When Your Ideology Becomes Your Identity: The Hidden Cost of Political Tribalism

Why turning politics into “who you are” is dangerous — and what George Carlin knew that many today have forgotten

We are living through one of the most politically charged eras in recent memory. While vigorous debate is a sign of a healthy republic, there’s debate, and then there’s identity warfare. Too many Americans today aren’t just choosing what policies they support; they’re treating ideology as a core part of who they are. And that’s a problem.

Identity, in any form, should be a byproduct of thoughtful reflection and lived experience. But when political belief becomes the defining feature of a person’s entire being, it warps discourse into tribalism and pushes nuance out of the room.

One of the sharpest observers of this cultural shift wasn’t a professor or pundit, he was a stand-up comedian. His name was George Carlin, and I recently heard a comedy sketch of his that served as the inspiration for this article.

George Carlin: The Comic Who Cut Through the Noise

George Carlin isn’t usually the first name invoked in political commentary today. Yet his genius as a social critic wasn’t just in making people laugh; it was in exposing how people think about their beliefs.

Carlin spent decades interrogating political language, hypocrisy, and the absurdities of human behavior. Though he was renowned for skits like his “Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television,” his broader work consistently ripped into the structures and ideas that most people take for granted. He wasn’t tethered to one party line; his targets were everyone and everything that passed for conventional wisdom.

This was the heart of Carlin’s craft: not defending one side or another, but challenging our attachment to simplistic narratives. He understood that people don’t just hold political views, they defend them as existential anchors. They have to, because their ideology, which should be one of many things that defines them as a person, has become their fundamental and all-consuming identity.

Comedy As a Mirror: When Ideology Becomes Identity

Think about the last time you saw a heated exchange online. If someone challenges a specific policy, the response is often personal: “How can you be that?” That’s the essential shift: beliefs are no longer ideas to debate, they’re identities to protect.

Carlin saw this coming long before social media gave it oxygen. In his political routines, he peeled back the protective language parties and ideologies use to mask the very things they claim to stand against: hypocrisy, fear, and self-deception.

His comedy on politics wasn’t about making people laugh at politics, it was about making people reflect on the emotional investments we place in our beliefs. When the reaction to a joke isn’t laughter but outrage, that’s when you know belief has become identity.

I’m going to paraphrase George’s words, but you can hear them directly from him in the video below.

Basically, what George is saying is that when you allow your ideology to become your identity, you have really screwed yourself. That’s because there is no longer any room for rational debate or discussion. What you believe is all that you are. And anyone who doesn’t agree with you, becomes a dangerous “other.” You see any disagreement as a personal attack, so you retreat into an ideological bubble. Over time, you find ways to rationalize violence against the people who don’t think like you.

I see this most often, but not exclusively, with my friends on the political left. But people of any political stripe who fall into the ideology/identity trap tend to follow the same playbook. They ensconce themselves inside an ideological cocoon, lashing out at anyone, even members of their own political side, who are not loyal enough to the ideology. It makes them angry, bitter, and above all, boring. Because the things that made them interesting, thoughtful, and open-minded are all gone. They become mindless, aggressive automatons; zealots no longer capable of critical thinking or intellectual tolerance.

Why This Matters

There’s a psychological reason we cling to our ideologies so fiercely: identity gives us belonging, meaning, and certainty in a complex world. But when you tie your self-worth to a political position, every disagreement becomes a threat, not a conversation. That’s how communities fracture and friendships break.

Carlin’s work reminds us that thinking critically — and laughing at ourselves — is essential to cultural resilience. Comedy, at its best, doesn’t belittle; it illuminates.

Lessons from Carlin for Today’s Politics

1. Detach the idea from the person. A belief is not the sum total of a human life.
2. Question your language. Words shape reality — and political language often obscures more than it reveals.
3. Keep humor on your side. If you can’t laugh at your own tribe’s foibles, you’ve already given up some of your autonomy.
4. See beyond the binary. Carlin laughed at both sides because both sides deserved scrutiny.

Conclusion

There is immense power in political engagement. But that power becomes dangerous when it stops being about ideas and becomes about identity. When ideology becomes your personality, you stop listening, and start defending.

Carlin’s comedy wasn’t just entertainment; it was a philosophy of skepticism, a call to think for yourself, and, importantly, a reminder that sometimes the most radical thing you can say is: “I might be wrong.”

Because once your worldview is bigger than your willingness to question it, you’re no longer a thinker — you’re a prisoner of your own beliefs.

That’s a lesson that friends on both sides of the political aisle, and, yes, even myself, should keep in mind.

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Charles served over 27 years in the US Army, which included seven combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan with various Special Operations Forces units and two stints as an instructor at the United States Military Academy at West Point. He also completed operational tours in Egypt, the Philippines, and the Republic of Korea and earned a Doctor of Business Administration from Temple University as well as a Master of Arts in International Relations from Yale University. He is the owner of The Havok Journal, and the views expressed herein are his own and do not reflect those of the US Government or any other person or entity.

As the Voice of the Veteran Community, The Havok Journal seeks to publish a variety of perspectives on a number of sensitive subjects. Unless specifically noted otherwise, nothing we publish is an official point of view of The Havok Journal or any part of the U.S. government.