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It's been almost 90 years since Antonio Gramsci designed the culture war in his prison notebooks[1], so things have morphed a bit and the centrally planned comm

It's been almost 90 years since Antonio Gramsci designed the culture war in his prison notebooks[1], so things have morphed a bit and the centrally planned communism he advocated is out of favor as an end goal, but the blueprint is still pretty much the same. To quote Wikipedia a little: "Capitalism, Gramsci suggested, maintained control not just through violence and political and economic coercion, but also ideologically, through a hegemonic culture in which the values of the bourgeoisie became the 'common sense' values of all. Thus a consensus culture developed in which people in the working-class identified their own good with the good of the bourgeoisie, and helped to maintain the status quo rather than revolting." In his theory any culture C (!Hegemony)>C (Hegemony). When he refers to Hegemonic culture he was talking ato the time about what he called "Fordism" which was the state of the art in enlightened capitalism at the time meaning treating and paying workers well with the workplace working in tandem with the family to re-enforce the traditional family unit. Gramsci was trying to figure out a way to cause communist revolution at the time and he said that in order to attack Fordism they must get together everyone who is opposed to the dominant culture, including socialists as well as all cultural minorities including civil rights activists, feminists, libertines, homosexuals, radical islamists, some criminals, etc who felt they had some greivance with the dominant culture. It really didn't matter if they were morally justified or not by any philosophy. The point was is that they were opposed to the hegemony and that's all that mattered. Thats because the point of their activity was not to change laws within the current system, but to create discontent to foment a socialist political revolution by any means. Now these days this strategy has morphed into something that is not a communist plot, but just a general strategy to seize power in organizations. The reason you can't say any culture is better than any other except the hegemonic culture is because it ideologically undermines the means of political revolution that has been picked up by several generations of political opportunists who use this strategy to build and maintain a powerbase. [1].https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prison_Notebooks https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prison_Notebooks

gertef 9y ago
This is a classic reactionary comment that doesn't understand the asymmetry between the "bourgeoisie" and the lower classes. The "hegemonic" "bourgeoisie", secure in the status quo, sees politics as a game for "opportunists", while the oppressed classes lay aside their differences so they can try build enough power to overthrow the oppression and end their suffering. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1013753/quotes/qt1525548 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1013753/quotes/qt1525548 [City Councilman Dan White is complaining that he is having trouble getting re-elected because his base doesn't have any problems that need government intervention, while 'lucky duck' Harvey Milk has the natural support of the gay voter base who want the police to stop murdering them.] Dan White: You have an issue [gay rights]. Harvey Milk: It's more than an issue. This is our life we're fighting for.
- avn2109 9y ago
  I'm not the GP and I don't have a horse in this race, but AFAICT there's nothing in your comment that contradicts the parent's claim. It seems like his interpretation accords entirely with what you're saying.
- narrator 9y ago
  Yes. The Hegemony did include anti-homosexuality, racial and gender discrimination that I'm glad we've gotten rid of. Part of the hegemonic core value set is that the norms and rules can be carefully changed over time. Now, since the hegemony has adapted and added tolerance of homosexuality and disapproval of racial and gender discrimination, the Gramscians are reaching further and further into the discontented for supporters. What's really revitalized the cultural right is when the Gramscians tried to pull in Islamists and non-citizens (the least politically charged name I could come up with for this group) into the coalition of the disaffected. The contradictions in their ideology as a purported means for peaceful change of the existing system just got too huge and many people didn't understand the justification for the movement anymore in terms of a nationalist and progressivist basis. This is similar to how many people lost the plot on the justification for the Iraq war on a nationalist and progressivist basis.
anigbrowl 9y ago
It really didn't matter if they were morally justified or not by any philosophy. The point was is that they were opposed to the hegemony and that's all that mattered. Wait...you're saying that they pursue their own interests?! How dare they!
- narrator 9y ago
  The problem is that non-hegemonic factions may have contradictory interests. For example the Islamists and homosexuals do not agree on important issues. This isn't really important to the political opportunists because they are primarily interested in creating as large a power base aa possible for their ambitions so these contradictions are ignored as much as is possible by them. The fight a few years ago within the Sierra Club environmental organization between pro and anti-immigration factions was a similar display of the political contradiction's that plague the coalitions of non-hegemonic cultures.
  - anigbrowl 9y ago
    And organizations are also capable of resolving, setting aside, or deprioritizing those contradictions when it is in their mutual interest. To pick up from where you left off, that's why you now see the Sierra Club coming out as a group to protest against the end of DAVA' no doubt there are Sierra Club members who don't agree wit this stance, but they've either given up on the argument or chosen to stay home if they don't agree with the organization's direction.
    - narrator 9y ago
      It's interesting how all these groups get absorbed by the Gramscians whether they want to or not. They can't maintain their focus with all the money from the big donors at stake who are not really dedicated to their original mission and instead want to amalgamate them into the big hegemony smashing coalition.
      - anigbrowl 9y ago

gertef 9y ago

This is a classic reactionary comment that doesn't understand the asymmetry between the "bourgeoisie" and the lower classes. The "hegemonic" "bourgeoisie", secure in the status quo, sees politics as a game for "opportunists", while the oppressed classes lay aside their differences so they can try build enough power to overthrow the oppression and end their suffering. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1013753/quotes/qt1525548 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1013753/quotes/qt1525548 [City Councilman Dan White is complaining that he is having trouble getting re-elected because his base doesn't have any problems that need government intervention, while 'lucky duck' Harvey Milk has the natural support of the gay voter base who want the police to stop murdering them.] Dan White: You have an issue [gay rights]. Harvey Milk: It's more than an issue. This is our life we're fighting for.

avn2109 9y ago
I'm not the GP and I don't have a horse in this race, but AFAICT there's nothing in your comment that contradicts the parent's claim. It seems like his interpretation accords entirely with what you're saying.
narrator 9y ago
Yes. The Hegemony did include anti-homosexuality, racial and gender discrimination that I'm glad we've gotten rid of. Part of the hegemonic core value set is that the norms and rules can be carefully changed over time. Now, since the hegemony has adapted and added tolerance of homosexuality and disapproval of racial and gender discrimination, the Gramscians are reaching further and further into the discontented for supporters. What's really revitalized the cultural right is when the Gramscians tried to pull in Islamists and non-citizens (the least politically charged name I could come up with for this group) into the coalition of the disaffected. The contradictions in their ideology as a purported means for peaceful change of the existing system just got too huge and many people didn't understand the justification for the movement anymore in terms of a nationalist and progressivist basis. This is similar to how many people lost the plot on the justification for the Iraq war on a nationalist and progressivist basis.

anigbrowl 9y ago

It really didn't matter if they were morally justified or not by any philosophy. The point was is that they were opposed to the hegemony and that's all that mattered. Wait...you're saying that they pursue their own interests?! How dare they!

narrator 9y ago
The problem is that non-hegemonic factions may have contradictory interests. For example the Islamists and homosexuals do not agree on important issues. This isn't really important to the political opportunists because they are primarily interested in creating as large a power base aa possible for their ambitions so these contradictions are ignored as much as is possible by them. The fight a few years ago within the Sierra Club environmental organization between pro and anti-immigration factions was a similar display of the political contradiction's that plague the coalitions of non-hegemonic cultures.
- anigbrowl 9y ago
  And organizations are also capable of resolving, setting aside, or deprioritizing those contradictions when it is in their mutual interest. To pick up from where you left off, that's why you now see the Sierra Club coming out as a group to protest against the end of DAVA' no doubt there are Sierra Club members who don't agree wit this stance, but they've either given up on the argument or chosen to stay home if they don't agree with the organization's direction.
  - narrator 9y ago
    It's interesting how all these groups get absorbed by the Gramscians whether they want to or not. They can't maintain their focus with all the money from the big donors at stake who are not really dedicated to their original mission and instead want to amalgamate them into the big hegemony smashing coalition.
    - anigbrowl 9y ago