Before we pull together, let's decide what we want to pull, to where

Why are ideologies necessary? ... ideology fulfils the emotion need in politics. It is one of two sides of the same political coin: one side is all about emotions, the other interests.

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That was the response of a regular correspondent to a recent column in which I argued that China's economic growth is not enhanced by disregard of human rights. His view is a common one. I can see Singapore's founding prime minister, Lee Kuan Yew, nodding his sage old head on this one. I'm sure they would even do it in the Zhongnanhai leadership compound up in Beijing, forgetting just what underlies the communist party of China.

It's all very simple, you see. The job on hand is to build the industries, build the infrastructure, build the homes, build the schools and get domestic product per capita up in real terms.

What role has ideology to play in this? These ideologues are all dissidents in the end and all they really want is just power for themselves. To get it they pander to the sentimental weaknesses of the population, making into a matter of emotion what is really a matter of practical reality.

They don't really have any different ideas. They would build the same things in the same way. The job is obvious and the only dispute is about who will get the credit for doing it. Give in to them and what you get is the building process sacrificed to their egos. They will slow everything down by fighting each other if they can build up their own self-importance by doing so. Therefore slap them down before they get dangerous. The only room we can have for dissent is the pleas of special interest groups who have not been sufficiently considered in the building process. We must listen to them so that the building process is balanced out.