Ideologues

Ideologues, like Representative Paul Ryan from Wisconsin, are dangerous. They are dangerous because they seek power rather than consensus. Ryan wishes to impose his Libertarian ideas on the nation. His identification and collusion with Tea Party ideologues is an indication of his motives, despite his verbal assertions that he wishes to help the poor and save the nation through financial manipulations. 

This stated motivation is obviously a sham. Mr. Ryan is in the pocket of big business and the financial moguls who brought us the current depression, which his sort continue to call a recession. And this depression in the U.S. is no accident. Dismantling workers' rights by creating massive unemployment is no accident. Ryan's assertions that the current government is to fault for the state of the economy are laughable. Ryan was a strong supporter of the Bush administration policies which brought the country to ruin.

Ideologues prescribe. Thinkers share. Elected officials should carry out the consensus of the many. They should not tell people what to think. They should listen to the people. 

Ideologues are often fond of religion. After all, the absolute power of a god is what they themselves aspire to. They see themselves as the ordained, the offspring of the omniscient and omnipotent. This too is why they are dangerous. 

True humanism in practice is not prone to hijacking by ideologues. It is based in science, skepticism and good old common sense. Humanists are thinkers, who are prone to conversation, sharing and consensus building. The humanist tends not to idealize leaders, since humanist values are based in human equality and the greater good. 

This election year raises the old religious crusade against basic human rights in favor of ideological control. Denial of LGBT rights, denial of women's rights, denial of government responsibility for the general welfare of all citizens.