Which One Are You: Ideologue or Pragmatist?|5 Minute Video
When it comes to politics, do you have an ideology? Or are you a pragmatist? What’s the distinction? Is one better than the other? Jonah Goldberg, Senior Editor for National Review, explains why ideology matters, and why “pragmatism” might not indicate exactly what you believe it does.
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Script:
One of the staple arguments of American liberals, from Presidents Woodrow Wilson to Bill Clinton, from education reformer John Dewey to New York Times columnist Tom Friedman is that they “do not believe in labels.” Liberals are “pragmatists,” and “realists,” and “empiricists.” They only appreciate “what works.” Conservatives, meanwhile, are “ideologues”– or extremists, or dogmatists, or just plain lunatics– who are blinded by ideology.
Here’s what President Barack Obama stated on the subject: “What is required is a brand-new declaration, not just in our nation, however in our own lives from ideology and little thinking, prejudice and bigotry.”
Did you capture that? If you have an ideology, you belong among the bigots and the psychologically baffled.
You’ll hear variations on this claim all over the location once you begin paying attention. In fact, it is an older technique, originated by none other than Napoleon Bonaparte, who looked for to demonize his critics as mesmerized theorists enthralled to an ideology while he put the needs of the country above all considerations.
Marx picked up the strategy, arguing that only individuals who concurred with him were devoid of mind-warping ideology. The desirability and inevitability of socialism was to them a scientific reality, and for that reason anybody who disagrees with scientific fact should be, in result, brainwashed.
In the 20th Century, the American Progressives used their own version of the exact same concept. They created a whole philosophical school– Pragmatism– which as a matter of concept declined philosophical principles.
Herbert Croly, the creator of the New Republic, reacting to the criticism that his liberal publication was too pro-Mussolini– whose concepts appeared to be working in Italy at the time– stated it well: “If there are any abstract liberal concepts, we do not understand how to formulate them. If they are formulated by others do we acknowledge their authority, nor. Liberalism, as we comprehend it, is an activity.”
It is specific it knows “what works”– liberalism! What liberals do!– and they denigrate opposing perspectives not as contending ideas or positions, but as the items of a warped, “ideological” worldview.
How often do you hear people state, “I do not believe in labels?” Whether its liberal political leaders, TV news anchors, writers, cable news hosts or your brother-in-law, Harry, the line constantly goes something like this: “Why can’t we move beyond these partisan labels? Why can’t we get beyond this philosophical divide and get to the effort of dealing with the issues dealing with the American people?”
Warning: People just they say these things when they desire you to shut up and get with their program.
What you never ever hear them state is: “We need to move beyond these partisan labels, we need to get beyond the philosophical divide and because of that I’m going to desert all of my concepts and concur with you.”
For the complete script, see https://www.prageru.com/videos/which-one-are-you-ideologue-or-pragmatist
source
When it comes to politics, do you have an ideology? Jonah Goldberg, Senior Editor for National Review, describes why ideology matters, and why “pragmatism” may not suggest precisely what you believe it does.
Conservatives, meanwhile, are “ideologues”– or extremists, or dogmatists, or just plain lunatics– who are blinded by ideology.
Herbert Croly, the founder of the New Republic, responding to the criticism that his liberal publication was too pro-Mussolini– whose concepts appeared to be working in Italy at the time– stated it well: “If there are any abstract liberal concepts, we do not understand how to develop them. Why can’t we get beyond this philosophical divide and get to the hard work of dealing with the issues dealing with the American individuals?”
