Editing Meme (section)

===Memetic explanations of racism===
In ''Cultural Software: A Theory of Ideology'', [[Jack Balkin]] argued that memetic processes can explain many of the most familiar features of [[ideology|ideological]] thought. His theory of "cultural software" maintained that memes form [[narrative]]s, social networks, metaphoric and [[metonymy|metonymic]] models, and a variety of different mental structures. Balkin maintains that the same structures used to generate ideas about free speech or free markets also serve to generate racistic beliefs. To Balkin, whether memes become harmful or maladaptive depends on the environmental context in which they exist rather than in any special source or manner to their origination. Balkin describes racist beliefs as "fantasy" memes that <!-- may? or must? -->become harmful or unjust "ideologies" when diverse peoples come together, as through trade or competition.<ref>{{harvnb|Balkin|1998}}</ref>