“The ideas of the ruling class are in every epoch the ruling ideas, i.e. the class which is the ruling material force of society, is at the same time its ruling intellectual force. The class which has the means of material production at its disposal, has control at the same time over the means of mental production, so that thereby, generally speaking, the ideas of those who lack the means of mental production are subject to it.”
I know this quote is from The German Ideology, which I have not read yet because I haven’t finished Capital yet. Does Marx explain what the means of mental production are somewhere in The German Ideology or anywhere else? If not, where can I find an explanation?
This is a better translation, basically it means that the ruling class produces the ideology that permeates public discourse.
“The ideas of the ruling class are, in every epoch, the ruling ideas, i.e., the class which is the dominant material force in society is at the same time its dominant intellectual force. The class which has the means of material production at its disposal also has at its disposal the means of intellectual production …”
Does Marx say how they produce that ideology? Is it through, for example, academia? Do the bourgeoisie themselves produce it or do they employ laborers to do it?
The bourgeoisie reinforce their ideals through various means, primarily through silencing and systematically dismantling any proletarians ideals.
Another means is through the intelligentsia, which is an extension of the bourgeoisie class that holds academic pull. Think of the capitalist economists whose solution to a capitalist crisis is more capitalism. But yet these individuals are given a platform and allowed to perpetuate a failing system because they have degrees from institutions funded by capitalists and run for profits.
The culmination of all these factors leads to our present reality, where the idea of suggesting that shareholders take less profits for a while so the conditions of the workers can stabilize is such an alien and foreign concept that you’ll be laughed at for even suggesting it, because profits take precedence over everything. Even thinking of profits as something that can be regulated is seen as a grave sin.
That’s how the bourgeoisie ideals permeate society. Even the workers don’t question it. That’s how the ideas of the ruling class become the ideas of the society at large.
I’ve long believed this also ties in some way to Gramsci’s cultural hegemony, where the ideas of the ruling class of the imperial hegemon also permeate it’s vassal states / neo colonies. It’s why this idea of American individualism is so pervasive in so much of the third world.
Presumably through propaganda at all levels: political rhetoric, news media, education, academia and research, literature, theater, etc.
Yes, absolutely the bourgeoisie employs laborers to produce and distribute propaganda.
Well said.
