Politically I'm liberal.
Personally I'm probably a conservative.
mostly, though, i think anybody who ties themselves down to a single ideology is deluding themself. every ideology embraces an impossible ideal.
I agree. The primary issue is that if the ideology becomes the most important thing, then you're not actually paying attention to the actual reality around you. All that matters is this thing that's taken possession of you, it holds you and limits your openness and thoughtfulness. It prevents you from actually thinking critically about the world around you, and those that simply hold different views aren't just other individuals - they become the enemy.
Some examples of ideologies:
- All women are oppressed because of the patriarchy.
- The only reason people want to put any limit on any firearm individuals may possess, ever, is for the eventual confiscation of all firearms.
- If you just abolished government entirely and left everything up to the free market, the world would be perfect.
- Corporations and the greedy rich are the cause of poverty - if we can get their wealth spread around some, everyone will be better off.
It's worth noting that, to different extents, all of these are true, somewhat, but also somewhat false. All of these kinds of ideologies tend to have some core idea, way down underneath all the exterior crap, that probably has at least some truth to it. But it becomes corrupted and perverse, and quickly you have a single answer for everything.
Why are women oppressed? The Patriarchy. Why is there a rape culture? The Patriarchy. Why do women earn less than men (they don't, but facts also aren't allowed to get in the way of an ideology) - The Patriarchy. It becomes too simple. Not all of life's woes are caused by any singular thing. And that's only counting the actual woes that exist. Fictional ones caused by bad research by individuals with agendas (or simply poor scientists) quickly cause misinformation and further drive the ideology, even when it's empirically false, like the alleged wage gap or the "2 in 5 women will be raped in college" statistic.
These are obviously and blatantly false when you take an objective look at what we actually know, but the numbers continue to be repeated and used regardless. And should anyone have the gall to question these ideas, that maybe there's something else going on, maybe we don't actually know as much as we think we know? You're turned on by the pack of wolves that are those possessed by the ideology to the point where they can't actually objectively consider any other viewpoint.
It's extremely dangerous. And easy as hell to fall into. One has to guard themselves against it.
> mostly, though, i think anybody who ties themselves down to a single ideology is deluding themself. every ideology embraces an impossible ideal.
I agree. The primary issue is that if the ideology becomes the most important thing, then you're not actually paying attention to the actual reality around you. All that matters is this thing that's taken possession of you, it holds you and limits your openness and thoughtfulness. It prevents you from actually thinking critically about the world around you, and those that simply hold different views aren't just other individuals - they become the enemy.
Some examples of ideologies:
- All women are oppressed because of the patriarchy.
- The _only_ reason people want to put _any_ limit on _any_ firearm individuals may possess, _ever_, is for the eventual confiscation of all firearms.
- If you just abolished government entirely and left everything up to the free market, the world would be perfect.
- Corporations and the greedy rich are the cause of poverty - if we can get their wealth spread around some, everyone will be better off.
It's worth noting that, to different extents, all of these are true, somewhat, but also somewhat false. All of these kinds of ideologies tend to have some core idea, way down underneath all the exterior crap, that probably has at least some truth to it. But it becomes corrupted and perverse, and quickly you have a single answer for everything.
Why are women oppressed? _The Patriarchy_. Why is there a rape culture? _The Patriarchy_. Why do women earn less than men (they don't, but facts also aren't allowed to get in the way of an ideology) - _The Patriarchy_. It becomes too simple. Not all of life's woes are caused by any singular thing. And that's only counting the actual woes that exist. Fictional ones caused by bad research by individuals with agendas (or simply poor scientists) quickly cause misinformation and further drive the ideology, even when it's empirically false, like the alleged wage gap or the "2 in 5 women will be raped in college" statistic.
These are obviously and blatantly false when you take an objective look at what we actually know, but the numbers continue to be repeated and used regardless. And should anyone have the gall to question these ideas, that maybe there's something else going on, maybe we don't actually know as much as we think we know? You're turned on by the pack of wolves that are those possessed by the ideology to the point where they can't actually objectively consider any other viewpoint.
It's extremely dangerous. And easy as hell to fall into. One has to guard themselves against it.
like it looks like everybody else here, i hold mostly libertarian ideals - though by no means entirely - both personally and politically. i tend to be extremely liberal in social issues/socially and extremely conservative in matters of state/self. mostly, though, i think anybody who ties themselves down to a single ideology is deluding themself. every ideology embraces an impossible ideal.