Proofs that Ideas Matter

In the climate of today where people assert that ideology is an unjustifiable prejudice and that ideas matter not, only immediate action, I present to you two articles showing the contrary. Ideas not only do matter, but are vastly more powerful than people currently conceive and are necessary for living a proper life.

The first article is that of a millionaire that chased down a petty thief using his helicopter, all in the name of the principle of property rights. If more men were as passionate about principles as this man has demonstrated himself to be, evil would be thoroughly defanged. It is by compromise and discarding ideas at "convenience" can evil sink its baby teeth deeper and deeper and defeat the good.

The second article is even more inspirational, for it is about how the Canadian leader of the Ku Klux Klan disavowed his racist views after reading the writings of Ayn Rand while in prison:

He read a book a day, but was transformed by the words of Ayn Rand. A Russian-American Jew, Ms. Rand was a champion of individualism, and her writing challenged Mr. McQuirter to see the world as a collection of individuals rather than a map of racial groups. "It gave me a way to view the world differently," he said.

This goes to show that even the most seemingly ideologically lost people can be transformed if exposed to the right ideas.

If people continue to treat ideas as dispensable entertainment for the erudite, then nothing but inconsistency and suffering will be possible.