Ideology In The United States

An ideology is extremely important to have in a lifetime. Ideologies can shape a person’s actions, motivations, and goals. A person’s belief is a major contribution to their identity and can change it substantially. But sometimes a person’s ideology can lead to extreme actions and people could be harmed. Many terrorist attacks and wars are caused an extreme ideology of a leader with lot’s of power. There has also an abundance of acts of peace that ideology allows. Gandhi believed in peace and acted because of his ideology. People in some places in the world are willing to give up their identity and ideology and become controlled by extreme leaders. Ideologies are very important

An ideology is a group of ideas (social, economic, culture, etc) about life and accepted as reality by the majority of people in a society. These set of ideas are used by different organizations in the society such as: school, and government, among other, to reinforce such ideology. In a society an ideology serves as means to perpetuate and justify the power of the dominant group.

Ideology is a system of meaning that helps define and explain the world and that makes value judgements about that world. It refers not only to the beliefs held about the world but also to the basic ways in which the world is defined (Croteau, Hoynes, and Milan 1953).

The market model of economy, developed by Adam Smith entails a freely flowing economy that places little or not restriction on occupation allowing individuals utmost rights. America took on an ethos of a mixed economy of market and command that struck a successful economic equilibrium. American economy also changes with different periods of history. The Civil War had lit the spark of industrialization needed to enhance the American economy. Technology advanced by leaps and bounds and free labor was done away with to make room for Industrialization and Adam Smith’s market model of capitalism. Capitalism was a promoter of the entrepreneur and individual success. It was only natural that during this time of private interest the gap between rich and poor would be greatly widened and a state of disorder might arise. Capitalism was a new ideology and drastic labor problems and social disorder arose because Americans were simply adjusting to (and taking advantage of) the new system.

A belief system is a set of ideas that a person uses to make sense of the world around us. Science can be defined as a way of looking at the natural world, which is systematic, objective and capable of generating universal laws. Ideology is a systematic set of beliefs, which serve the interests of a social group in society. It is often associated with the ‘power’ and the ability of those at the top of the society to put forward their own ideas as right. These ideas could be distorted, partially true and put forward for a purpose.

Capitalism is an omnipresent system that has taken on many unique and defined forms throughout its existence. While capitalism comes in a variety of disguises, one thing about capitalism has always remained the same – the nature of its selfish being. Capitalism thrives on hard work. Individuals that work hard will undoubtedly be rewarded. On the contrary, those that are not able to work are left in a dreadful predicament. Even with two distinct versions of capitalism – plain capitalism and democratic capitalism – both involve the necessary component of free enterprise. Capitalism considers free enterprise something to be achieved individually with rewards intended for just oneself. Adam Smith came along and challenged that notation

Throughout the book An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith uses the term “commercial society” rather than more accustomed words like “capitalism.” Smith explains what he means by this term,

On the bright side, ideology is a good thing because it is necessary for a government to run smoothly. The four things ideology provides are all healthy components of living in a civilization. A sense of identity brings people together and make it easier for them to align themselves with the mass, while a sense of history lets people know where they come from and where they are going. Having a moral structure creates a scale for people to measure what is right and wrong, while demanding action ensures that when things are not going properly, people will have the tools necessarily in order catalyse change. Ideology is politically beneficial, although it does sometimes translate into feeding the public lies. However, this lies are not aimed toward keeping people in the dark. They are used to gently ease the public into understand truths, rather than presenting the truth to them all at once. Ideology is beneficial to the government while simultaneously keeping the citizen’s best interest in mind. Ideology is not something that should be feared, but rather something that should be accepted and appreciated because it hold civilizations

Capitalism started up as a system of investing and sharing money in order to increase the value of resources in the future. Capitalism was just an economic system, but then soon turned into a complex system of ethical practices. Harari defines capitalism as, “a set of teachings about how people should behave, educate their children and even think” (Harari 314). This economic system evolved along with the people that were endorsing it. Capitalism enables the rich to get richer, while the poor continue to get poorer. There are many benefits to capitalism, but there are downfalls as well, and these downfalls tend to be masked because of the rapid speed capitalists grow at. Harari first presents a definition for capitalism, and soon goes into great detail on why capitalism, while fast paced and unforgiving, is able to stand unwavered while other productions fail.

Adam Smith, over 200 years ago, revealed the best understanding of greed. The economist proved that the invisible hand of market forces ensure that the efforts of individuals to search for their own self-interest made society better off. Therefore, one should judge capitalism by its fruit, not buy the motives of the capitalists (Economist, 2002).

Economic liberalism stresses the part of human nature, driven by reason over emotion (Balaam & Dillman, 2014). There is a naïve view of economic liberalism in which harmonious competition evolves from the individual pursuit of self-interest. This phenomenon is described as when an individual “intends only his own gain, and he is in this…led by an invisible hand to promote an end which was not part of his intention” (Stegmann, 2004). Adam Smith predicted that men’s economic decisions would result in an “altruism of egoism” (Stegmann, 2004). Altruism and egoism are fundamentally exclusive. The idea that the combination of men’s selfish desires could result in something altruistic is an extreme idealization and miscalculation. Unfortunately, the selfish pursuit of individual interest leads to a societal economic gap. The Laissez Faire approach to economic freedom offers no limit to the success

The advent of the ideal of capitalism is often attributed to Adam Smith. Sometimes called “The Father of Economics,” Smith was an 18th century moral philosopher from Scotland. Smith is perhaps most known for writing the book “An Inquiry Into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.” In this book Adam Smith considers and advances the ideas of the division of labor, the invisible hand, the pursuit of self-interest, the proper role of government and the idea of a Laissez-Faire (or noninterventionist) economy. Each of these ideas were considered heavily during the establishment and development of the United States. Because of their adoption into the new American government, the United States became the forerunner to the free-market.

Ideology is basically a system of meaning that helps define and explain the world and that makes value judgements about the world (Croteau, David, Hoynes, William, Milan, Stefania, 2012). Ideology is related to but broader then concepts such as world-view, belief system and values. Ideologies do not necessarily reflect reality accurately but often they present a distorted version of the world. (Croteau, David, Hoynes, William, Milan, Stefania, 2012). Karl Marx believes that the ruling class control ideology and used a trick to create an illusion of fairness and harmony (Lane, Dr.Karen, 2013) This plainly brings into question human agency and free will however one can argue that those influenced still have the ability to change it (Lane, Dr.Karen, 2013). Italian theorist Antonio Gramsci argued that cultural domination is never fully achieved and that audience awareness is evident but again cultural domination is always in contention (Lane, Dr.Karen, 2013) Gramscian thesis of Hegemony also argued that ruling groups can maintain their power through force, consent, or a combination of the two (Croteau, David, Hoynes, William, Milan,

This essay will challenge the view that ideology is no longer relevant in modern politics and argue that ideology is rife around the world. It will start with a definition of ideology followed with the theoretical basis required to support the claim

In economics, some classical liberals believe that ‘’an unfettered market’’ is the most efficient mechanism to satisfy human needs and channel resources to their most productive uses. The minimal government advocacy of an ‘’unregulated free market’’ is founded on an ‘’assumption about individuals being rational, self-interested and methodical in the pursuit of their goals. Adam Smith was not an advocate of pure capitalism. Adam Smith allowed for many exceptions to a strictly free-market economy. The classical liberals advocated policies to increase liberty and prosperity. They sought to empower the commercial class politically. They abolish royal charters, monopolies and the protectionist policies of mercantilism to encourage