Marxism in its finest form: Louis Althusser was right

[ProudLib72]

Marxist Althusser wrote about controlling ideology through state apparatuses. One thing we must remember is that, in the final analysis, the State must reproduce the conditions of production in order to survive.

Basically, this means that the State (tRump's ideological apparatus) must control all means of producing and reproducing his brand of ideology. State apparatuses include schools. Defunding public schools and then forcing students into private schools through a voucher system is a means to control ideology. Control what is being taught and you reproduce the conditions of production. The newly graduated school kids go on to espouse tRump ideology, and the cycle continues.

Makes me

[burrowowl]

1. Yup! As Marx said

to paraphrase: Capitalists will sell us the ropes to hang ourselves with.

[Doodley]

2. That will never happen for a president who has so many who have so little respect for him.

[ProudLib72]

3. It might not

Hopefully will not. It's still interesting to see how it bears up under Marxist criticism. I mean, this sort of thing happens all the time. It's just nowhere near as obvious as under tRump.

[AJT]

4. It would only happen if all school start to require

"patriotism" classes beginning in grade school. Encouraging kids to turn in their parents if they hear them disparaging the "state".
Planting moles throughout society to find disloyal citizens.
Don't really think this could happen here,but you never know.

[ProudLib72]

5. Nah, that's an extreme version

The truly scary thing about reading Althusser is that he demonstrates how pervasive ideology is in all state apparatuses. It was there under Obama. We just didn't think about it because we agreed with it. See, ideology does not need to be evil. It's just that, in the hands of a dictator, ideology becomes a weapon. And you never know. Given ten or twenty years of a repuke regime, kids might just be turning in their parents.

[grantcart]

6. State control of consciousness is a far stretch from

Marx/Engle's more free form of universal class awareness.

I would say it is much closer to Lenin which (cough) makes me think of someone else in the (cough Bannon cough) administration.

[ProudLib72]

7. Althusser had time to perfect the vision

You have to understand that Marx and Engles were living in it. They were more practical about their world view and how it immediately affected the working class. Althusser could relax in Paris and contemplate Marxism at his leisure. And, yes, he was a Leninist. What I was referencing came from Lenin and Philosophy.

[grantcart]

8. Yes Marx/Engles "lived it" lol and his analysis on concentration of wealth

was comprehensive but his projection into the future was Hegelian nonsense.

Having seen up close how Leninists used the state to crush humanity I didn't bother to waste my time with "armchair Leninists" who watched in Paris in "Leisure".

[ProudLib72]

9. Oh no!

Althusser was a good guy. He was kind of like a DUer commenting on what was happening in the world. He just happened to subscribe to Leninist styled Marxist critical theory. We can't blame him for pointing out what was going on. That would be shooting the messenger.