Editor,
It is clear that, despite his stance "against" ideology, Steve Chavez is operating under a particular ideology himself.
In his attempt to discredit current and past political groups working in the peace movement, Chavez claims that these groups are inherently corrupt because of their promotion of certain ideological positions. What Chavez misses in his column is that ideology permeates all political activities.
Using an obvious starting point, Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary entry for ideology states: ". . .2.a: a systematic body of concepts especially about human life or culture. b: a manner or the content of thinking characteristic of an individual, group, or culture. c: the integrated assertions, theories and aims that constitute a sociopolitical program." Of course it is without questions that the groups Chavez criticizes use and operate under ideology as it is explained above.
His critique of these various peace groups' application of ideologies, however, lies in his implicit assertion that he is not using or being duped by any sort of ideology himself. Such a claim is both ridiculous and erroneous.
Keeping with the dictionary definition cited above, we can see that any political group is constituted in part by the ideology it promotes and follows. This means that the New Mexico Solidarity Network, the Republican and Democratic parties, the Communist Party USA, NOW, MEChA and all other political groups have a particular ideology. In Chavez's column, he states no overt affiliation with any political groups, but seems to insinuate that he is somehow "outside" ideology. Even without linking a specific group to him, it is still possible to see that he is unable to escape the pull of ideology.
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Decrying the groups that opposed U.S. policy in Central America in the 1980s for supporting Marxist rebels and tenuously connecting the New Mexico Solidarity Network and Stop the War Machine to the Communist Party, Chavez shows his ideological hand, so to speak, as that of someone who opposes communism and Marxism in all forms.
A long history of anti-communist ideological production is present in the United States in general (Joseph McCarthy, HUAC), as well as in New Mexico (harassment and sabotage of the filmmakers of "Salt of the Earth," filmed outside Silver City).
Unless Chavez has been living in a sense-deprivation tank for his entire life, which he obviously has not, then there is little reason to believe that he has not been in some way affected by certain theories or ideas -- that is to say, ideologies -- that have helped form his world view.
Since ideology is by definition opSerative in all political movements and organizations and individuals who engage in any sort of political activity, including writing anti-peace movement columns and responses to those columns, Chavez should instead make the claim that all political groups are corrupted by their particular ideologies or be more straightforward and state his particular ideological position and attempt to prove why it is better than the ideologies of the groups he opposes.
Andrew Ascherl
UNM student
