Seems like all over the world identity politics exist for the rude thrills of identity politics. Identity is decoupled from need. And identity politics is tedious because the identities being politicked are voluntary ones, they can too easily be changed. Today we can instantly join digital ranks and summarily denounce Cecil Rhodes. There is a mismatch because Cecil Rhodes had way fewer options than we do today. So if we judge Cecil Rhodes, shouldn't we simply begin our interrogation considering he very well may have needed to be such and such a person, with such and such constraints, for he lived in such and such a time? Is that not a practical question? There are universal virtues, maybe, but surely identity changes over time.

You can't help but read Yiddishkeit and get a notion that everything about Yiddish was in a word practical. 

Yes, I too like practical identity. I'm always biased to valuing higher positive actions