American political ideologies: Introduction

For over 20 years I have been an observer and student of the relationship between government and society. Though I have no formal education in the subjects of politics, philosophy, economics, social economic theory and the American Constitution and Constitutional theory, I have studied all of these as hobbies since my teens. Studying these subjects as I have, has, I believe, provided me with one serious advantage over those who are formally educated in them: I approach all of my studies without the bias of a 3rd party influence. Many may not take my opinions seriously-which is their right; but I have had my self education validated by those who are are formally educated in these topics. Do I still have much to learn regarding these topics? Absolutely, and I continue to do so, but that does not take away what I have learned up too now concerning these topics....
Over the coming weeks I am going to lay out what I believe are the 4 primary political and social ideologies which dominate America today in a 5 or 6 part series (as of this introduction I am undecided as to how many parts I want), how they interact with each other, and how they have helped to lead our country to the precipice of social, economic, and political collapse we are at today.
I hope those who come back to read them all do so with as open a mind as possible: America's greatest strengths have always been our unity and individuality-traits based on freedoms we are granted by our Constitution. These traits are what lead to the many great inventions and our being able to overcome all the many obstacles our nation and society faced through the end of WWII. These strengths have left our society, economy and culture over the last 40 years, and hopefully, in writing the following series, I will do my small part to remind all who read them, to help bring them back as the back bone of what America is all about.
RR