The rise of prescriptive ideology has undermined democracy by trying to tell people how they should think based on their political identities.
In other words, ideologies have replaced common sense.
If you adhere to a certain philosophy or ethos, or if you identify with a social group – political, religious, or otherwise – then you are expected to hold the beliefs of that group as sacred, regardless of any evidence to the contrary.
The same goes for personal ideologies.
If, for example, you believe that the invisible hand of the market is all-knowing and all-powerful, then you will accept all evidence that supports your belief and reject that which does not.
Ideology was supposed to identify beliefs that bring together groups of people, but it has begun to divide us instead.
In a world where ideologies define us, adherents to these ideologies will dig in their heels and refuse to budge on their positions.
This is the collapse of democracy.
One should never be restricted by one’s ideology; rather, one’s ideology should be constantly shifting and being redefined.
We are conditioned by our so-called ideologies to believe things that we might not necessarily believe on our own.
Consider climate change.
If you are a so-called “conservative”, you are more likely to deny the effects of climate change than if you are a “liberal”.
Why is that?
It’s not because “liberals” are more scientifically-minded or because “conservatives” are naturally more skeptical.
It is because “liberals” have championed climate change and laid claim to it as a liberal issue; therefore, it is a sociological phenomenon that “conservatives” are more likely to be skeptical of climate change than “liberals”, simply because it is considered to be a “liberal” issue.
We are predisposed to certain mindsets because of the societal pressures of our so-called ideologies.
It is a sociological phenomenon, not a political one.
When we allow our political, social, and even ethical views to be shaped by an ideology, we lose our ability to think for ourselves.
And in a political climate where it is becoming impossible to differentiate between what is true and what is not, what we need more than ever is a generation of people who can think for themselves.
In my next post, I will be sharing how fear is being used by politicos in order to manipulate the public.