1. Keeping in mind the material covered in this lesson, describe how you understand ideology in YOUR OWN WORDS.
In my opinion ideology is a construction of believes that shape and influence the way a person reacts to and solves problems in their life. This type of solutions are mostly used for social, political and economical reasons. Also, it affects how a person follows and who they relation with in life. For example: I was raised a Catholic and I was told to live following the mandates of the Bible. As a matter of fact, this construction of believes shaped the way that I acted and who I related with. Then, if the Bible said that is wrong to lie; not only I would not lie, but also I would not allow those around me to do it. If they did so, I would set distance from them. Basically, anyone could resume it to a pattern of reasons that create rules that people must follow or otherwise they will be punished by those who surround them and believe in it.
That is what ideology is. Of course, you can’t compare the ideology that you have inherited from your parents with the one that you create for yourself once you become an adult. Moreover, I agree with the videos that were used as reference for this lecture. Your background and your life situations can shape your ideology. If you have never had the necessity to get help from the government to pay for essentials you’ll very likely be against social help. Conversely, if you have had to use economic help from the government you’ll very likely will be a supporter of social help. Similarly, I believe that your grade of education and the subjects that you study shape the way you see the world. I was a political science major back in Venezuela, and after I was introduced to the concepts of ideology I saw politics with a more critical eye; whereas someone who never gets to learn about this concepts can’t ever get to have a more objective view point on it.
2. How do you understand the difference between conservative and liberal ideology in US politics? What seem to be the big differences, the dividing line? Given an example to backup your arguments.
The dividing line in between conservatives and liberals in US politics has to be with the importance that they give to the concept of freedom and the one they give to the concept of equality. On the one hand, conservatives would be attributed with the value of freedom; that’s the most important thing for them. On the other hand, libertarians would be known for valuing equality over anything else. Under this context, you could evaluate the areas where political administrations from these ideologies have invested most of their resources and time. They have different priorities. For example: The administration of former president Donald Trump (conservative) invested time and resources in creating bigger tax cuts and publicizing a wall at the border of Mexico with the intention have more control over the boarders; and investment in homeland security. Conversely, the administration of current president Joe Biden has invested in the creation of a greener energy plan and social help programs that favor minorities. This is a clear prove of the priorities of the political parties in the United States, one is more inclined to maintain and defend their own freedom and privileges and the other one is more concern about creating equal opportunities for the pepole.
3. How do you understand Althusser’s definition of ideology? Paraphrase it in your own words. Given an example.
Ideology for Althusser means accepting beliefs. Those beliefs are created by reinforced and approved behaviors that make people good subjects and future cogs in a capitalist economy.
In other words, for Althusser, ideology is just a result of what people has gotten to belief. Only and after the reinforcement of what they’ve been told to do in order to maintain the status quo (the current order of things) in the current capitalist economy.
