I think that a population of idealists within a culture is almost constant. It is constant, there is a slight downturn, and then there is a push from an opposing force. Examples of this can be found throughout history and in modern times. Take the Beat movement in the 50s, the hippie movement in the 60s or the punk movement in the 70s. All of these subcultures that appear in society are a representation of a greater historical trend in human culture.
Rome can be used again to draw a parallel here. Julius Caesar, and a lot of his contemporaries in Rome, had grown tired of the ruling class. They had grown tired of traditional Roman values to a certain extent, and started to behave in ways that would have been unthinkable only 20-30 years before. Caesar was considered to be the most fashionable Roman alive within a circle of young Romans, and whatever he wore, others would start to emulate in the years to come. There is a name for these people. They were called the Populares, and strove to fight for certain liberal laws to be entered into force in Rome.
Do you think there have been cases where idealists opposing the status quo of a culture/society attract more like minded idealists and end up forming their own culture?
That is exactly what the Populares were, and that is exactly what happens in modern society now. Sometimes it is a good thing, sometimes it is a bad thing. All of them have different forms too, most of our popular ones today probably have something to do with music, though not all of them.
I would argue that we are currently in the middle of one of these shifts right now. The EU referendum and the US election are both signs of a political shift in the western world.
What might a culture much higher in idealism look like?
Greece. When it comes down to it, Greece was the most idealistic culture that has ever existed. Those Populares that I was just rambling about acquired a lot of their ideas from Greek writers.
If we're talking about a culture that could emerge in the future, I would suggest it would be primarily based around the use of technology. Subcultures centered around technology have only appeared fairly recently, and have already managed to work their way into our pop culture. Technology is progressing at such a ridiculous rate, it is going to end up being the catalyst for another cultural shift. I think it already has done that in a lot of ways, the cultural effect that things like the internet have had globally will not be fully recognised for a very long time.
Without delving too much into speculation about future technology, I think it is plausible to guess that at the current rate of technological advancement, a lot of problems that currently exist in the world are going to disappear at some point. What happens when nobody is starving? Or if we no longer use currencies or monetary systems? It is impossible to know what that will do to our culture because the last time that happened, we were all living in small tribes.
It's neat to see that same story played out in other rags to riches periods of history.
It seems to me that the story, while demonstrating the change of ideals of a culture, almost demonstrates the lack of ideals at the same time. I.e. the pragmatists saw that getting rich via mercantilism was as good as familial breeding, so switched what they believed in. Though I suppose that characterizes idealists as unable or unwilling to change their beliefs, which is probably untrue. (Says the self described idealist who changes beliefs and opinions :)
I think I need to reformulate my idea of what an idealist actually is. In general, I see them as unwilling to compromise their beliefs for gain. But they can also change their beliefs. There is some fine distinction that I can't think of between an idealist who changes his beliefs and a pragmatist who compromises his ideals. Maybe only a wishful distinction.
Enough on that for now.
Your example seems to indicate that you think the population of idealists is likely constant in a culture, and I think similarly. There is probably some genetics that play a role in making some percent tend toward idealism and I imagine lots of psychosocial factors doing the same. So I think it probable that a culture over time tends toward the baseline level of idealism.
Do you think there have been cases where idealists opposing the status quo of a culture/society attract more like minded idealists and end up forming their own culture? What might a culture much higher in idealism look like?