Tips for Thinking Critically About Political Beliefs
How to distinguish beliefs from facts and applying this to engaging politics..
Posted May 7, 2021 | Reviewed by Davia Sills
It’s been over 100 days now since Joe Biden took office as U.S. President, and whether you believe the change to be for better or worse is irrelevant because, essentially, we’re looking at belief systems here. Consistent with a previous post on this blog a few years back, one must acknowledge that, given the existence of at least two political sides in most Western societies, there exists more than one perspective on how a country should be run and its people governed. As I also mentioned in that post, if there was one true, correct way to conduct these tasks, then we would probably have adopted it by now.
But there isn’t one true, correct way—each and every individual has their own set of beliefs on how said tasks should be done. Of course, you might try to change other people’s minds , but getting someone to change their mind is not easy, especially if you’re trying to get them to change their beliefs . The problem with beliefs is that they aren’t necessarily factual, as implied above—just because you believe something to be true doesn’t make it so.
Moreover, someone’s politics are a set of beliefs developed in light of what they believe to be right and just. This issue throws a further spanner into the works, given that the concept of what is morally "right" or "just" is by no means universal. Morality and the concepts of right and wrong are relative—what is unjust to some might be no problem for another, and likewise, what one believes to be right might be perceived as completely unjust to another.
Again, this is why political debate lives on. In my last post on politics , I recommended that people who value critical thinking should avoid party affiliations and take on a centrist role if they are to engage political debate, recognizing the strengths and weaknesses of each party and making judgments in light of these about how they believe their country should be run and its people governed. In this piece, I maintain that perspective but also argue that "siding" with the left or right is a rather pointless endeavor.
One of my pet peeves (yes, I’m aware that subjective emotion is at play here) is when people quote historical figures to help support the point they’re trying to make, such as in social media posts, without really understanding the figure’s background or even the context from which the quote originates. I often see quotes by Karl Marx regarding the evils of capitalism and, on the other hand, quotes from Adam Smith regarding the great benefits of capitalism. Given that both these individuals are long deceased, the reality is that neither truly understands the nature of capitalism—or communism (or socialism for that matter)—as we know them in the 21st century. Likewise, the people who generally quote either of these historical figures often don’t really understand the foundations or historical context from which these two were speaking. Hell, many people today confuse socialism and communism!
Is capitalism evil? No. Is communism evil? No. Neither construct is evil. In fact, both were "developed" in an effort to benefit society as best as possible. What makes them appear "evil" is the potential for corruption of the system, and many readers of this blog know a little something about human nature from a psychological basis—people will generally select actions that self-preserve, self-serve, and self-protect. As a result, people—who are fallible—will, from time to time, make decisions that benefit themselves at the cost of others to some extent, thus facilitating the potential for corruption.
Regular readers of this blog will also know that I am not an advocate of using personal experience as the primary rationale for a decision, but in this case, I use it to support the logic I provided above. I’ve lived in two countries in my life—one with a "capitalist slant" and one with a "socialist slant."
Guess what?
They both have their positives, and they both have their negatives, and neither is fully devoid of alleged corruption. For those who have only lived in one type of country and focus on the negatives of living there, it’s only likely that from this "unhappiness," you will wonder if "the grass is greener on the other side." However, if you think critically about it, you’ll see both the negatives and the positives.
So, with that, I have a recommendation. If you are truly against how your country is run, you could consider leaving it and living in another country where you think things are better. I don’t mean that in the old "like it or leave it" way; I genuinely mean it as a considered, viable alternative.
Of course, you must also recognize that if you live in a country where you are allowed to leave, that country probably isn’t as bad as you think it is. Alternatively… and I hate using such a clichéd phrase, but "be the change you want to see in the world"—or your country at least. That is, consider entering politics.
Start small and run for local office, making contributions all along your rise. If you don’t win office, it might just be that not enough people agree with how you think things should be run—indicating, also, that not everyone shares your beliefs . Then again, if you don’t care enough about being that change or doing anything about what you see as wrong (other than simply pointing out the negatives), then you should probably do something else other than thinking about politics. Having that kind of negativity in your life is not good for your mental well-being!
Now, please don’t misinterpret my position as implying that politics are pointless. They aren’t. What I am saying is that the level to which people seem to have been riled up over politics in recent years, without doing anything productive about it, is pointless and is seriously lacking in critical thought. If you’re politically minded, great—do something contextually productive. If not, that’s fine too—vote for the candidate that you trust more than the others, in terms of believing that they will do the things that best reflect your beliefs of how things should be done and how people should be governed.
Christopher Dwyer, Ph.D., is a lecturer at the Technological University of the Shannon in Athlone, Ireland.
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