Ideology has very little to do with "consciousness" -- it is profoundly unconscious.

Whoever today speaks of human existence in terms of power, efficiency, and "historical tasks" is an actual or potential assassin.

It is possible to lead astray an entire generation, to strike it blind, to drive it insane, to direct it towards a false goal. Napoleon proved this.

If you take away ideology, you are left with a case by case ethics which in practice ends up as me first, me only, and in rampant greed.

Everything ideological possesses meaning: it represents, depicts, or stands for something lying outside itself. In other words, it is a sign. Without signs there is no ideology.