Issue 248 Ad-hoc ideology January 13, 2014

Have you ever thought of why you sometimes sympathize with another ideologies or political party’s point of view? Well there is a reason for that. That reason is because ideology for the majority of people does not really exist.

What is ideology: Ideology is a lot like religion. It has a dogma and set rules. Institutions also exist to maintain a form of ideological purity by drowning out or suppressing other newer ideas. Thankfully, most people do not relegate themselves to a particular ideology. Best example is the constant battle of politics in the United States with the Republicans and Democrats. Large portions of the American population choose one party for simple reasons such as there family was a life long member of a particular party (my family is typically Democrat by this tradition). However, people do not vote for a party label such as Democrat and Republican in the United States. People here in the U.S. vote based on the individual themselves (as such my family has typically voted for members of the other party due in part to them not liking the current Democratic leadership and there ideas). The reason for this is due to people not really having a particular ideology. We are in fact a hodgepodge of beliefs and ideas.

The Ad-Hoc person: The reason people can vote for people who do not share their ideology is because for large segments of the population a set belief system through ideology does not exist. In fact with new bits of information on different issues like minimum wage and home ownership, a persons ideology or beliefs on a particular subject my change entirely. For instance, while in high school I was politically a Democrat. I believed in free education provided by the government and the same with anything else that the government could give us free. But as I entered college my beliefs became more aligned with the Republicans and their Conservative ideology as I grew into the reality that government cannot do everything as they would go bankrupt. By the time I left college, I became a libertarian as I realized that there are very select things government actually needs to do and the rest they are incapable of doing well. Thus, my political belief system is that of a libertarian who is also a constitutionalists (government limited to doing only what the Constitution allows for it to do). Despite this, I sometimes disagree with my fellow libertarians or Constitutionalists. Libertarian wise I disagree with abortion (based on both faith and science) and complete drug legalization (some completely legalized, others controlled and restricted without being totally illegal). On the Constitutionalists front, I disagree with the general welfare clause as people interpret it to allow the government to provide social welfare programs while as I understand (with respect to the Federalist and Anti-Federalist papers) that the United States government has zero authority on providing any form of welfare. Disagreements are a dime a dozen. As such, you as an individual have a set core of beliefs indicative specifically to you and you alone.

Conclusion: After showing you my example of myself, you can compare your own ideological progression and know that it is ok to change your mind or have differing beliefs from your other ideological compatriots. You have an ideology of one (or maybe even none), and you have the right to enforce or remove aspects of it at will. We all have an Ad-Hoc ideology as we all have the freedom of thought. Never let yourself be put down because you believe differently, not now or ever.