Jeremy Corbyn on bus Ian Forsyth/Getty Images

Ideological Infarctions

If the predictions of a narrative or ideology conflict with reality, one can either change the narrative or change the facts. The second option arises – and today is arising more often – because ideologies are not just learning devices; they also serve social and psychological purposes.

SANTIAGO – Donald Trump’s health-care bill – nicknamed “Ryancare,” after House Speaker Paul Ryan – would have deprived 24 million Americans of health insurance, according to the US Congressional Budget Office. But that was not the reason the most conservative Republicans rejected it. Even though it would have handed Trump and their own party a political victory, conservatives refused to vote for the bill because it did not go far enough in abolishing the Affordable Care Act (“Obamacare”) they hate.

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