Ideologies are a natural result of a democratic-republican form of government. People all have opinions on how problems should be handled at the level of government and in a free democratic-republican system, they are allowed to voice these opinions in debates, elections, and the public square (i.e. talk radio, television and the workplace). Unfortunately, many people believe in their ideologies to an extreme and so come to think their ideology is the be-all and end-all of their world. They worship what the ideology presents to them as the ultimate goal of those following that ideology. It is a sad reality.
Totalitarianism: The idol of those who follow the Totalitarian ideologies (Socialism; Communism; Nazism; Fascism) is Government; All-Powerful, Big Brother Government. They believe that government is the magic elixir which can solve all social, political and financial problems at every level and push for government to be given as much power as the world can give so they can solve these problems and thus produce Utopia. This “heaven on earth” cannot exist in this world because man is not perfect. Mistakes and abuses will be made and in a totalitarian system, wrongdoing and mistakes can be legalized or covered up because it is sanctioned by government which leads to greater harm for the people. {The failure and fall of the Soviet Union is a prime example of this}.
Liberalism: Power is the shrine at which liberals adore. They are similar to Totalitarians in that they believe government should be the vehicle to affect change that is needed, but they want the power for themselves and their friends because they believe they can solve everything that is wrong in the world if they are only given the power. What they fail to realize is that with power comes tremendous temptation and that temptation can corrupt anyone and so lead to the abuse of a system. {Good examples of this are scandal-ridden American presidencies such as those of Ulysses S. Grant and Warren G. Harding}.
Moderatism: Moderates glorify public opinion as their deity. Moderates believe that if the people want something then it should be given to them. They believe this will result in true peace and, by default, utopia. If the majority of the people want it, then it must be good for them and so bring about good results for them. The problem here is that deception is possible at any level and when the general public is deceived about certain ideas or facts, then caving in to public opinion can lead to disastrous results. {The French Revolution is a great example of this}.
Conservatism: Money is the bottom line for conservatives. The commonly accepted priority of most conservatives is fiscal responsibility, but this degenerates into simple money hunger. Money is what they are most interested in because to them it is what buys happiness and ensures that they have the ability to keep that happiness. They acknowledge that utopia cannot be accomplished on this earth but that does not bother them as much so long as they have the money to solve their own ills. They only wish to limit government when it hampers their ability to make money. This attitude is wrong, however, because it has been proved time and again that money cannot buy happiness or solve every ill. Some issues can only be solved by things that money cannot buy, such as love and truth. {Charles Dickens eloquently proves this in his classic story A Christmas Carol}.
Libertarianism: Libertarians worship personal freedom. A large number of libertarians believe that, as long as they do not infringe on someone else’s personal freedom, they should be free to do whatever they wish to themselves and that no form of authority has a right to say otherwise. They think that if everyone is left to rise or fall based on their own virtues or vices regarding their personal habits, then a more complete and happy society can be achieved. This view is dangerous in the sense that it does not acknowledge the legitimate place of authority on many levels, sometimes not even at the family or community level. This mindset tends to absolve people from the obligation to “Love Thy Neighbor” whereby one person can help another avoid inflicting great harm to himself/herself. While libertarians are correct in feeling that certain levels of government should not dictate personal habits because government is force, they are incorrect in feeling that the decisions that an individual makes regarding their own personal habits or livelihood should be left unaddressed by anyone at all. The family has the authority to talk to a person about their personal habits and way of living and in some cases this responsibility extends to members of the community such as the individual’s neighbors and co-workers. {Tragic deaths from bad personal habits such as drug abuse and irresponsible driving often stem from the same mindset as that which would fuel a libertarian society}.
Subsidiarism: Subsidiarism believes in problems being resolved at the most local level possible. People following this ideology wish to govern themselves by setting forth most of their own laws that they wish to follow in their own communities rather than always looking to the provincial or national government to run their lives and set their laws. Subsidiarists hold that the Creator is the one who is to be worshipped and respected because human beings receive their dignity from the Creator, Who made them as individuals and gave them their rights. They acknowledge that, as human beings, they are not perfect and cannot achieve total perfection, but that the faults that individual human beings show, (whether its in dealing with their fellow human beings, or in their own personal habits), can be best handled and settled at the appropriate level, whether it be the family level, the community level, the provincial level (for serious faults such as murder), or the national level (for grave crimes, such as treason). This will not bring about utopia, but it can isolate the instances of abuse and poor management of problems which arise and so keep the harm that comes as a result restricted to the lowest number of people possible. {The argument could be made that the early United States is the closest historical example of this kind of society}.
© 2012 New Agora and The Subsidiarity Times. All rights reserved. This material may not be re-published, re-broadcast, re-written or re-distributed without written permission from blog author.
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