An ideology is an army of convictions about how the world is and how it ought to be. As befitting a military force, ideologies are fueled by a sense of threat - kept at bay through a fortress-like structure called the ideological square. - Ideology, Part I- Exploring the Problem Space
The ideological square comes in many flavors. Here are a couple:
The Basic 'Us versus Them' Square
- Exaggerate our wonderfulness: our vision is good and true
- Exaggerate their awfulness: their vision is evil and false
- Downplay our bad side: our vision has no serious downside
- Downplay their good side: their vision has no merit
The Incompatible Visions of the Future Square
- Exaggerate how good things will be if we prevail
- Exaggerate how bad things will be if they prevail
- Downplay the potential harm if we prevail
- Downplay the potential good if they prevail
And then we have the Ideological Half-Square:
- Exaggerate how awful things are now
- Downplay how good things are now
Ideologies are typically inspired by visions of utopia: how good things will be if we prevail. Some utopian visions entail a radical overhaul of the existing order - what I call the Big Solution. Problems like poverty or oppression may drive initial attraction to a Big Solution, but in time the relationship between problem and solution changes. That is, where once the Big Solution was seen as a means to fixing problems, it eventually becomes an end in itself - one that requires Big Problems to justify.
Thus, ideologues tend to exaggerate societal problems, the better to justify their Big Solution. Big Solutions need to be justified when they require painful sacrifice (the darkness before the dawn), as they often do. That pain had better be worth it. Hence: Big Solutions need Big Problems.
For instance, advocates of a Universal Basic Income often make the case that poverty and inequality are such huge problems in the US that only a UBI can adequately address them. However, most Americans are doing just fine economically. Over two-thirds of Americans are projected to reach the top income quintile at some point in their lives (Rank 2014). Poverty tends to be a temporary condition (often one of youth and inexperience). Just 2-3% of Americans are chronically poor (Kimberlin, 2016). Poverty and lack of social mobility are mostly issues for specific subgroups; they are not broad societal problems. As such, they need solutions that target those subgroups - not some Big Solution that jeopardizes the economy of the entire country.
References:
Kimberlin, Sara "The Influence of Government Benefits and Taxes on Rates of Chronic and Transient Poverty in the United States," Social Service Review 90, no. 2 (June 2016): 185-234. https://doi.org/10.1086/687306
Rank, MR “From Rags to Riches to Rags” http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/20/opinion/sunday/from-rags-to-riches-to-rags.html?smid=pl-share&_r=3
Van Dijk, TA (1995). Discourse Semantics and Ideology. Discourse & Society, 6(2): 243-289.