Proverbs on Ideological Idealism

September 20, 2018

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. The theme for this week is good and evil in honor of Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement, which begins on September 18.

I welcome comments on my poems at https://nicholasgordon.blogspot.com .

A set of proverbs about the evil of ideological idealism:

PROVERBS ON IDEOLOGICAL IDEALISM

1.         Ideological idealism is an idealism that is so sure it is right that it is willing to impose its vision on an unwilling world.

2.         Ideals ought to be mountains to guide one’s chosen way, not blueprints for a prison to keep people behind bars for their own good.

3.         Non-ideological idealists devote their lives first to people and then perhaps to an organization or cause. Ideological idealists devote their lives first to an organization or cause and then perhaps to people.

4.         Cynicism, lust, and greed tend to cause less evil than ideological idealism since their evil is committed in pursuit of some limited selfish end, whereas the evil of ideological idealism is committed in pursuit of unachievable ends and therefore knows no bounds.

5.         One ought not be frightened away from idealism by the dangers of ideological idealism since once the differences between them become apparent, it should not be difficult to devote oneself to one and avoid the other.

© by Nicholas Gordon

If you enjoyed this poem, please like, comment on, or share it so that it might be seen and enjoyed by others. To see this poem on my site, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/provid.html. For more philosophical poems, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/philosophicalpoems.html .

This week’s theme: Good and Evil

9/17: Cynicism Comes from Self-Disgust

9/18: You Wrap Your Mind Around the Consequence

9/19: Year After Year, You Promise to Atone

9/20: Proverbs on Ideological Idealism