What ISN’T an ideology?
People often conflate ignorance or mental illness with ideologies although they are not the same thing at all. For instance people may say “Trump supporters are just st*pid” or “That white supremacist who did that mass shooting was just crazy.” These things are said and felt so often that we tend to believe it’s true. But actually ideologies have nothing at all to do with intelligence or mental health. People from all walks of life hold ideologies, and people who lack relevant education or who may struggle with mental health can hold ideologies that are not problematic in the least.
So what’s the difference? Let’s break it down.
Ignorance
First of all, let’s agree not to use ableist slurs including, but definitely not limited to, $tupid, d#mb, idi0t, etc. Just as we don’t use “gay” to mean “bad,” we must also stop conflating these slurs with “bad” because these were once medical terms that were used to oppress a population.
Second, let’s be precise with our language. Speaking precisely is helpful, particularly when we are navigating conversations that are highly nuanced. Cognitive disabilities have nothing to do with a person’s capacity for empathy (which is ultimately what we are critiquing when we discuss ideologies). Ignorance, however, can have everything to do with the ideologies we choose. Let’s look more closely at that.
Our education and culture shapes who we are and what we believe as we are growing up. The United States has a terrible record with teaching accurate history. This alone can be a very complex topic with many facets that must be examined, such as:
Basically, many Americans, particularly those in Southern states, are not being given accurate views of the world. Poverty further impacts this, limiting access to universities or travel, both experiences which tend to broaden one’s worldview.
Ignorance, or even cognitive disabilities, can absolutely lead one to become more vulnerable in regards to adopting a toxic ideology, but these things are not, at their core, the same.
Mental Health
Mental Health is a tricky topic. It can, on occasion, result in violence, but it is absolutely vital to remember that most folx with mental illness are more at risk of having violence enacted on them, than they are likely to commit violent acts. (Further, as an autistic person who has also been mentally ill, many of my meltdowns are triggered by ableism or lack of access so I have to wonder if some of the violence we do see from folx with mental illness is triggered by a society that is hostile and casually violent to us just for existing. I am unaware of any formal studies that have looked into this.)
Mental health can also sometimes include psychosis, when a person has a break from reality. This can be in the form of paranoia or full-on hallucinations. However, psychosis is generally an acute condition that is treatable. Whereas ideologies can be held regardless of one’s mental heath.
It is vitally important that we speak precisely here because folx with mental illness are a vulnerable population who are at risk of violence, poverty, housing instability, incarceration, and more simply because of a medical condition. Whereas people who promote dangerous ideologies are not only more often than not “sane,” but also because the very ideologies they espouse endanger all vulnerable populations, including those with mental illness. It may be easy, or even funny to say that “anyone who believes Fox News is just crazy” but this merely continues to provide cover for those who are actually damaging the world so that they can continue on as is. We need to be shining lights on toxic ideologies, not helping them to hide from truth.
Tl;dr: By continuing to align mental illness with dangerous ideology, we are not only helping those who would commit harm to vulnerable populations, but we are adding to that harm.
It may be true that, as with folx who lack education, folx with mental illness may be more vulnerable to dangerous ideologies, but this is all the more reason to shine light on these darkest corners of our society.
So what IS an ideology?
Merriam Webster defines it this way: “a manner or the content of thinking characteristic of an individual, group, or culture, the integrated assertions, theories and aims that constitute a sociopolitical program, [or] a systematic body of concepts especially about human life or culture.” Nowhere is mentioned either ignorance or mental illness because they are not the cause of ideologies.
Let’s use white supremacy as an example. For hundreds of years, racists have attempted to legitimize their ideologies. Thomas Jefferson wrote extensively on his beliefs that Black folx are physiologically different than white folx. Really. It’s disgusting. We have now debunked this. Decades later, people attempted to name this field of “science” Eugenics, but that, too, has been debunked. When you debunk excuse after excuse, it becomes clear that the only actual truth to the movement is the utterly baseless belief in racial superiority.
On the flip side, you have leftist politics of which the ultimate goal is complete equity for the people. Leftist ideologies include prison reform, education reform, healthcare and mental healthcare reform. Leftists believe that all humans are inherently equal and worthy simply by being born onto this planet - none of us choose to be here, after all! Leftists demand that these toxic systems and ideologies cease to exist so that all humans can live with minimal suffering, or at least with suffering that is not caused by artificially created and enforced power imbalances. Leftist ideologies engage with science and other real world data to help ensure that we are solving problems rather than creating more.
So you can see that ideologies are belief systems. Ultimately we each choose our belief systems. We may originally be born into them, and we may have the odds stacked against us if we happen to be born in a place where we lack access to accurate education. We may, at times, even battle our own brains for connection to reality. But in the end, we choose the ideologies we hold, even if that choice is to not look too deeply at them.
But ideology, by every definition, is not the same as ignorance or mental illness.
What do we do now?
Deconstruct everything. No ideology is exempt from critical thinking! Good ideologies will encourage critical thinking, harmful ones will discourage it. Ask why. Keep asking why.
If we, as a society, learn to break down toxic ideologies into what they actually are - hate groups - they will no longer be allowed to exist. This is the goal.
What are you doing in your life today, this week, and every day, to help heal the world? It need not be huge - we are all struggling to exist in this end stage capitalist hellscape! - but even just asking “why” is an important step.
Never stop questioning.
