This essay is based upon part of a paper that is currently under peer review with an IR journal. Antonio Gramsci spent a significant proportion of his early life in poverty on the island of Sardinia and throughout his life had to deal with physical pain due to a malformation of the spine and various other disorders. After winning a scholarship he moved to Turin, where he joined the Italian Socialist Party (PSI) and became heavily involved in the organization and education of workers in Turin. With others, he also started the weekly socialist newspaper
A terrific piece. Thanks for all the great links and references. The brilliant Gramsci of course was the natural offspring of Marx's notion of superstructure, with more depth. Not to be outdone, the subversion of a target society's legitimacy and cohesion has been standard for the West from colonialism to the color revolutions. The adoption of liberal western values such as free speech, academic freedom, and a pro forma bourgeois democracy are fundamental. Liberal free speech actually means the rich buy the media and drown out all opposition. They endow chairs at university to ensure the right theories are taught. The edifice of liberalism is the framework for capitalist oligarchic control. The commies have survived and prospered by specifically rejecting this--and have thus developed to become the core of resistance and the hope for a better world. As you point out, once a culture is dominant and minds are colonized it's very tough to shake off. Thus hope for mankind's future belongs to nations outside the hegemonic block.
"Within China, the Party-state has been extremely mindful of controlling, or if needed suppressing, religious movements that may create a challenge to its legitimacy and the hegemonic culture that serves its interests”.
Given that the Party-state is (and has been for millennia) Confucian, that's really not a problem for, as Keynes observed, “Planning should take place in a community in which as many people as possible, both leaders and followers, wholly share your own moral position. Moderate planning will be safe if those carrying it out are rightly orientated in their minds and hearts to the moral issue.”
Thanks to Confucius and his disciples, the Chinese are all rightly orientated in their minds and hearts to the moral issue.
Which is one reason their country works so much better than ours.
I've just ordered one of his books.
A terrific piece. Thanks for all the great links and references. The brilliant Gramsci of course was the natural offspring of Marx's notion of superstructure, with more depth. Not to be outdone, the subversion of a target society's legitimacy and cohesion has been standard for the West from colonialism to the color revolutions. The adoption of liberal western values such as free speech, academic freedom, and a pro forma bourgeois democracy are fundamental. Liberal free speech actually means the rich buy the media and drown out all opposition. They endow chairs at university to ensure the right theories are taught. The edifice of liberalism is the framework for capitalist oligarchic control. The commies have survived and prospered by specifically rejecting this--and have thus developed to become the core of resistance and the hope for a better world. As you point out, once a culture is dominant and minds are colonized it's very tough to shake off. Thus hope for mankind's future belongs to nations outside the hegemonic block.
"Within China, the Party-state has been extremely mindful of controlling, or if needed suppressing, religious movements that may create a challenge to its legitimacy and the hegemonic culture that serves its interests”.
Given that the Party-state is (and has been for millennia) Confucian, that's really not a problem for, as Keynes observed, “Planning should take place in a community in which as many people as possible, both leaders and followers, wholly share your own moral position. Moderate planning will be safe if those carrying it out are rightly orientated in their minds and hearts to the moral issue.”
Thanks to Confucius and his disciples, the Chinese are all rightly orientated in their minds and hearts to the moral issue.
Which is one reason their country works so much better than ours.
Nice commentary on how in the fascist ideal world of the mean spirited we are brainwashed from birth!
However I notice our inventions such as the web , their willful ignorance of the truth outwit their plan.
Time moves on but they remain static.
Born to be losers these fascists Id say .
You have given us ideas on how to outwit them such as by restricting ownership of the media so as to include many points of view.