Question 1

Ideology describes one’s view of the world, usually politically, but also religiously, morally, ethically, etc. Concurrently, it describes one’s beliefs on how to deal with the problems of the world, or how not to deal with them. It is informed by many factors, but the most common are parental influence, generation, the political climate of one’s upbringing, identity (sexual, racial, etc), and education. Ideologies are man-made.

An example of a common ideology is Conservatism. In America, conservatives operate on the belief that Government is a threat to individual liberty and must be as small and limited as possible. This core belief drives all of their other beliefs on policy, as well as how they interact with and view others in the world.

Question 2

Conservatives and liberals make up the bulk of the population in the United States. While they are essentially two sides of the same coin (capitalists), their differences come down to their beliefs on equality and uses/ideal size of the government. Conservatives favor a small, localized government handled by individual states. This stems from a belief that a big government poses a threat to individual liberty. In their view, the US government has taken on too much since the New Deal, and needs to be significantly rolled back. They believe that free market capitalism is fair and ideal, that the government should completely avoid handouts to impoverished communities, and that social programs need to be reduced or cut completely. In general, they favor traditional moral values, especially applied to issues such as gay marriage, abortion, etc.

For liberals, the most important and deciding issue is equality. Their policies grew out of the New Deal. They favor a large government and lots of government intervention, especially in the forms of higher taxes, regulation of large corporations, environmental regulation and protection, and cuts towards the defense budget. They are especially dedicated to the assistance of marginalized groups, which stems from their strive for equality. In general, they do not trust the fairness of the free market. Their social beliefs take the progressive route. As examples, they are pro-gay marriage, pro-choice, and fervent proponents of racial equality.

Question 3:

In Althusser’s view, ideology is our subconscious belief about how we must function in society. This of course comes with a subconscious belief of how society should function. Specifically, that society must function capitalistically, and any questioning or rebellion against capitalism should result in violence (although not always literal physical violence. ex: incarceration). Althusser believed that these ideas are ingrained even before birth, giving the example of children taking their father’s last names. Another example of this definition of ideology is the belief that we must constantly be working in order to be “good” people. In my personal experience, every time I have a gap in employment or in school I eventually end up feeling lazy, useless, and ashamed.