Idea o’ log y Ideology

Have you ever spent time with a young child? Whenever anything happens, they always have a question. After the normal “who, what, when, where” they always have a “why.” And they never stop asking. They’re like the seagulls in Finding Nemo: “Why? Why? Why?” Why am I bringing up the incessant questioning of children? Because, just as it is the suffering for babysitters everywhere, it can also become the bane of any debate or discussion between groups of people. Just ask the opposing side why they believe something. Ask them again, and again, and again. Eventually, the interrogation will come to a point where the other side can’t answer. Congratulations! You have just discovered their ideology, their system of ideas and ideals, or more basically, their core beliefs.
I was talking to a friend last Monday, and the subject of ideology was brought up. At some earlier time, we had discussed capital punishment while on our way to Chipotle (the subject had come up because of some morally questionable things my Dungeons and Dragons character was going to do. And yes, I play D&D. I know, I lost some cool points. I’ll live). After sharing our views, of which we sort of agreed, and at the very least we were respectful of each other’s, we came to the conclusion that, even when if we agree, not everyone will. I didn’t know at the time, but we discovered that our beliefs on capital punishment came from our ideologies. Back to last Monday. I had shared with him what ideologies were, and he pointed out that what we had been talking about was a prime example of thinking with them. It was amazing to me to see that I had talked so openly about something, and not realize that what I was saying was qualified by my basic beliefs, my intrinsic values. How often must people overlook these aspects, when they can be the defining character of how we act in a situation? As such, I am now planning on sharing my primary beliefs with all of you, in hopes that my life can be an example, and possibly help you find out what your ideology is.

When people think ideology, politics is what usually comes to mind, so I guess I’ll start there, and we’ll use to discover my core beliefs. I would definitely consider myself to be conservative in my politics, but highly independent when it comes to party affiliation. I think the government should stay out of other people’s business as much as it can, and that it really only needs to have minimal responsibilities to be successful in operation. Libertarians are possibly the closest group I would ally with, but I do not believe that their form of governance is effective. It lacks any good form of collective action. What is really needed is a strong leader. If I’m being perfectly honest, I would most likely support a modern form of feudalism. Go ahead, burn me at the stake. Now, why do I have this political leaning? I would have to answer that it comes from three things: My strong sense of freedom, equality, and justice.
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f you are using the Merriam-Webster definition, I would be a feminist. In this sense, feminism is defined as: “the belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities.” I am all for this definition, and the thought behind it. The key part of it is the word “equal.” I have a firm belief that all people, no matter their gender or race, should be treated equally. Not live equally, but all humans deserve a common respect from others. It’s a very simple concept, at least in my mind. With all people being equal, that means I want all people to be free, to make choices and live with their consequences. I in essence want people to be able to do what they want to do. It sounds like I support anarchy, doesn’t it. I can’t harmonize that, however, with my desire for justice. If people do something wrong, commit some sort of transgression, a punishment should be expected. If you kill or steal from someone else, you shouldn’t be surprised if you get arrested and have some severe punishment (fitting for the crime, of course). That’s simply just. All these concepts, by the way, stem from the fact that I am a Christian, and I probably wouldn’t hold these views if it weren’t for the fact that God supports them. But that is a discussion for another time.