a lot more, so on the one hand, I should be considerate and vote to help those with the most need and the most investment--that's what my usual liberal impulse would be. But on the other hand, the services that families would most want are ones that I personally would have no use for, whereas there are some uses of the same resources that could actually benefit me. Further, I somehow feel resentful, like, they already have kids, what else do they want?