Hi everyone. Today I am answering Jewish Young Professional’s Provocative question. The question is whether it is possible to create a society or community that is all-inclusive of everyone.
Like most other people, I think a society that truly meets everyone’s needs, isn’t possible. After all, some people’s human needs clash with other people’s human needs.
Then there is the complicating factor that not everyone wants to include everyone else. How do we deal as a society with exclusionary people? Racists, homophobes, transphobes, ableists, etc.? In intersectional feminist spaces, it’s clear: these get an instaban. But then, is the society still inclusive of everyone? I mean I for one, belonging to quite a few marginalized groups and being an ally to others, don’t care that racists, homophobes, transphobes, ableists, etc. would get a one-way ticket to the moon if they act out their exclusionary nonsense. But then society would be inclusive of them only as long as these people shut up. And I don’t mind privileged people shutting up, honestly, but that’s not the question. The question was not whether we could create a society that centers marginalized people, but a society that’s inclusive of everyone.
JYP also asked about religion and politics. Well, there’ve been too many wars based on religion and political disagreements for me to believe a truly inclusive society in this respect is possible either. In short, no, an all-inclusive society is really an illusion.
This doesn’t mean we can’t create a more inclusive society. We have, after all, still a long way to go before even thinking that our society comes close to including everyone. And, of course, I’m referring to my society, a modern, high-income country. Even here, disabled people, LGBTQ+ people, people of color, Muslims, women even, are still regularly being excluded. To claim that everyone is accepted these days, is an incorrect statement, and usually one used to silence the marginalized person one is speaking to.
In short, a truly all-inclusive society isn’t possible, but that doesn’t mean we can’t strive for a more inclusive society. And, in my opinion, we should strive for that.
A Multitude of Musings 
Believing in equality and sincerely meaning it helps. We can learn. We HAVE to learn if we want to have a society that works for most people. We’ll never achieve perfection, but we needed be our worst selves either.
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Yes, true. Perfection is an illusion, but that doesn’t mean we can’t or shouldn’t improve society.
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Need not be …
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I think you bring up a good point about redefining the goal away from perfection and focusing on improvement. Because a truly inclusive society isn’t feasible by definition, then what should the “more inclusive than what we have today” look like and how do we get there – arguably this is the more relevant question.
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Yes, good point. I guess the answer to that question unfortunately depends on the individual asking the question. For example, if a traditional Christian, Jew or Muslim asked the question, the LGBTQ+ community would come later on the list (if it were on the list at all) of people to be included than if a non-religious queer person asked the question, and if that person asked the question, religious inclusion would be pushed farther down the list.
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