silly duck

one of those revolutionaries who managed to remain a marxist while still criticizing marxism and trying to develop it further.

lenin, rosa luxemburg, and gramsci are some of the clearest examples of thinkers who challenged parts of marxist theory without abandoning it.

one of gramsci’s biggest questions was this:

if capitalism produces so much inequality, why does it survive not only through police, armies, and state power, but also through the consent of ordinary people?

his answer was hegemony.

the ruling class is strongest when it can present its own interests as if they were simply the interests of society as a whole.

for example:

“if the rich invest, everyone benefits.”

“if you are unemployed, you just did not work hard enough.”

“there is no alternative to the market.”

“unions hurt the economy.”

“successful people simply earned what they have.”

“nationalism means defending the interests of the nation,” even when those interests may largely reflect those of the capitalist class.

for gramsci, schools, newspapers, religious institutions, universities, associations, foundations, and unions were all arenas of political struggle.

the state can use force when necessary.

civil society often does something more subtle. it makes the existing order look natural, legitimate, and inevitable.

that is how consent gets produced.

this is also why gramsci has become especially useful again in recent years. his work gives people a framework for thinking about how capitalism can absorb criticism instead of simply crushing it.

this is where his idea of passive revolution becomes especially interesting.

capitalism does not always respond to pressure by saying no.

sometimes it says yes, but only enough to protect itself.

it can adopt parts of demands around equality, environmentalism, women’s rights, diversity, or other social causes while leaving production, labor exploitation, ownership, and wealth distribution almost completely untouched.

in that sense, the language of reform can change while the deeper structure stays exactly where it was.

that is probably why gramsci still feels so current.

he understood that power survives not only by controlling what people are allowed to do.

it survives by shaping what people come to see as normal, reasonable, and possible.

the backstreet boys shows there this summer completely sold out, and because demand was so strong, they announced additional dates for the winter.

visually, it is apparently one of the best shows sphere has hosted so far.

ticket sales alone are reportedly bringing in an average of around $2.84 million per show.

apple's second foldable phone after the iphone 6 :)