What bad ideas do

Spoiler - they cause harm

My child,

I know that for years your schools have been teaching, both subtly and overtly, bad ideas. One of them is called intersectionality. You know, the concept that unless the intersection of your lived experiences and/or identities cover some particular topic, well, you can't speak to that topic.

On the surface it might feel hard to argue against. Afterall, me being a dad, how I can write about what is good or bad for a mom? I don't have that experience nor do I claim that identity. But is that a reasonable conclusion?

What really happens with intersectionality is a stifling of thought, speech, liberty. I've seen how writers and actors and other artists get denied opportunity because the intersection of their real life identities don't match closely enough to the material or role they'd like to work on. For example, if I wanted to write a book about motherhood, well, who am I to have a valid opinion let alone applicable knowledge on that topic? I can't be qualified through study and research, only through my identity.

No big deal though, right? There are plenty of other things I can do with my life. That's true, but as society moves down this road, we stop learning. We stop debating ideas on their merit, but instead we're assessing if the bringer of the idea is even worthy of thinking, let alone sharing their perspective.

"You can't comment on the experience of poor people, you've never been poor. Or not poor enough."

You can imagine where this goes, I'm sure. It's not pretty. In fact, recently in one of our western states, a new law has been proposed for the State Sex Offender Policy Board, (a committee formed to determine the conviction and release for sexual offenders) that it should require both victims of sex offenses as well as convicted sex offenders to serve on the board.