It is difficult to free fools from their chains they revere.

– Voltaire

(Note: This is meant to be a simple introduction. More detailed posts will come, and this post will be updated to reflect that.)

Ideologies do not just spring up and take over. There is a process for their formation. More importantly, there needs to be a process of ideological preservation. If an ideology does not have the means to preserve itself, it will eventually fall prone to fracture. The fracturing process has occurred naturally both in academic and political contexts, such as within the GOP or in psychology (especially with Freud). Ideologues have no interest in this fracture, as they would lose the ideology they are dependent on for so many reasons.

The ideological preservation process is complex and has several tools available for use:

• Reshaping Process – The reshaping process reshapes thoughts or ideas to fit an ideology. There are 3 steps to this process: ignorance, dismissal, and reshaping. Ignorance and dismissal are simple enough. Reshaping occurs when a conflicting idea is explained within the confines of the ideology. The result are statements such as “Men are victims of the patriarchy too.”
• Moldy Pretzel Theory  – Moldy pretzel theory applies when a conflicting idea is distorted and left undesirable. This works as both a tool of preservation and one of recruitment.
• Self-fulfilling Theories – These are theories, who by their very existence, cause the very trouble they are trying to solve. Marxism itself is a large self-fulfilling ideology. Putting people into groups that are opposed to each other does not solve racial, economic, or gender relations. Stereotype threat is another example. By stating that minorities perform worse academically due to notions that they underperform, the notion that minorities perform worse is simply reinforced.
• Oversimplification – Oversimplification is when an idea is narrowed down to destroy any nuance associated with it. This occurs with ideas that the ideology accepts and as well as opposes. Terminological takeover is a more sustained example of this.
• Non-Arguments – One of the most prevalent preservation tools. Labelling and political tribalism are one simple method. Circular perceptives are another.

The preservation process has many moving parts. Certain ideologies are better at preserving themselves than others. Feminism is by far the most evolved because it is the only ideology to hit the everyday mainstream. As an ideology becomes more popular, the more defense is needed. Ideologies such as the religious right have these techniques, but are less effective as not everyone is religious. Marxism, despite being evolved academically, has difficulty entering the mainstream due to the radical nature of its ideals. Marxism has of course co-opted the feminist movement (one can argue that it always has) and gained popularity that way, but when detached from feminism the ideology is less effective at preservation, albeit it is still in close control due to its relation to academia.

The result of these posts is to hopefully demonstrate these processes, how they work, and most importantly, how (or if) they can be defeated. This framework applies to all ideologies, and examples from different ideologies will be utilized.