Capitalism and ideology: Where do people get their ideas from?
A Marxist understanding of ideology can help us understand how the ruling class uses ideas, and how we can challenge reactionary ideas
The rich use their power to control the media
SOCIALIST WORKER Issue 2936
Why do people who are angry about inequality and insecurity sometimes turn to racist demagogues such as Donald Trump and Nigel Farage and not to socialist organisations?
The society we live in makes us vulnerable to fake solutions and misleading explanations of society.
At times of deep crisis there are huge contradictions between what the system promises to deliver and the realities of our lives. People reach for ways to explain this contradiction.
Often, the easiest explanations are those that fit with pre-existing prejudices.
These ideas do not emerge naturally. As Karl Marx put it, “The ideas of the ruling class are in every epoch the ruling ideas. The class which is the ruling material force of society, is at the same time its ruling intellectual force.”
Marx’s concept of ideology revealed the truths hidden behind justifications for social inequality. Such “common sense” reflected the interests of and reinforced the power of the ruling class.
Marx understood that people learn how to think within a given social order. More fundamentally, workers’ position within capitalism can make them receptive to reactionary ideas. Workers have no choice but to compete with others for everything they need. This competition can open the door to prejudice, suspicion and hostility.
All class societies are ruled by a minority. The wealthy have always used force to repress us and encourage the poor to submit to their rule. But they also try to convince us that their rule is in our best interests. During the 19th century the emerging capitalist class was terrified of resistance and turned to manufacturing consent. They looked to parliament, the pulpit and the press to encourage nationalism, racism, colonialism and conservative ideas of gender to persuade workers to identify with their rulers instead of others from their own class.
The capitalist class developed a powerful ideology—a system of ideas and beliefs about the world.
Their ideology says we are all individuals, free to pursue our interests through the market, free to succeed or to fail. This ideology obscures the real forces driving society.
Within this general framework there are intense ideological and political debates. Some contradictions reflect tensions between groups within the capitalist class. For example, some demand greater border controls while others are in favour of migration. Other debates arise when changes in society clash with long-held ideas and beliefs about how we should live.
Rows within the ruling class can create an opening for socialist ideas.
But the mass media systematically excludes left wing voices and vilifies critics of the system. This is because the ruling class uses both its economic power and its political power to shape how people think. Wealth buys access to the media. Billionaire Elon Musk bought X and turned it into a cesspit of reactionary ideas.
GB News is jointly owned by hedge fund manager Sir Paul Marshall who has a personal wealth of £630 million.
The ruling class also shapes the ideas embedded in the state. The state’s institutions find multiple ways to justify the status quo and dismiss any radical voices.
The Italian Marxist Antonio Gramsci developed an understanding of how classes compete to establish “hegemony” over society. Every class vies to establish “cultural, moral and ideological” leadership over other classes.
Gramsci also described how working class people often hold contradictory ideas. People accept some of the prejudices constantly repeated by the media and politicians.
But prejudices are challenged by the experience of diverse communities and workplace solidarity.
Capitalism makes working class people vulnerable to accepting its ideology. But workers are uniquely placed to see through that ideology and potentially join forces to challenge their bosses.
Such resistance could break down reactionary ideas and challenge capitalist common sense.
Why do people who are angry about inequality and insecurity sometimes turn to racist demagogues such as Donald Trump and Nigel Farage and not to socialist organisations?
The society we live in makes us vulnerable to fake solutions and misleading explanations of society.
At times of deep crisis there are huge contradictions between what the system promises to deliver and the realities of our lives. People reach for ways to explain this contradiction.
Often, the easiest explanations are those that fit with pre-existing prejudices.
These ideas do not emerge naturally. As Karl Marx put it, “The ideas of the ruling class are in every epoch the ruling ideas. The class which is the ruling material force of society, is at the same time its ruling intellectual force.”
Marx’s concept of ideology revealed the truths hidden behind justifications for social inequality. Such “common sense” reflected the interests of and reinforced the power of the ruling class.
Marx understood that people learn how to think within a given social order. More fundamentally, workers’ position within capitalism can make them receptive to reactionary ideas. Workers have no choice but to compete with others for everything they need. This competition can open the door to prejudice, suspicion and hostility.
All class societies are ruled by a minority. The wealthy have always used force to repress us and encourage the poor to submit to their rule. But they also try to convince us that their rule is in our best interests. During the 19th century the emerging capitalist class was terrified of resistance and turned to manufacturing consent. They looked to parliament, the pulpit and the press to encourage nationalism, racism, colonialism and conservative ideas of gender to persuade workers to identify with their rulers instead of others from their own class.
The capitalist class developed a powerful ideology—a system of ideas and beliefs about the world.
Their ideology says we are all individuals, free to pursue our interests through the market, free to succeed or to fail. This ideology obscures the real forces driving society.
Within this general framework there are intense ideological and political debates. Some contradictions reflect tensions between groups within the capitalist class. For example, some demand greater border controls while others are in favour of migration. Other debates arise when changes in society clash with long-held ideas and beliefs about how we should live.
Rows within the ruling class can create an opening for socialist ideas.
But the mass media systematically excludes left wing voices and vilifies critics of the system. This is because the ruling class uses both its economic power and its political power to shape how people think. Wealth buys access to the media. Billionaire Elon Musk bought X and turned it into a cesspit of reactionary ideas.
GB News is jointly owned by hedge fund manager Sir Paul Marshall who has a personal wealth of £630 million.
The ruling class also shapes the ideas embedded in the state. The state’s institutions find multiple ways to justify the status quo and dismiss any radical voices.
The Italian Marxist Antonio Gramsci developed an understanding of how classes compete to establish “hegemony” over society. Every class vies to establish “cultural, moral and ideological” leadership over other classes.
Gramsci also described how working class people often hold contradictory ideas. People accept some of the prejudices constantly repeated by the media and politicians.
But prejudices are challenged by the experience of diverse communities and workplace solidarity.
Capitalism makes working class people vulnerable to accepting its ideology. But workers are uniquely placed to see through that ideology and potentially join forces to challenge their bosses.
Such resistance could break down reactionary ideas and challenge capitalist common sense.
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