Changing Ideology

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   Muldanianmanposted 14 years ago

   I have noticed that politics follows predictable patterns.  Society goes through periods of conservatism, followed by periods of liberalism, and then back again.  Every few years, there seems to be a reaction to the status quo, which lasts for a number of years, only to be replaced again by the opposite ideology.  Britain under Margaret Thatcher, was at its most conservative for decades.  By the '90s, people had had enough of this ideology, and replaced it with perhaps the most radically liberal Labour government the UK has ever had, with political correctness coming to dominate British society.  Now, once again, we have returned to the conservative, and once again I hear talk that would not have dared speak its name under Labour control, and the absurd level that political correctness had reached is being rolled back. 
   
   I just wonder if people deep down have political views that remain unchanging, or do we as a species follow the ideology of whichever government happens to be in power.  Are we really so easy to control, like lambs led to the slaughter?

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      uncorrectedvisionposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      I hate to think that people are so amenable to out side influences as to readily surrender intellectual positions merely because they fall into political disfavor.  History is repeat with examples of people manipulated by emotions, perceived slights, the challenges of change, economic or social hardships into surrendering liberty.
      
      The pendulum swing in political course usually comes as a consequence of distraction among the electorate.  The politician, no, the demagogue, promises utopia.  The complacency among some and ignorance among others leads to belief that the state can deliver utopia.  It is the notion that paradise can be created by the action of men inevitably leads to economic hardships and even to political repression.  In its extreme, the promise of a perfectible world leads to the death of millions.

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      dutchman1951posted 14 years agoin reply to this

      I fear that answer is Yes.

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   John Holdenposted 14 years ago

   " The old order changeth, yielding place to new,
   And God fulfils Himself in many ways,
   Lest one good custom should corrupt the world."

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   Mighty Momposted 14 years ago

   Agree with Dutchman.
   Here in the ADHD US, the pendulum is swinging faster and shorter.
   The Hope promised by Obama in 2008 gave way to an about face in the Congressional and Gubernatorial races of 2010.
   Already there are recall votes in the wind for some of those uber right wingers and "talk" of a swing back toward the left in Congress in 2012.
   Only to revert to the complete opposite side again in 2016.
   The thing is, the real work is done in the middle by those to reach across the aisle....
   
   Personally, there are some issues I'm willing to "flip-flop" on (ok, maybe flip OR flop but probably not both ).  But generally speaking, ideology doesn't change.

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      uncorrectedvisionposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      How serious are the recall movements?  The liberal cannot run as his authentic self.  Barry never fully exposed his ideology during the campaign and once in office, much like Clinton and Carter before him, he could not hind for long and over reached.  The Congressional excesses of the first year of Barry's term and his own flaws lead to the 2010 electoral drubbing, one of only five drubbings that deep and wide. 
      
      The Civil War, The Depression, The Watergate Scandal and Clinton's over reach were the previous ones.  After G H W Bush lost in 1992 the press predicted the end of two term presidencies.  They get just about everything wrong.  They get just about everything wrong often enough to consistently question the value of listening to journalists at all.
      
      If history is an indicator, the 2012 election will continue to be a problem for liberals, both Republican and Democrats.  A big reason why McCain was beaten so badly is the absence of conservative voters.(just google conservatives reject mccain)
      
      It is the same reason Trump, Huckabee and Romney will fail to energize conservatives, a growing body of voters who will be necessary for a Republican victory.

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   recommend1posted 14 years ago

   The control starts before all the BS that distracts the sheeple - Conservative and Liberal are just two sides of the same coin.  Whichever way you flip the ideological coin you have to be rich to be on one side or the other.  Liberal is just the acceptable face of control.
   
   Without any support or consideration of Communism, why did we think it needed crushing with war and McCarthyism so incredibly violently ?  If they are non-viable systems what threat did they pose to any PERSON in Capitalist countries.  The total aggression came only from the rich controllers who now own all so-called democratic governments and graze the confused and infighting sheeple.
   
   The underlying principle that people might control the governments was the threat, not the system in itself.

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      uncorrectedvisionposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      As a philosophy, conservatism is much more complex than just a political ideology.  political parties tend to crave power and create constituencies needed for the maintenance of power.

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