Ideology is necessary to systematically dealing with a set of issues. Ideas frame issues, frame life, and give us guidelines for application of principle to life so we can live in a consistent manner. People with defined ideologies often live more successfully than people without a concept of how to live. For that reason ideology is necessary to life.
That is why the slippery slope between ideology and being an "Ideologue" exists. What are the properties that make an ideology negative?
Mythology is necessary to provide models for life; wisdom about issues of how to live a just, caring, virtuous, and civil life. The stories, when told well, encapsulate the pure wisdom of previous and present generations. Mythology presents ideas in a powerful easy to understand form.
Yet, like the issue of Christians dealing with Santa Claus, Shiites dealing with the return of "Ali", or Jews waiting on the Messiah or Eliyahu Hanavi, myths seem to present society with problems. Some people so strongly believe in a mythological version of the world that this real world can never measure up. They are quite willing to destroy the present world in order to bring about their envisioned ideal one. They cannot accept that "Santa Claus" or their other attached myths dwell in the realm of spirit and mind-stuff, and that they aren't going to run into a literal Saint Nick walking down the street. In short these are people who have kept themselves in a permanent state of adolescence.
What are the properties that make myths into something negative?.
Mike writes:
(see SokagakkaiInternational group post 71886)
"In Abhidharma or Buddhist psychology there is a classification of
people by six general types: faithful and greedy (who are
characterized by wholesome and unwholesome attachment), intellectual
and angry (who are characterized by wholesome or unwholesome
criticism), and the speculative and distracted (who are
characterized by false views and inability to concentrate). I always
found it interesting that in this system it is pointed out that
attachment can function either positively (as faith) or negatively
(as greed) and aversion either motivate healthy analysis or hatred.
The trick is to find a way to steer that tendency in a more positive
direction, instead of just negating it."
He notes that each tendancy is neither good or ill. Attachment can be wholesome (faithful) or unwholesome (greedy or fanatic). Criticism can be "wholesome" or "unwholesome". We can either concentrate or lose concentration, etceteras.
There is nothing intrinsically wrong with most mythology -- treated as mythology -- it is in the hands of the user of that mythology as to whether or not it is "wholesome" or not. likewise with ideology. The key is to believe in "wholesome things" an that takes a certain discipline and;
"Untangling the Mishmash"
Seek the origins of each story or belief in Context
So how do we apply this to Legends and Myths? First, when examining a story, look to see the origins of the story. If it is a universal story one will find numerous variants of it with the same message. For example the story of the "Childrens Crusade" is based on two similar incidents, one in Germany, one in France, around the same time. The message, however, is pretty near universal. The story of Robin Hood is told in nearly identical tales from Chicago to the Ozarks and from there to England and in other parts of the world. It is a legend which has the substance of a pure archetypical myth. If we are a bit challenging of such stories we can sometimes find they are made up -- such as Reagan's tale of Welfare mothers driving Cadillacs.
Deconstructing myths and lies
Dealing with ideology we first have to examine the myths underlying each ideology. For example the "invisible hand myth" that is based on some observations of Adam Smith, but that in the hands of ideologues becomes the basis for economic belief and self-justification. Deconstructing such myths are more difficult than dealing with pure legends because they are often presented as scientific facts. Sometimes a myth is simply based on lies.
Applying a theory in context
Sometimes a theory works under some circumstances but breaks down under others. Other times a theory is applied outside of its realm of legitimate observation and theory. Abusive mythologizing is where ideas that make sense in one context are turned into myths used in another context. The classical example of this is the notion of "scientific racism." Which is a mishmash of half baked ideas that drew from Social Darwinism, popular misconceptions, and pure prejudice. But scientific myths are often more difficult to tease out. For example which is a scientific myth; "Global warming" or "Global Warming is a myth." Global warming is a demonstrated trend. Whether it is a disaster or not is a subject of debate.
Don't valorate by Attachment
Mythologizers tend to valorate by attachment. That is they tend to look at a goal and turn it into an unbending principle. If a principle is held at the expense of other competing or offsetting principles, it may be being used in a mythical fashion. For example some people so value liberty that they deny equality, the "commons", or any need for government to enforce equality or justice. These people are mythologizing something. In this case it is usually the "invisible" hand teachings of Adam Smith combined with a mishmash of other ideas.
No silver bullet
The hardest part in developing a coherent ideology is to untangle the mishmashed ideas. The more simplistic an ideology the more attractive it is, and the more decisive its believers can be. So it is dangerous to seek a single silver bullet for issues, or to rely on one for solving every problem.
An example of this was Milton Friedman's ideas about using a steady money supply to control inflation. Friedman realized that as a benchmark this system worked, but he soon realized that as theory it wasn't a complete solution and moved on to some pretty good modifications of his original ideas. Some of his disciples, many people in fact, however, have taken this as a silver bullet to solve all problems.
Likewise there is still considerable "Keynesian" theory misuse going on. People who "hate" Keynesian ideas for their critique of the invisible hand use them all the time to stimulate spending and avoid having to confront the implications of the Keynesian critique. The result, since they do this in a military spending, is that they distort and poison the economy instead of creating a sustained system.
Multiple POVs
If folks would look at the political economy, politics and religion, from multiple points of view and apply this conceptual framework to their lives, they would find that eventually rather than the competing ideas opposing one another, they start to describe the same animal from multiple perspectives. We need to examine how we relate to each other, how things actually function, and recognize that at varying times and places things function differently and yet according to similar principles.
Growing up
Part of the problem is that people are entering adolescence earlier and earlier, and staying in that way of looking at things longer and longer. People need to be at one and the same time open to new ideas (like an adolescent) and cautious about attaching to things simply because they are new or seem to give a simple solution. When a person "grows up" he/she realizes "there is no literal Santa Claus" but learns that inside of our hearts the things that each myth represents are very important and that the "realities" in our heads are as important as the ones in the material world around us. It is time to set aside abusive mythologizing, psuedo science, and convenient explanations for reality. It is also time to reconnect with family, duty, honor, and society.
-- That is to grow up.
Becoming Conceptual Architects.
I hope one day that we will have a society in which religious and political-economy teachers are wise enough to embrace progressive ideas. That is only going to happen when those who have the power to lay out concepts have the self control and wisdom to do some of the things, and employ some of the ideas, I'm laying out here. Each day is a miracle.
Happy Channukah and Seasons Greetings!
Chris :-)
Posted by cholte at December 21, 2006 08:24 AM