b. ㉢ Three Characteristics of Ideological Action

㉢ Three Characteristics of Ideological Action

 

The ideological capacity of political actors centers around ideologies with specific contents, and these contents have the following important attributes (note that these are attributes of the content of the ideology, not the attributes of the ideological capacity itself).

 

         [Ch.4.16] The ideologies held by political actors have three attributes: ① persistence, ② diversity, and ③ extremity.

 

Firstly, the persistence of an ideology refers to the fact that the content of an ideology, such as religion, thought, or doctrine, is slowly generated, lasts for a long time, and fades away gradually. The Arab Empire disappeared long ago, but the Quran and theology of Islam, which were both the religion and political ideology of the Arab Empire, and the Arabic language as a religious language, have spread and survived in many parts of Asia and Africa that never experienced Arab rule. The Latin-speaking Roman Empire vanished a thousand years ago, but Latin as the religious language of Catholicism and its cultural thought still remain today.

 

Secondly, ideologies have diversity. This means that the content and types of ideologies are not singular but rather diverse. The source of this diversity lies in the fact that ideologies are composed of subjective notions rather than objective entities. Ideological values can vary extremely depending on history and culture, and even excluding such cases, the diversity of ideological values fundamentally leads to various differences in political positions. For example, in regard to the 1937 massacre in Nanjing, China, the Tokyo Yushukan Museum in Japan argues that it was necessary to stop the 'terrorist activities' of the Chinese people, while the Nanjing Massacre Memorial Hall in China emphasizes the injustice by pointing out the fact that 300,000 people were killed in just six weeks. As is often seen in religious heresy disputes, minor differences and diversity in ideological power can lead to serious conflicts, unlike the cases with military or economic power.

 

Thirdly, there is an attribute of extremity in the content of ideologies. This means that ideologies (i.e., people's values) often justify extreme actions, such as massive loss of life and brutal slaughter. As seen in the incidents of Jews persecuting and massacring Christians in southern Arabia in the early 6th century or the Nazis slaughtering Jews, religious and cultural differences frequently lead to cruel massacres throughout history. The Nanjing Massacre was influenced by Japan's militaristic ideology and samurai spirit, while the mass killings in Cambodia from 1975 to 1979 were rooted in communist ideology.