ideologies

We look at society and conclude it could be better. Ideologies articulate what a better society should look like while also providing a roadmap and set of tools to get there.

Conservatism

The ideology for those distrustful of ideologies, Conservatism starts from the premise that while society could be better, there is no single end that is objectively or necessarily ideal or optimal. Consequently progress has to be a matter of trial and error, a heuristic process that looks for incremental, pragmatic change rather than radical, dogmatic reform. At least, that was how it used to be.

Liberalism

We start from the premise that no one has any right to tell me to do anything I don't want to do. Great, that makes perfect sense. But what if my choices are based on a limited understanding of my potential? And if we accept that, to what extent is the state allowed to help me to help myself?

Socialism

To what extent can the individual thrive outside the community? Indeed, can the individual in isolation? We can accept individual identity but does not the realisation of that individual's capacity have some communitarian aspect? Socialism argues that cooperation is just as much a feature of the human condition as competition and the key to human fulfilment is in the balancing of the two.

Feminism

What is the patriarchy? Where does it start, where does it stop and how is it to be challenged? What does it mean to be equal, and in which senses are men and women equal and in which different, and which matters more?

Ecologism

Save the planet! What?! Are these fucking people kidding me?!

The planet isn’t going anywhere - we are!

The planet will be here, we’ll be long gone; just another failed mutation; just another closed-end biological mistake; an evolutionary cul-de-sac. The planet will shake us off like a bad case of fleas, a surface nuisance. George Carlin

So what are we going to do about that and, critically, what part does civilisation play in any reckoning and is it worth saving?