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I do believe we live in an age without ideology. At least in western civilizations (or what is called such) there is no main paradigm or ideology except consumerism that helps people to decide what is right and what is wrong, what to do and what not to do, and finally what their life is worth. Consumerism as such answers all these questions (it is right to buy, it is wrong to not buy or repair, your life is worth as much as you are able to consume) but it is a fake. Buying will never bring the satisfaction or the fulfillment of the promises that advertisement, public relations and design has put around the goods that retail hands out to you. Because if it would bring that satisfaction, then your will to buy something else would stop and then consumerism would stop. Of course, consumerism is not an ideology or a church, even though there are analogies, it is the meta-symptomatic of our capitalist system of democracy and if you truly and honestly ask me about my opinion, then I would say, yes this system has many flaws but goddamn, learn to live with it as it is the best system imaginable.

The globalization and the internet have brought many new trends and traits into this system but they haven’t yet changed the underlying system in any significant way. New economy is a fake and crowd intelligence is in no way better than expert intelligence, no matter what the computer whiz kid around the corner might say. But back to the main point: will globalization and the internet bring along a new ideology? Some online visionaries want to make us think so, but apart from a few truisms and analogies they can’t yet tell us what it will be.

The questions we have to ask of our system run a lot deeper than this, actually. If there is no ruling ideology*, does our society and civilization need one? Maybe we can go without one and nevertheless not beat each other’s heads to pulp. If it really needs one, where will the new one come from and what will it be? Islam is big on the rise I many parts of Europe, not only in circles of orthodox immigrants and their kids.** On the other hand I do have a lot of faith in the fascination and dreams that capitalism and its output as products and advertisement can insert into people. Capitalism has brought down the Berlin wall and it will also bring peace to the Middle East. Just you wait another decade or so and you will see.

Sustainability and living healthy could be another source for a unifying ideology for our western civilizations, at least in the richest and oldest parts – as they have enough money to fund that lifestyle and it is just hard to see the USA turn anywhere close to healthy or ecologically minded anywhere in the near future. A ruling class made up of people knowing what is good and healthy for you doesn’t sound too bad as long as it doesn’t turn into a macrobiotic tyranny of green fashists. Just as I don’t want to march under the banner of any dumb god I surely don’t want to wave the flag of the tomato. Maybe, again and again, we should return to the little sentence that Monty Phyton ended their “meaning of life” documentary with, as it holds all the wisdom regarding our subject that I can think of: “Read a few good books, take out the trash, and try to live in peace and respect with people of all sorts and manners.” Thank you.

*)if there is no ideology – nowhere in this little text have I proven that there is none. I even described the outlines of something that could be one. So the first question actually should be, is there nor ruling ideology?

**) Me, personally, I would not want to live in a society ruled by the writings of a religious class, but I am a godless heathen anyway. Being a godless heathen does not mean I go out and kill innocent animals in backyard in very cruel fashion, so I have no problem with being one. If you have a problem with me being one, then that is your problem.

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