More on Postmodernism

Still reading my book, but I have a few thoughts. Butler states that one of the primary beliefs of postmodernists is that "everything is political." This is to say that all forms of discourse (language or otherwise) inherently contain concepts that reflect the dominant power that shapes the discourse. Look, for example, at "scientific" beliefs in the 19th century that knew for an empirical fact that blacks were inferior to whites. This is only the most obvious example.

I have always had a problem with the idea that "everything is political," but not because I believe in some sort of higher rationalism or ultimate truth, but because I think it presupposes some erroneous things about the way we think. If I could amend that concept, I would change it to "everything has political implications."

For example, if I believe that "Asians tend to be shorter than Whites" then a postmodernist would immediately claim that this "truth" (but there are no disinterested "truths" in po-mo) simply reinforces the dominant discourse (whites are better). Fair enough, but I want to argue that this "truth" only becomes political if I act on it. If I simply believe that Asians are shorter, but never do anything as a result of that belief, then how can it be political? Perhaps the flaw in po-mo is that it supposes that language is political when in reality only actions are. But here is the million dollar question: can I believe something without acting on it?