[lbo-talk] Ideology thread

Tayssir John Gabbour tayssir.john at googlemail.com
Sun Dec 10 12:52:31 PST 2006


On 12/10/06, Angelus Novus <fuerdenkommunismus at yahoo.com> wrote:
> If I have to say it in a vulgarized and popularized
> way, ideology is the ensemble of concepts that seem to
> be "common sense" and self-evident which are necessary
> for mediating an individual's relationship to a social
> collectivity. Precisely because one is dealing with
> notions which have the appearance of being "obvious"
> or like natural laws, mere denunciation is pointless.
> Critique means examining how a social totality
> necessitates ideology, how the social totality and
> ideology mutually condition each other, and how the
> ideology functions.

Well, why not take Marx's advice on ideology critique, then? If you want to understand an ideology, listen to what concepts it leaves out. I think a fine first target is marxism itself.

As I understand, orthodox marxists leave out the intellectuals, the ones in charge of these ideologies and theories. Their class has been named: Ehrenreich calls it the "professional-managerial class", Dijas might've called it the western "New Class," etc. In the West, their power lies in ideas.

(At least, that's my understanding; I'm no Marx scholar, and am open to correction.)

So, when confronted with this class's "theories", openminded skepticism is obviously healthy. When common sense rebels, their burden of evidence grows heavier.

Who might we trust to "critique" these intellectuals? Intellectual dissidents known for integrity, of course. (Maybe start with the intellectuals commonly voted as people's favorites...)

When someone entices you to abandon common sense -- check your pockets.

Tayssir



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