History shows that ideological differences can lead to ugly, protracted and destructive struggles.
At a different level of intensity, but with comparable potential for violence and destruction, there prevails a long-standing struggle within South Africa between the ideologies of capitalism and socialism. Currently this is focused mainly on the organisation of the economy and the related organisation of the state. My aim is to establish if, and how, it might be possible to avoid or overcome ideological disputes in this case, between capitalism and socialism. My thesis is that it is indeed possible if we place the disputes in a functional perspective by clarifying the concrete human needs which each ideology tries to satisfy. This can be facilitated by gaining an understanding of the internal mechanisms by which each operates and exerts its power over the minds and actions of people.