There is a rather vague line in American public discourse between the factual truth and what is considered "true" according to the ideology of the participants. This is one of the biggest problems that we face as a nation. Solutions to problems will not work just because they are ideologically correct; they must be factually true or the solutions will fail. Nevertheless, we see examples all the time of things that happen just because of ideology. Here are a few examples:
1. Liberal/Progressive ideology says that the government is the answer to most problems. More regulation and control from Washington is always the solution. Conservative ideology says that the government is usually the problem itself. Less regulation and control from Washington is always the solution. They are both wrong factually. There are programs where government action works. There are programs where government action causes grave harm. People need to look at each specific program rather than to simply rely on ideology to decide on a course of action.
2. Pro-choice advocates believe that any restriction of any sort on abortion is intolerable and an assault on women's rights. This leads this group to fight against limitations on partial birth abortion and even to justify acts like those of Dr. Gosnell who killed live infants after delivery as a method of "abortion". Failure to recognize murder in this regard is a sort of ideological blindness that is shocking.
3. Any rule designed to make sure that only registered voters can cast ballots is racist. Without a doubt, that is the belief of many on the left. Just look at the hysteria caused by rules like photo ID requirements to vote. We hear from these folks that the photo ID requirement has been passed only to limit access of the poor and minorities to polling places. That is just not factual. Despite the outcry, we never hear from them an explanation why limitations requiring photo IDs for access to government buildings, airplanes, medical care, and many other locations is allowable and not racist. The fact is that if the poor and minorities cannot get photo IDs, then these non-voting limitations must be racist as well. So here, too, ideology triumphs over reality.
4. Many people believe that discussing differences between races and ethnic groups is and must be racist. There are no such differences we are told. If Larry Summers speculates that there may be some general difference between men and women when it comes to math and science, he is denounced as a "sexist" and driven from his post as president of Harvard. But there are differences in reality. It is not by chance that the NBA is almost completely African American and that it has stayed that way for decades. It must be that blacks as a whole are better basketball players than whites or Asian-Americans. Is that racist? No, it is true. And why is it that Asians comprise such a large percentage of students at America's elite universities? Is that because of luck? Is it because of some environmental reason? The same question could be asked about Jews who similarly comprise a much larger segment of the students at top universities than their percentage of the country as a whole. Ideology demands that no one point out the differences. The facts, however, make clear that there could not be such a large and continuing difference in results absent a reason. If we cannot look for the reason or even discuss the difference, however, we will never know how to help improve those who do poorly. We will all lose after being silenced by ideology.
The sad thing in our society is that there are too many politicians who exist by exploiting ideology. Instead of leading America towards a reality based solution to a problem, they instead rely on stirring up passions based upon ideology alone to stay in power. We all lose as a result of such behavior.
1. Liberal/Progressive ideology says that the government is the answer to most problems. More regulation and control from Washington is always the solution. Conservative ideology says that the government is usually the problem itself. Less regulation and control from Washington is always the solution. They are both wrong factually. There are programs where government action works. There are programs where government action causes grave harm. People need to look at each specific program rather than to simply rely on ideology to decide on a course of action.
2. Pro-choice advocates believe that any restriction of any sort on abortion is intolerable and an assault on women's rights. This leads this group to fight against limitations on partial birth abortion and even to justify acts like those of Dr. Gosnell who killed live infants after delivery as a method of "abortion". Failure to recognize murder in this regard is a sort of ideological blindness that is shocking.
3. Any rule designed to make sure that only registered voters can cast ballots is racist. Without a doubt, that is the belief of many on the left. Just look at the hysteria caused by rules like photo ID requirements to vote. We hear from these folks that the photo ID requirement has been passed only to limit access of the poor and minorities to polling places. That is just not factual. Despite the outcry, we never hear from them an explanation why limitations requiring photo IDs for access to government buildings, airplanes, medical care, and many other locations is allowable and not racist. The fact is that if the poor and minorities cannot get photo IDs, then these non-voting limitations must be racist as well. So here, too, ideology triumphs over reality.
4. Many people believe that discussing differences between races and ethnic groups is and must be racist. There are no such differences we are told. If Larry Summers speculates that there may be some general difference between men and women when it comes to math and science, he is denounced as a "sexist" and driven from his post as president of Harvard. But there are differences in reality. It is not by chance that the NBA is almost completely African American and that it has stayed that way for decades. It must be that blacks as a whole are better basketball players than whites or Asian-Americans. Is that racist? No, it is true. And why is it that Asians comprise such a large percentage of students at America's elite universities? Is that because of luck? Is it because of some environmental reason? The same question could be asked about Jews who similarly comprise a much larger segment of the students at top universities than their percentage of the country as a whole. Ideology demands that no one point out the differences. The facts, however, make clear that there could not be such a large and continuing difference in results absent a reason. If we cannot look for the reason or even discuss the difference, however, we will never know how to help improve those who do poorly. We will all lose after being silenced by ideology.
The sad thing in our society is that there are too many politicians who exist by exploiting ideology. Instead of leading America towards a reality based solution to a problem, they instead rely on stirring up passions based upon ideology alone to stay in power. We all lose as a result of such behavior.
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