Published on November 2, 2016 on LinkedIn - Written by Christopher W Helton
Re-Posteded here with permission from the author.
I am currently suffering the Gout with a bottle of Bordeaux, contemplating the inexhaustible "propaganda of noise" being turned out ad nauseaum by the mindless media concerning pedantic and inane human interest stories pertaining to our two ludicrous presidential candidates, and wondering whether or not this is the later period of American capitalism. Every political pitch is a deflection of the true underlying economic paradoxes involving American capitalism, such as its limitations (i.e., the grotesquely unfair economic distribution of capital among its citizenry, and the destructive nature capitalism has upon "culture"). Regardless of the positions of the Democrat (Coke) and the Republican (Pepsi) parties, the current social unrest in the US (i.e., the black lives matter movement, the omnipresent anger towards Wall Street, and the emergence of socialism as a viable political position in American politics) suggest that the demographics of this country are no longer as convinced of the promissory notes of capitalism as previous generations.
My paternal grandfather (who was a Marine captain in WII) told me "better to have an intelligent enemy than a stupid friend, because the former could teach you something if you survived, but the latter may get you killed." Whether or not my grandad's remark is a cliche or an interesting philosophical observation is not important. Instead, his remark inspires me to consider Marx's materialistic conception of history as a starting point to an inquiry concerning the limitations of capitalism, because capitalism has had no greater and intelligent enemy than Marx (with the exception maybe of Lenin). Instead of listening to the propaganda of noise turned out by the sensationalist media (which is the "stupid friend), "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" (Marx, 176). Admittedly, my grandad would probably not be to happy about his grandson quoting Marx.
On Marx's view, American plutocrats have not only control over capital, but also over our ideas about ourselves and others. Accordingly, they control the media which is the source of most people's ideas about the world. Marx contends that the vast majority of the people are subject to the ideas to which the plutocrats provide through their insidious control over the media by means of advertising, sensationalist journalism, etc. Consequently, whatever is broadcast on the media concerning anything, should be considered from the point of view of who benefits from this information, because more than likely the information benefits either Republican or Democrat plutocrats. It will more than likely not benefit the majority of citizenry, even if the information is crafted to appear for their benefit.It is merely noise meant to distract the citizenry from their fates in omnipresent hamster wheels. For example, professional football is on Sunday and Monday night for a reason, so to distract the citizenry of the misery of the subsequent work week in the American cubical.
American plutocrats also control the propaganda concerning our thoughts about ourselves and bodies. The American dream is probably the greatest propaganda coupe of all time. Convince 99% of the population through such sophomoric tricks as the lottery, American work ethic, etc of their dubious probability of becoming plutocrats. The correlation between capital and thought is the eternal return of any rule class in history: " 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 thought" (Marx, 176). Even if I escape the media, I cannot escape the organizing intellectual principle of the period, which is currently capital. The organization of my thoughts and motives are all derived from the propaganda of ruling class (i.e. the attainment of material wealth). Accordingly, even if I do escape the noise of the prevailing dominate class through its control of the media, I am still organized by the historical period dominated by that class.
To understand Marx's observation about the correlation between capital and thought, consider that "the difference between the individual as a person and what is accidental to him is not conceptual differences but a historical fact" (Marx, 180). On Marx's view, the individual is not the Cartesian "I think" independent from time or place, or Kant's transcendental ego. Instead, the individual and his or her accidental qualities are all byproducts of his or her historical period dominated by the ruling class of that period. All that which is regarded as "personal" is really nothing more than a collection of non conceptual but historical propaganda of the ruling class of the historical period. This historical propaganda ( or otherwise known as ego) is always in the interest of the ruling class. Accordingly, the American Dream is a piece of historical propaganda meant to benefit the American plutocrats.
The uniquely American idea that everyone should have an opportunity to attend university benefits American plutocrats, because they benefit from having a largely indebted workforce already trained for corporate America. The standards of university education have been lowered in the name of "democracy" so to not include subjects outside of the historical jurisdiction of American plutocrats (or Modernity). Critical thinking is heavily discouraged. No Latin. No Classics. Plutocrats do not want the citizenry educated to draw analogies between current America and Ancient Rome. This is how the ruling class controls our thoughts outside of the media by education and spreads beneficial propaganda (such as professionalism) throughout the educating process, as being produced in a factory.
What have we learned from our intelligent enemy of capitalism, or Marx? Escape the noise of the propaganda of plutocrats to whom infiltrate our subjectivity by their privileged historical position through the media and the University. Remember Lenin's dictum that paranoia is historical vigilance. Ask yourself who really benefits from this or that occurrence. Question the historicity of your subjectivity.
