July 16, 2016
Dear Subscriber:
Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. This week’s theme is revolution, in honor of Bastille Day, which falls on July 14.
Today’s poem is a set of proverbs on ideology.
I welcome comments on my poems at http://nicholasgordon.blogspot.com.
Yours,
Nick Gordon
PROVERBS ON IDEOLOGY
1. Ideology is like blinders that allow a horse to go in a single direction without distraction.
2. It is more satisfying, logical, and effective to see life as a coherent whole. It is also reductive.
3. Religion is more or less ideological depending on the degree of fundamentalism.
4. A cult is an extreme instance of ideology.
5. What makes ideology so attractive is that it simplifies life, allowing the current of feeling to flow unimpeded by eddies and counter-currents. Which is precisely what makes it so dangerous.
6. People who adopt an ideology sometimes feel as though they have been reborn into a world in which their lives have purpose and meaning. Naturally, they then come to deny or ignore any part of truth that threatens that precious sense.
7. A cult of personality is a common feature of ideology, which is often personified by a charismatic authority figure who takes advantage of the fact that his or her followers have abandoned skepticism.
8. Far more evil is done by people who believe they are doing good than by people who believe they are doing evil.
Dear Subscriber:
Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. This week’s theme is revolution, in honor of Bastille Day, which falls on July 14.
Today’s poem is a set of proverbs on ideology.
I welcome comments on my poems at http://nicholasgordon.blogspot.com.
Yours,
Nick Gordon
PROVERBS ON IDEOLOGY
1. Ideology is like blinders that allow a horse to go in a single direction without distraction.
2. It is more satisfying, logical, and effective to see life as a coherent whole. It is also reductive.
3. Religion is more or less ideological depending on the degree of fundamentalism.
4. A cult is an extreme instance of ideology.
5. What makes ideology so attractive is that it simplifies life, allowing the current of feeling to flow unimpeded by eddies and counter-currents. Which is precisely what makes it so dangerous.
6. People who adopt an ideology sometimes feel as though they have been reborn into a world in which their lives have purpose and meaning. Naturally, they then come to deny or ignore any part of truth that threatens that precious sense.
7. A cult of personality is a common feature of ideology, which is often personified by a charismatic authority figure who takes advantage of the fact that his or her followers have abandoned skepticism.
8. Far more evil is done by people who believe they are doing good than by people who believe they are doing evil.
© by Nicholas Gordon
Hear or watch me recite this poem and listen to the music I chose for it at http://www.poemsforfree.com/ideopr.html. For more political poems, go to http://www.poemsforfree.com/politicalpoems.html .
This week’s theme: Revolution.
July 11: Beware of the Future: We Are the Ancien Régime
July 12: Everything We Thought Was True Was Not True
July 13: Those Who Have Power and No Pity
July 14: Beware of Inequalities Too Wide
July 15: The World Might Well Be Remedied
July 16: Proverbs on Ideology
Hear or watch me recite this poem and listen to the music I chose for it at http://www.poemsforfree.com/ideopr.html. For more political poems, go to http://www.poemsforfree.com/politicalpoems.html .
This week’s theme: Revolution.
July 11: Beware of the Future: We Are the Ancien Régime
July 12: Everything We Thought Was True Was Not True
July 13: Those Who Have Power and No Pity
July 14: Beware of Inequalities Too Wide
July 15: The World Might Well Be Remedied
July 16: Proverbs on Ideology
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