"The Genius of our founders is that they designed a system of government that can be changed. And we should take heart, because we've changed this country before. In the face of tyranny, a band of patriots brought an Empire to its knees. In the face of secession, we unified a nation and set the captives free. In the face of Depression, we put people back to work and lifted millions out of poverty. We welcomed immigrants to our shores, we opened railroads to the West, we landed a man on the moon, and we heard a King's call to let justice roll down like water, and righteousness like a mighty stream... For that is our unyielding faith-- that in the face of impossible odds, people who love their country can change it."
-Barack Obama "Our Past, Future & Vision for America" February 10, 2007 Presidential Announcement
FALSE CONSCIOUSNESS- Convincing the masses to believe that they need something that is against their self interest. This means it will most definitely benefit the ruling class.
HEGEMONY- Control without physical force. The dominant groups control by securing spontaneous consent of subordinate groups through negotiated construction of a consensus that incorporates all!
In terms of this election year:
- Distractors (using popular culture to convince the masses that they NEED to fall into line and vote a certain way.)
BOTTOM LINE:
- The working class unifies to overthrow the ruling class.
This election seems to have reshaped what the masses need; a more liberal Head of State. A conversation held in a coffee shop sparked my interest in whether or not the ruling class is using hegemonic ideologies to enlist the aid of the proletariat to meet a certain end. Really, what we need to question is who is currently the ruling class?
Is it:
- The lower & middle class: As they make up a bigger part of the American population and seem to have a greater voice-- which is made so with their ability to create a buzz via the internet.
- The upper class, the meager two-percent of the population that seem to be screwed either way they vote. (see: Taxes.)
If we are to look at all angles of this election, the odds seem against the Republican party. It almost seems TOO perfect. Could it be that we are being directed to think and vote a certain way? Looking at the surface of the Republican party's candidate, it doesn't look too good.
The Stats (working against "the Man"):
- The elderly, robotic candidate...
- The inexperienced, but attractive, running mate...
- The skimpy, [mostly] inaccurate, and shaky platform of the GOP party...
Though we have the chance to choose our presidential candidate, it seems that we are being fed the answer to our problems. Reading through articles or watching videos about Barack Obama-- they seem to scream HEGEMONY! Someone is TELLING us to vote a certain way--without forcing us-- without outwardly saying: "This is the who you SHOULD vote for! This is who you NEED to vote for! This is the best possible decision you could EVER make."
Not to discount Senator Obama by any means. Yet, there is a sense that all things pop culture seem to be pointing that way. "The Obama way." There is a sense of rebellion that is attached to voting for Obama; that this is a presidential race built upon voting against the same person who always wins-- right wing, white and elderly. We find that change, for the positive, can be found in a biracial man, who does not quit in the journey to change a nation that finds itself with its index finger on a red self-destruct button.
Yet, in this case, is hegemony so bad? If we look at hegemony as a way to make change in our country, can we not embrace it as Gramsci suggests? Hegemony, in this situation, is pushing for the masses to vote a certain way; the "right way." It is pushing us to make a change. The "common man" is given this option. It almost seems as though the ruling class is giving the regular man-- as manifested, for example, through Joe the Plumber or Joe Six Pack (by the GOP party)-- a way to have a hand in the future of the nation. Oddly enough, we've always been given this right to CHOOSE, to VOTE, and yet, it seems like a gift that we are recently being given as a nation. Suddenly, the minorities of the population (whether referring to race, age, sex, economic stance) are primed to vote. Who is pulling the strings?
EPISODE TWO:
Obama as the Hegemonic Hero.
Discussion of selling an image to win votes.
EPISODE THREE:
Obama Platform: The Facts
Separating the image from the candidate's platform. A short video piece that gets straight to the point.
1 comments:
This is cool, you're illustrating the ways in which hegemonic control is evolving to fit our culture. Who's really in control of our collective self-awareness in this day and age? Who's pulling our strings? Is it those old-money, dynastic, white folks who have influenced nearly all of American history? Or is control shifting to the hands of the common man; empowered by the accessibility of online media? By the looks of the music video in your blog, it appears that the "pleb" is really getting their message across, encouraging us to vote Obama. Now, in all likeliness this is the earnest plea of an urban black community. But, my conspiracy theory Spider Sense tells me that someone with the MONEY to produce this work is using their POWER to MANIPULATE the population that has the numbers required to change the direction of government policy-- minority communities. That's right GF: ethnic peoples 4eva! The music video is also an example of appropriating and integrating fringe culture [hip-hop] into the mainstream, just as Gramsci explained. It's also possible that the ruling class, who-- let's face it-- always has been and will be for the foreseeable future consists of the VERY wealthy, is more racially and culturally diverse today. Obama himself, a biracial man, is considered by many to be part of the elite... this smacks of ruling class. As you point out in your response to the music video, the image of urban, hip-hop culture is selling the Obama vote to, presumably, people that identify with and/or admire the hip-hop component of mass culture. This message is selling a popular cultural product, superimposing or appropriating Obama and his ethos of change and hope into a format that jives with our expectations of entertainment rather than civics. It's interesting that in your own video, which did a good job of making substantial political policies palatable and decipherable, you could not escape the draw of using cultural artifacts to make your point: musical selection and Ellen for example. I suppose it's ingrained: pop culture is power because we pay attention to it without fail.
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