Where does ideology come from?

Where does ideology come from? What makes policy and politics into doctrine and creed? The answer: the narrative structure in which the politics is understood and is seen as playing itself out. 

• Ideology = policy + values + myth. 

The myth defines the given context in which the policies and the values get played out. If the ideology is about struggle, be that struggle happening between races, peoples, corporations or classes, it is likely to have an angry tinge and it is likely not to have a clear sense of limits. 

The proper question is how does myth develop? If myth comes from people's wrestling with want and threat, it should not be surprising that ideologies tend to end up insatiable and angry. 

Ideology is the modern day manifestation of anthropology. When anthropology collides with politics we get ideology. When the society goes from feast to famine it needs a way of preserving the self-understanding of abundance and security. 

Likely that is the task of the women in society. Even when things are hard, mothers and wives still need to maintain the spirits of their children and husbands. They must keep clear the vision of good times and beneficence. It is the mother nature that needs to maintain, sustain, refresh, renew. 

The culture of resilience involves preserving the myth of abundance and security.