In his
very interesting article Colonizing
the Western Mind, Jason Hirthler refers to the
Italian communist Antonio Gramsci, who pioneered the concept of
cultural hegemony. Gramsci suggested that the ruling ideologies of
the bourgeoisie were so deeply embedded in popular consciousness that
the working classes often supported leaders and ideas that were
antithetical to their own interests.
Gramsci's
suggestion is depicted in the famous scene of the cult Sci-Fi movie
The Matrix, in which Morpheus explains the Matrix to Neo:
The
Matrix is a system, Neo. That system is our enemy. But when you're
inside, you look around, what do you see? Businessmen, teachers,
lawyers, carpenters. The very minds of the people we are trying to
save. But until we do, these people are still a part of that system
and that makes them our enemy. You have to understand, most of
these people are not ready to be unplugged. And many of them are so
inured, so hopelessly dependent on the system, that they will fight
to protect it.
In The
Sane Society, Erich Fromm describes something similar:
What
kind of men, then, does our society need? What is the "social
character" suited to twentieth century Capitalism? It needs men
who co-operate smoothly in large groups; who want to consume more and
more, and whose tasks are standardized and can easily be influenced
and anticipated. It needs men who feel free and independent, not
subject to any authority, or principle, or conscience - yet willing
to be commanded, to do what is expected, to fit into the social
machine without friction.
In other
words, almost in every historical period, the social, political and
economic parameters of a society, what we could call as Matrix, were
being set by the ruling classes in order to secure their domination
through the consent of the majority. That Matrix is in a sense a
cultural totalitarianism through which the individual is being
trained to serve the dominant system from the day of his/her birth.
During
the last four decades or so, the dominant neoliberal ideology has
penetrated in the minds of entire generations, shaping their cultural
characteristics. Essentially, a significant part of the Generation X
as well as the entire Generation Y (Millennials) was born and raised
inside the cultural totalitarianism of neoliberalism with radical
individualism, economic cynicism and uninterrupted consumerism as key
characteristics. This cultural totalitarianism is actually the Matrix
of our times.
As
Hirthler concludes:
Today,
that cultural hegemony is neoliberalism. Few can slip its grasp long
enough to see the world from an uncolored vantage point. You’ll
very rarely encounter arguments like this leafing through the Times
or related broadsheets. They don’t fit the ruling dogma, the
Weltanschauung (worldview) that keeps the public mind in its sleepy
repose.
Ideal corporate employee works for nothing and receives no benefits, he is a corporate slave.
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