Pragmatism And Political Ideologies
1476 Words
6 Pages
Political ideologies began to transpire during the Enlightenment and really hit their stride in the 19th century, also known as the “age of ideology" (Mintz et al., 2018, pg. 55). Even though ideologies have been grandstanding for so long, it is time to bring an end to them. The nature of ideologies restricts debate and stops discourse. Especially in modern times, being labeled as a “liberal” or a “conservative” is in some forms, quite derogatory or used as an insult. In fact, some people identify with an ideology in which they cannot actually support or do not know the definition of (Thompson, 2014). Instead of voting Liberal or NDP simply because “that’s whom you always vote for” or “they have the same ideology as me”, citizens should vote
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In theory, pragmatism sounds like a fantastic solution to the problem that is the current political climate. Politicians use rational judgment to choose the best option, regardless of where the issue falls. Therefore, the pragmatist idea seems to be the most straightforward way to achieve the common good, which is the essential goal of politics and government. Furthermore, pragmatism allows for criticisms and guidance in democracies, while most current political thinking is governed by wanting to adhere to the status quo (Bacon & Chin, 2016). People get locked into political ideologies and are normally stubborn to change them. However, this is not something that can easily be changed. Studies have shown that people are “resistant to arguments against their political beliefs” and this resistance is primarily biological (Kaplan et al., 2016). This data suggests that as long as we have political ideologies in the political system, discourse will always be difficult. Due to our biological foundation, a system with political ideologies will always be unproductive. Finally, political ideologies have also been used to justify some of the greatest atrocities the planet has ever seen (i.e. the Holocaust). The Nazi party identified the Jewish people are there enemies and thus needed to be exterminated in the benefit of the state (Gerstenfeld, 2009). Without ideologies, it becomes more and more difficult to mask a whole population as problem that needs to be dealt with. If all politicians were pragmatists, this close-minded type of thinking would vanish, and the common good would be more
In theory, pragmatism sounds like a fantastic solution to the problem that is the current political climate. Politicians use rational judgment to choose the best option, regardless of where the issue falls. Therefore, the pragmatist idea seems to be the most straightforward way to achieve the common good, which is the essential goal of politics and government. Furthermore, pragmatism allows for criticisms and guidance in democracies, while most current political thinking is governed by wanting to adhere to the status quo (Bacon & Chin, 2016). People get locked into political ideologies and are normally stubborn to change them. However, this is not something that can easily be changed. Studies have shown that people are “resistant to arguments against their political beliefs” and this resistance is primarily biological (Kaplan et al., 2016). This data suggests that as long as we have political ideologies in the political system, discourse will always be difficult. Due to our biological foundation, a system with political ideologies will always be unproductive. Finally, political ideologies have also been used to justify some of the greatest atrocities the planet has ever seen (i.e. the Holocaust). The Nazi party identified the Jewish people are there enemies and thus needed to be exterminated in the benefit of the state (Gerstenfeld, 2009). Without ideologies, it becomes more and more difficult to mask a whole population as problem that needs to be dealt with. If all politicians were pragmatists, this close-minded type of thinking would vanish, and the common good would be more