Preface to 'A values-based look at political ideology'

Abstract

In the realm of political thought, the ideological ‘big three’, conservatism, liberalism and socialism, all contain value systems that are rooted in Biblical ideas.

These value systems cannot be reduced to a single doctrine or creed, but pertain to the consciousness and feelings of the individual.

These value systems, rather than being contradictory, are complementary, and their difference mainly lies in emphasis. These ‘value systems’, which they will be referred to, as opposed to the more conventional ‘ideology’, attract varying degrees of importance depending on the needs of the age.

Background

My fascination with ideas began when I was introduced to Karl Marx as a school student. On learning about the bearded German and his radical solutions for healing our world, I obtained a copy of The Communist Manifesto, which was no doubt partly responsible for my later desire to study Politics at university.

On entering higher education, I considered myself a conservative, grateful to Margaret Thatcher for restoring the United Kingdom to economic individualism, and hostile to socialists who I considered at the time incessant moaners. Needless to say, this state of things did not remain, and I became more open to the influence of socialist thought and its potential merits. I was not only to go through a whole series of political sympathies, but I eventually returned, much to the dismay of former political allies, to the roots of conservative thought.

My overarching feeling, however, was not that Tories were right and socialists were wrong, nor that there is any real merit in such classifications as ‘conservative’, ‘liberal’ or ‘socialist’, but that what was important was the idealism and sincerity with which ones political faith was practised. If that sounds vague and unclear, I hope that my meaning will be elaborated in the chapters that follow.

Motives misunderstood

I felt that that the people I knew of different political beliefs misunderstood one another. A few examples will illustrate my point. The way socialism is often talked about, for instance.

You would sometimes think that the primary objective of the socialist movement was the creation of a faceless, tax-guzzling state machine, inexorably devouring more and more individual liberty and personal expression. It does not take a socialist to understand that this has never been the objective of anyone, except perhaps a dictator or an eccentric who happens to believe that more government buildings and regulations make for a pleasant state of affairs.

Liberals have also been unjustly defamed. The way some conservatives speak of a coherent ‘PC movement’ or a liberal bias in the media fails to appreciate the basic motivations of self-proclaimed ‘liberals’. In respect of political correctness, there are valid criticisms to be made of certain linguistic dogmas. But there is a fundamental failure to recognise that what drives the so-called ‘PC Lefty’ is not pedantry or cold intellectualism, but universalism and tolerance, the highest of liberal motives, and a disgust for the outmoded racial and gender slurs of the past.

My final example is of the disservice done to the ‘forces of conservatism’, as the Right Honourable Tony Blair put it. Conservatism might well be the most heavily criticised of the ‘big three’. A common view of Conservatism, particularly of its ‘Thatcherite’ manifestation, is that Conservatism, or Thatcherism, is nothing more than an ideological veil for selfishness, acquisitiveness, and callousness in respect of the vulnerable. If that was seriously the case, then it would not bode well that this particularly nasty variant won three or four, depending on your point of view, election victories.

What is to be done?

This pamphlet calls for a dialogue between the forces of the ‘Left’ and ‘Right’; for an end to political and intellectual sectarianism, and for a renewed debate over issues of substance. When we draw back from the intensity and bitterness of human rivalry, we have human beings with ideals – ideals, in my opinion, which all hold validity. Put simply, this pamphlet will try to emphasis the need for us to appreciate one another more.