Ideology

When Albert Camus visited the United States, he gave a talk at Columbia University in French that was attended by 1200 people. One of his topics was an exploration of what had made Hitler's rise to power possible.  Camus argued that the most significant factor had been an emphasis on ideology at the expense of human dignity. What he meant was that Fascism rose out black and white thinking, out of ideological rigidity, out of a refusal to compromise, out of a total rejection of the other side's ideas, out of a rejection of some people's humanity.

President Obama came into office determined to listen to all sides on important issues. In theory that is what a good leader does. In practice things may not go well if you are faced with rigid ideology, whether it comes from the right or left. Obama's own humanity has come under constant fire, including attempts to deny he was born in this country and attempts to blame him for matters over which a President has no control.

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