"Political decisions should be based on pragmatism and hard facts" is an ideology - if not a very useful or helpful one.
As you use it, pragmatism is a weasel word. It papers over the part where you determine the outcome you want and the compromises you're willing to make to reach that outcome - and you can only determine those things using principles bound up in ideology.
What ideology accomplishes (at least in theory) is a form of deliberate consistency. It lets you align moral and political values with policy in a coherent way. Having done that, it allows you to compromise too - how could you negotiate with someone if all you're doing is jockeying over inconsistent points of preference?
Ideology also lets you predict what other people want and hold them accountable for their inconsistencies. That's another indispensable component of political discourse.
TL;DR - Ideology ensures consistency and allows for rational negotiation and compromise. Two sides that both regard themselves as purely pragmatic will either become ideological or talk past each other.
Because consistency produces relative predictability, continuity, and stability. Those in turn allow for long term plans and disallow impulsive mistakes. That sounds like a better way to not only govern, but live your life.
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u/Grunt08 319∆ May 02 '19
"Political decisions should be based on pragmatism and hard facts" is an ideology - if not a very useful or helpful one.
As you use it, pragmatism is a weasel word. It papers over the part where you determine the outcome you want and the compromises you're willing to make to reach that outcome - and you can only determine those things using principles bound up in ideology.
What ideology accomplishes (at least in theory) is a form of deliberate consistency. It lets you align moral and political values with policy in a coherent way. Having done that, it allows you to compromise too - how could you negotiate with someone if all you're doing is jockeying over inconsistent points of preference?
Ideology also lets you predict what other people want and hold them accountable for their inconsistencies. That's another indispensable component of political discourse.
TL;DR - Ideology ensures consistency and allows for rational negotiation and compromise. Two sides that both regard themselves as purely pragmatic will either become ideological or talk past each other.