The American Identity Crisis
- Tisha Sinha
- Jan 18
- 3 min read
As students of the American education system, we are constantly asked the infamous question: “Who are you?”— a question tied deeply to identity. Whether it be for gruesome college applications or trivial first-day class icebreakers— our insistent focus on this question has extended beyond its initial means of genuine self-discovery and instead used as a conduit to instigate differences and divides within society. So, what happens when “identity” knows no limits? As new social categories like “transage” and “transabled” have come to rise, it becomes incredibly urgent to dissect and understand trans ideology causes and far-reaching consequences in the lead-up to reconsidering our fixation on identity rather than censoring it.
Left-wing liberal ideals are rooted in social equality and empowerment, advocating for marginalized groups that are left dismissed by conservative resistance. With democratic pillars at its core, an extent of liberalism is necessary for a collectively strong society. Interestingly enough, left-wing ideals— the very principle of popular sovereignty that once underpinned our country’s historic political preeminence, are also a culprit in America’s identity crisis. Left-wing extremism is at the forefront of liberal implementation, often reiterating objective truth as hate or oppression, a phenomenon sometimes called “cancel culture.” This culture restricts and oversimplifies necessary conversations and concords with elements of science and rationality whilst bringing unwavering support to the creation of more societal categories, especially those associated with trans ideology. Once merely the terminology for gender identity, “trans” has been coined as the justification for complete identity reinvention, irrespective of objective scientific and moral rationality.
The consequences of trans ideology are nothing less than blatant: Jewel Shuping, a fully-abled woman from North Carolina who identified as blind, poured drain cleaner into her eyes to disable herself. Emile Ratelband, born on March 11, 1949, petitioned the court to change his birth certificate to be born in 1969 instead because he identified as twenty years younger. But liberal acceptance and encouragement of these forms of trans ideology are not limited to simply the realm of identity; instead, it steers factually nonsensical peril towards individuals. If someone identifies as limbless, why can’t they cut off their arms and legs? If someone identifies as dead, why can’t they commit suicide? If a grown man identifies as a little girl, why can’t he play with other girls at a playground? And especially in America, liberalist and trans ideologies are more pervasively taught to our youth before they know how to read, such that identity is embedded into school curriculums and culture, including preschools— where does this end?
Although liberalism is an unignorable facet of the success of American democracy, it must be moderated, as virtually everything should. Our fixation on identity, pointedly trans ideology and its detriments, necessitates a call to action: to make out a limit amidst identity's foggy bounds, we require the hand and pen of rationality to draw that line. This means canceling “cancel culture” because the irreversible, traumatic, and fatal harms of not bridging the gap between objective truth and liberalism demands it. Censorship and apprehension surrounding this topic cannot help the amassing individuals falling victim to the aforementioned harms. By placing “identity” on a pedestal, we’ve obscured the questions about individual meaning and responsibility, which are vital for personal progression and true fulfillment. To address this, we must shift our focus toward purpose— rephrasing the infamous question to something much more constructive: “What is your purpose?”
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