Defining an ideology for the gothic subculture is difficult for several reasons. The first is that although there are patterns, commonalities in almost all Gothic, each member defines its own concept of subculture, that is, each one defines what it means to be Goth. Moreover, the other problem is often based on ideology gothic nature is "apolitical." While the challenge to social norms was a "business" too risky in the nineteenth century, today is far less radical. Thus, the contemporary significance of the rebellion of the goth subculture is limited, mainly because Goth culture has been assimilated by the mass merchandisers and stripped of her identity as a culture, becoming an object of further sales of western capitalism. Unlike the hippie movement or punk, the subculture has a sharp political message and not explicitly called social activism. The group is marked by a philosophical emphasis on individualism, tolerance and taste for diversity, a strong relevance of creativity and art, a tendency toward intellectualism, some kind of community spirit (a la underground), a dislike of social conservatism and a strong tendency towards cynicism, but these ideas are not common to all goths. Gothic ideology is based far more on aesthetics and generally shared certain cultural tastes, that ethical and political ideas clearly defined. However, because within this culture there is a taste for cutting dissident philosophy, some Gothic may have personal political leanings are mainly from anarchism (or approximations to it) social liberalism, but they generally do not see this as a fundamental part of the group's identity, although partially they may seem relevant factor dissident political implications of his cultural philosophy. Nevertheless, political affinity is generally viewed as a matter of personal conscience, and, unlike the punk movement, there are few clashes between being Gothic and having a political bias.
The value that gives young people the movement is evident in the fact that the subculture persists even after other movements of the 80s as the "New Romantics" are gone.
