Ideals and Idealism

Everyone’s ideals differ just as everyone has their own morals and the two are often
closely related. Whether they are inherited from religion, an upbringing, or study and meditation
the morals we accept are entirely our own even if they happen to coincide with the majority or a
5specific faction. Ideals are like this too because they are largely governed by your accepted moral
code. Actually come to think of it our ideals are really just moral extremism, the way we want
the world or ourselves and others to be, the way they should be as far as we are concerned.
“Blind idealism,” as it often referred to, would be more accurately coined puerile
idealism as most ‘blind’ idealists are believers in their own perfect utopia and values not because
10they are purposefully blind but because they are innocently naïve in most cases. It is the puerile
idealists who can see paradise and believe it is possible to achieve in life even if it is only their
own creative version of a better or perfect world.
Idealism is excessively and wrongly scoffed at, most notable by politicians and
government, but detractors of idealism can be found nearly anywhere in this world of growing
15cynicism and sarcasm. Opponents of idealism usually argue that it is ‘wrong’ or ‘a waste’ to
pursue the ‘impossible’ goals of idealism. This is true blindness and ignorance. First of all
‘impossible’ is a product of the irrational imagination so it cannot be used in rational or logical
pursuits or decisions. We may say improbable or unlikely and we can admit that we cannot see
or understand a possibility but only an all knowing intelligence has an authority to deem
20something impossible as only this sort of intelligence could be aware of all the possibilities. No
human can rightly claim this and neither can any group or organization. It would be the same as
calling one’s self God to try. As for impossible ideals I doubt there are many people claiming to
be God so we shall take ‘impossible’ to infer our personal failure to recognize possibilities. As
such, to claim that someone else’s idealism is impossible to achieve is to admit that you as an
25individual cannot (or do not want to) see how it might be accomplished. It is to admit that you
are either unwilling to see things from the idealists’ perspective or else that you are not creative
enough to do so. Unwillingness to share someone’s perspective is a form of ignorance, a choice
to be blind and uninformed and the inability to do so would indicate some mental issues usually
boiling down to an unwillingness of one degree or another.

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30 Between the ignorant who claim impossibility and the naïve who believe in their own
idealism I prefer the naïve although most people are somewhere in between. But this does not
end our discourse because it is not complete without addressing this middle ground: the wise.
Wisdom is the balance between ignorance and naïveté when it comes to idealism.
Wisdom doesn’t scoff at the unknowing naïve as the ignorant do nor cling endlessly to personal
35thoughts and values as does puerile idealism. Wisdom recognizes the benefits of striving for
improbable goals for the sake of progress and accomplishment as do the naïve and does not fear
failure as the ignorant do. Wisdom also recognizes that every individual has their own ideals
which are incompatible with others’ ideals and, most importantly, recognizes that because ideals
and idealism are individual thought-forms, organizations and governments cannot have ideals as
40any attempt to create ‘group ideals’ must involve compromise and once ideals are compromised
they are no longer ideal for anyone.
This is the curse of organization and the blessing of individual freedom and liberty.
The founders of the American nation recognized the fact that government cannot serve up
‘ideals’ for everyone but also recognized the importance of allowing the individual to have and
45pursue their own ideals so long as such pursuits do not infringe upon other individuals’ rights to
pursue their own ideals. This is essentially what the United States Constitution and Bill of Rights
was originally implemented for: to insure that individual liberties continue to exist even as they
may conflict with other ideals and organizations that have far greater influences. Freedom of
speech, right to bare arms, and innocence until proven guilty among other freedoms ‘guaranteed’
50by America’s founding fathers were put in place for the individual first and foremost.
Unfortunately it has been the individual who has contributed to the eradication and muffling of
these rights by means of erroneous thinking which occasionally leads to legal action of equally
ridiculous nature. These petty bickerings are caused by the ignorant that refuse to see things from
others’ perspectives and refuse to acknowledge others’ ideals for what they are.
55 Take, for example, people who would pursue legal action because they are ‘threatened’
or sexually ‘harassed.’ Physically I can see how this is an infringement of one’s right to ‘pursuit
of happiness’ or ideals, but verbally? I don’t buy it. Nowhere in any country, state, county or
town is anyone legally guaranteed comfort or security, period! We are guaranteed freedom of
speech so if what I, or anyone, have to say makes someone or some group uncomfortable or
60insecure . . . too bad! Unless what is said is slanderous nothing is affecting one’s right to pursue

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 life, liberty, happiness, etc. Our forefathers knew this. They recognized that a person cannot
affect another’s right to pursue happiness or well-being by words alone unless that ‘victim’
allows others’ words to have such an inhibitory effect.
Laws concerning verbal threats and harassment protect no one, such laws only protect the
65practice of ignorance. Such laws shun and inhibit the idealism and sharing of ideals that our
forefathers were hoping to protect by trying to ensure freedom of speech. Unfortunately
precedent has caused us to become a nation of overly sensitive, extremely, socially self-
conscious dandies, ninnies, pansies and idiots who are so worried about offending others and
being sued or criminally charged that no one dares to tell it how it is without ‘committing career
70suicide’ or being ‘politically incorrect!’ We have become a society of half-truths, connotations,
and implications where saying what you mean is ‘inarticulate’ and boldly speaking objective
truth is criminally offensive. We have become a close minded and terrified child of a nation
indeed, and all because we as individuals do not have the courage to embrace the fantastic,
ridiculous, and absurd ideals of our own much less of others.
75 Enough of ‘realism’ as it is a pessimistic cynical thing of its own anymore. Let me return
to the optimism inherent in idealism hidden within the individual.
Aim for the heavens, the improbable, for even if you don’t make it to your goal at least
you will find yourself amongst the stars. This is what idealism is all about: Trying. Little was
ever accomplished without trying. Although one’s efforts may yield entirely unexpected results,
80effort is still exerted.
Most ideals are dismissed as ‘impossible’ or improbable because we live in a world of
immediate gratification spawned by technology and habit forming chemicals. I want it and I
want it NOW! Or even, I want it and I want it yesterday so now I don’t want it anymore at all!
Impatience can be either counter-productive or merely non-productive and makes the pursuit of
85ideals seem hopeless. It is selfishness with impatience that can cause this hopelessness. When we
realize that the pursuit of our ideals may not yield results in our lifetime it is easy to give up and
lose hope and especially when our expectations are more than we can actually chew. We may not
be able to change the world, or anyone at all for that matter, but we certainly can change
ourselves and live up to our own ideals and lead by example.
90 Idealization of the world can only manifest from manifest self-idealization first, and we
all know how easy that isn’t. Living up to your own ideals is not always easy and in many

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 instances is downright difficult but if you can’t live by your own ideals how can you realistically
expect anyone else to? At times even I am inclined to say that to live up to your own ideals may
not be possible in spite of how foolish and unwise such a belief in impossibility is. This is where
95mankind in general fails; by thinking of why we are helpless, why we can’t, why we are victims
of fate and destiny, and why we shouldn’t try. This is the ultimate mistake, to no try, because
something is difficult or because it may seem impossible. Such a train of thought causes things to
become impossible relative to our mindset because no goals can be accomplished without effort,
the same effort that we are no longer willing to exert.
100 This is where irrational and creative thought play a major role in progress. Instead of
obsessing over why something is ‘impossible’ and cannot work with our environment and social
standards the way that they are, think rather of what it would take to make it possible!
Again, this all starts with the self. Can I live up to my ideal self-image? What obstacles
are in the way? How do I overcome such obstacles? Many people will find these questions
105leading them into social expectations as causing them to not live how they would like to, to not
be their own idealized self. We allow others to hold us back out of fear; fear of reputation or
image, fear of change, fear of the discomfort of doing something new. It is fear which destroys
hopes and dreams and it will continue to do so until we learn to embrace the ridiculous and
irrational in proportion with logic and rational thought rather than ridicule it and chastise it.
110 Start with imagining your perfect idealized world and your perfect idealized self. Now
remove the idealized world and put your idealized self in the real world . . . whoa, that clashes!
As a result we water ourselves down so to speak and compromise our idealized self which in turn
prevents us from ever achieving our own idealization and all for essentially the same petty
reasons a fashion authority dresses so carefully . . . to not ‘clash’ according to some generalized
115perspective which is ideal to no one!
The truly free and brave are those who try their hardest to live up to their own ideals in
the face of an adverse and intolerant world. They are the ones who neither conform nor try to be
different. They are the ones who know that everyone is different and accept it for themselves and
the world around them and only try to be who they want to be whether it be the same as everyone
120else or with not one thing in common with the rest of the world. Those who believe in ideals and
idealism and live them are as brave and free as can be had. So the next time you see someone
walking down the street clad in green cowboy boots, bicycle shorts, a dress shirt and a propeller

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 hat, know that they don’t care if you are mocking them because they are living how you have
only dreamed of.

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