The more I think about it, I think the worst thing someone can do is subscribe to a single ideology (i.e. "liberal", "conservative", "socialist"), and think because they are that ideology, all their positions have been laid out for them.
The world is too complex for any one ideology to always be correct and have no hypocracy within it.
Furthermore, when people try to subscribe to a single party, sometimes that party just picks up positions to be anti-the other party, even if that anti-position is just bad.
I feel like the best thing we can do is think about individual issues, and think about solutions that will make the biggest positive impact on the most people possible, and/or will improve the position of our country as a whole.
Ik that sounds vague and corny, but I think it's the truth.
Why would what you are describing be bad? Most people are not politicians and do not need to have a position on every issue. Coming up with one is a waste of time and mental energy that could be more profitably applied to any other activity. I try not to think about individual issues.
I agree that regular people do not need to have nuanced policy positions on every issue; realistically you can't expect them too.
The issue imo is that subscribing to a party or ideology gives on the belief they are an expert on every issue just because they go along with the partisan talking point. I think one thing we could use is greater humility and acknowledgement of the issues we honestly might not be very well informed on.
I for instance don't have a great understanding of economics of international politics (like trade, wars, ect). I tend to stay out of discussions around those and am much more willing to listen to those who are actually experts to inform my views. On the flip side, on something like redistricting (and electoral politics more generally), I feel like I have become somewhat an expert in my own right and feel comfortable developing my own unique position.
I think we should think of "ideology" more as a set of values we hold highest. Those values can vary from person to person, but their values should really be around how they *think* about issues, not giving positions for them.
Ig if people want they can still assign themselves an ideological label. But that label should represent their general values and how they think, not their slate of policy positions.
Someone can "think like a conservative" meaning they place values of freedom for as many as possible, independence, ect) but still end up supporting policy positions that are generally associated with liberals, or vice-versa.
