On 9/2/2010 1:27 PM, Doug Henwood wrote:
>> This produces the classic political dynamic, where debates on critical issues play out with the right making broad ideological appeals and the left appealing to facts and pie charts. The right's ability to mobilize ideology is almost always what causes it to win these debates (when it wins).
> But I think the "ideology" taps into "common sense" - received wisdom, imprinted patterns, cultural/political instincts. That's why it's so easy for the right to make it work for them.
>
Absolutely. But received wisdom and cultural-political instincts aren't primordial. They can change. More importantly, they can be reinterpreted, with old concepts given new meanings and certain themes elevated at the expense of others. This is what the right *does* when it it does ideology.
SA