Ideology of Ants?

[Bolshevik Sickle]

What would you categorize the ideology of ant colonies to be?

An easy guess would be communist since everyone works together (physically, I might add).

Although, since ants chemically receive commands from their ant queen, and kind of lack free will, I'd say an Ant Colony is a prime example of a Degenerated Worker's State.

[Tim Cornelis]

Slave society, without question. They enslave other colonies and have a monarchic system.

[The Jay]

They're petty bourgeois with a hint of ancien regime.

[human strike]

Meerkats are the only true communists.

[Thirsty Crow]

What would you categorize the ideology of ant colonies to be?

I'd categorize anyone who speaks about ants' ideology either as a joker or as a fool.

[Os Cangaceiros]

Meerkats are the only true communists.

What about termites?

[Flying Purple People Eater]

What about termites?

Termites have queens.

[The Garbage Disposal Unit]

I don't think it's necessarily fair to read hierarchical authority into various biological distinctions and social roles among ants. Like, the "Queen" certainly fulfills certain functions, biologically, but are they (I also don't think we should gender the queen, given the non-binary character of ant sexual reproduction) granted any particular "privilege" beyond those things that present themselves as necessary? I'm not saying that the queen doesn't wield power/authority, I think it's just a mistake to assume it.

On a related note, I watched a film about Orcas last night. It was a nice reminder that humans aren't particularly special, only particular (you are a snowflake and this is a blizzard).

[Trap Queen Voxxy]

I kind of agree with GDU. Also, it seems dependent upon which species you're talking about. In some there is one queen, in others there are hundreds. A queen ant, just means an adult, reproductive female. The 'queen ant' doesn't have any authority, she just makes babies. Thus I would say, ants are collectivists, perhaps even Borg-like. Then again, that's also kind of silly to say. Same things with bees and the like.

[ÑóẊîöʼn]

I think it could be argued that among eusocial organisms, it is the queen that is actually the slave, being effectively imprisoned by their biology as a brood-mare for the rest of the hive/nest. The real power is in the claws of the workers and soldiers, without whom the queen would be utterly helpless. Although this might be species-dependent, since while ant nests have been known to survive without queens, bee hives seem to die without them.

[Remus Bleys]

Insects are feudalist

[Alonso Quijano]

Well, it depends. You can't deduce all ants to one ideology. That's racist.

Basically, as I know because you made me search Wikipedia, there a number of issues that preoccupies the Antian thought:

1. Social Democracy - everyone works, accept for the queen, who just has all the sex she wants. At first I thought it's Stalinism - however, when she is no longer fertile, they kick her out. She still got what she wanted, and now a new capitalist ruler will exploit them. They believe that it's important to work, but don't ask why the ruler does nothing. They think they're Socialist, but their definitely reactionary without a real class awareness. They don't try to live the full life as the queen, just convince themselves that work is good.

2. Petit-Bourgeois - enter foreign nests disguised as workers, or fight their way, and act as if their workers. Only they don't work. Some of them utilize the social-democratic system, which is, as we all know, inherently flawed, to enter before the ruling party tells them who they actually are, because it invents nationalism to its own profits - by producing distinct smell. They come before this happens, so no one knows they don't belong, and wasn't brainwashed with their false consciousness. It's reactionary because it doesn't try to revolutionise the colony, rather exploit it, masquerading as "one of them".

3. Internationalist ants - thanks to the upsurging in Latin America, to this day the Argentinian ant has an internationalist ideology, and is the only one who will not attack any foreign ant. Together they rule the world, and become a pest by not killing each other.

4. Social Democracy 2.0 - if the workers start getting disillusioned, they bring new ones. To them, the larvae and eggs they take are simply the reserve army of labour.

5. Pure capitalist - they just take workers from nearby colonies, some probably are proletarised peasants, because they can't work and they have no other way to survive.

6. Imperialist - annex by force foreign colonies altogether.

[Alonso Quijano]

I think it could be argued that among eusocial organisms, it is the queen that is actually the slave, being effectively imprisoned by their biology as a brood-mare for the rest of the hive/nest. The real power is in the claws of the workers and soldiers, without whom the queen would be utterly helpless. Although this might be species-dependent, since while ant nests have been known to survive without queens, bee hives seem to die without them.
"The real power is in the claws of the workers and soldiers, without whom the queen would be utterly helpless" - that's true to every capitalist system, isn't it? :)

She uses her pheromones as capital. Plus, new ants take care of her and only her.

I think. I don't really know. It's ants.