Ideological Primary Colors

There are many colors, many shades of these colors too, but they all are but mixtures of three primary colors: red, yellow, and blue. Similarly, there are many different political perspectives, but they are all derivative of a small number of elemental ideologies. If they could be understood the way elements are understood in chemistry, perhaps the way ideologies interact with each other over time can be more predictable.

In 2012, I published a book that focused on this purely abstract political philosophy to better understand how our political culture might be changing. It turned out to be worth my time. My book predicted the phenomenon that made Donald Trump’s election possible four years later.

What then are those primary ideologies, the basic intellectual ingredients to which all political worldviews are made of? I’m going to hold off on saying here what I think they are. For those of you who haven’t read my book, you’re going to have to wait until next Friday.

Instead, I’d like to first hear from you. In the comment section below, post a description of what you think the primary ideologies are.

Eric Shierman lives in Salem and is also the author of We were winning when I was there.