I am a progressive/social democrat. To many on the far left, I am just a “liberal”, to many on the far right, I am a socialist. To moderates, I am not moderate enough.

I say this because I personally believe, as I get older, that the notion of ideology as a basis for societal change…is problematic.

I don’t mean this to say ideology is inherently bad. I don’t mean this to say that there isn’t a realm for it. Ideology can inspire various discussions—it’s a discourse into the “possible” (but many times not probable).

But I think ideological purity—basically indoctrination—IS bad.

Ideology can create unrealistic expectations. Ideology is a useful tool to inspire thinking but no ideology has ever proven to survive the nature of reality and human nature. One way or another, it gets corrupted and slowly corrodes.

Everyone speaks of “this” economic system or “that” economic system like it will be a cure all. Or “this” political system or “that” political system like it will FINALLY deliver true utopian bliss. The truth is that no system is perfect, all ideological views have negative consequences and we, in reality, have to concede this in order to ever make any sort of meaningful contribution to society.

People often lambast bipartisanship in the US (I am absolutely one of them) but we need to realize that perfect policy can never exist in a universe where we all hold different values and ideals.

Me, personally, I try to let myself define what my values are with some occasional ideological research and “inspiration”. But I think indoctrination into ANY ideology is akin to writing a fictional story but only allowing yourself to write about themes that others have already discovered instead of discovering your own ideas that hold unique meaning to you.