When Ideology Becomes Idiotology

By Larry Pinkney

“Today everybody is talking about the fact that we live in one world; because of globalization, we are all part of the same planet. They talk that way, but do they mean it? We should remind them that the words of the Declaration [of Independence] apply not only to people in this country, but also to people all over the world. People everywhere have the same right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. When the government becomes destructive of that, then it is patriotic to dissent and to criticize—to do what we always praise and call heroic when we look upon the dissenters and critics in totalitarian countries who dare to speak out.”—Howard Zinn

There are certain fundamental principles that are universal to the entirerainbow of the human family irrespective of color, gender, or nationality.

Many people in the United States are trapped on the mental plantations of debilitating and archaic left/right ideologies that, in this 21st century, are overwhelmingly self-serving for the elite that propagate and perpetuate them. The American Heritage College dictionary defines the word ideology, in relevant part as, “A set of doctrines or beliefs that form the basis of a political, economic, or other system.” It is urgent that we recognize the need to creatively evolve, and utilize new tactics and strategies that are genuinely inclusive of and for the needs and legitimate aspirations of everyday ordinary Black, White, Brown, Red, and Yellow people collectively.

We everyday people can ill afford to remain stuck on the mental plantations of the phony left/right paradigm in the U.S., with its concomitant stagnant and controlling ideologies. The basis for real political, economic, and social change in this nation is critical thinking and must be deeply rooted in simplicity, honesty, universal principles of justice, vision, constant creativity, and inclusiveness. This does not happen by osmosis. It requires consciousness and work—lots of work! It also requires a willingness to free ourselves from the mental plantations of left/right dogma.

If we insist upon being locked into a single rigid ideology and are unwilling to free ourselves from the phony left/right paradigm in this nation (whether embodied by the Democrat and Republican parties or by other so-called leftist or rightist groups and/or organizations) we are not learning from our collective histories and will find ourselves beholden to, in what is in essence, a confining, anti-creative idiotology.

We humans have the wonderful capacity to grow and evolve. We need to awaken and utilize that capacity while there is yet time for humanity and for our Mother Earth. Time really is of the essence.

What does being a CRITICAL THINKER really mean?

Being a critical thinker means that we consciously and deliberately think outside of the confines of the incessant and confining narrative that is propagated by the national and global corporate power elite. It means that we stop accepting as fact the disinformation, misinformation of the corporate-stream media.

Being a critical thinker means that we reclaim and actualize our independent research and reasoning processes as growing and evolving wondrous human beings.

We humans are not idiots and we must not allow ourselves to be confined in, or stay entrapped in, idiotology (i.e., ideologies that demand that we dare not be creative in our thinking and analysis). We must always remember that we everyday ordinary Black, White, Brown, Red, and Yellow people are the catalyst and engine for genuine systemic change.

Remember the powerful and still very relevant words of the late Steve Biko: “The most potent weapon in the hands of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed.”

We everyday people are in this struggle together and we will collectively change this irretrievably corrupt political system TOGETHER!

Each one, reach one. Each one, teach one. Onward, then, my sisters and brothers. Onward!