Ideological Differences: Flipping both the sides of the coin...

‘Ideology’, as the word suggests, refers to the shared beliefs, thoughts and perspectives of an individual, community or a group pertaining to a specific concept or subject. Hence, ideological differences are the variations and differences in ideology among individuals or groups related to social, economic or political subjects. Especially with respect to any country, one can relate these differences to different perspectives in religion, governance, polity, power, philosophy, customs and rituals, ethics etc. These subjects are sensitive enough to have a fixed and consistent view. Thus, they differ from person to person, community to community within a country.

For example, a group may believe in prioritizing improvement in education, while the other may consider economy as the priority. So there exists an ideological difference related to development within two groups. Every coin has two faces, similarly, the influence of difference of ideologies over a country’s progress can be positive as well as negative. That is, there can be a mixed impact. Positively, ideological differences let people accommodate widened thoughts and broaden their scope of vision to analyze certain things. In the past, there are numerous mentions relating to ideological differences and their consequences which affected the countries in a positive way and helped the people to proceed forward. For instance, during French revolution, the citizens of France were divided into three main groups; Radicals, Liberals and Conservatives, each of them having a distinct view about governance and reforms. Their ideological differences brought a major breakthrough in reforms in France socially, politically and culturally. Such revolutions also influenced other countries to adapt to changes and take positives from differences in ideologies. People are exposed to multiple, mixed opinions and thoughts over a common subject. For a country, they expand scope of democracy, allowing it to have a fair and balanced governance. It eliminates biased solutions to deal with country’s issues. A recent example of positive impact of ideological difference is the introduction of article 377 in India, which have benefitted the LGBT community and helped them to own their right, leading to social growth of country. Another prominent example reflecting an advantage of ideological difference is the ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement, which imbibed a sense of equality within people and helped them to realize a need for reforms in America. Therefore, the differences allow one to realize pros and cons of country’s existing system and rule out its flaws by considering the differences and evolving system over a period of time. With omnidirectional vision and broader views, there is a probability of fair decision-making process, better analysis of issues, elimination of loopholes in a system and encompassing almost every sphere of thoughts. Ideological differences create a flexible governance and functioning. Imagine a country with people having common ideologies, peace remains. However, growth is static, since people stick to a common belief, refraining from accepting different opinions and adapting to change.

On the other hand, there exists a probability that ideological differences relating to social, political and economic aspects lead to instability within a society, community or a group due to the sensitivity of issues and subjects. Many a times, ideological differences create a mental block which prevent people from exposing themselves to mixed opinions, sometimes leading to them having a hard-wired vision. Moreover, miscommunication or misinterpretation of facts arise from these differences, leading to chaotic situations and communal differences, which hinders a country’s progress somehow. Although the ideological differences let every view to be in picture, but decision-making process becomes complex when people with different opinions clash, and refuse to accept a policy or rule in a country. The chance of acceptance and agreement to a specific policy reduce to an extent. Despite having varying types of influence of ideologies and their differences over a country, they can act as a crucial factor contributing to the growth and progress of a country. Human beings always prefer dynamism. Hence, their thoughts, beliefs or philosophy can be dynamic as well, creating ideological differences among them. This dynamism of ideologies leads a country to the path of development and evolution, if it is accepted positively with time.

However, it depends on the people of a country to make ideological differences either a catalyst or inhibitor for country’s growth and development. If ideologies are accepted with varied views, their negative impact is highly reduced, therefore contributing to flexibility of adapting to changes and ability of giving birth to newer and smarter ideas to bring necessary

reforms within a country.