Change the Culture – Change the World
We began Week 2 by defining what culture is because Week 1 concluded with the term. It provides comfort, support and justification of one’s behaviors, beliefs, prejudices and bias without knowledge, facts or proof. It is a filter of reality.
After western culture replaced monarchs and feudalism with democracy & capitalism in the so called “New Worldâ€, the United States of America, they learned controlling the masses by force alone was not a feasible long-term option of maintaining power & control. In the 18th century the methods of indoctrination and social control were limited to religion, the press and local militia. By the end of the 19th century public education became another tool. The Civil War transformed those local militia to a standing army. In the beginning of the 20th century radio, mass media & film were the new means of control. World Wars introduced propaganda & psychological warfare thought leaders of the ruling class like Walter Lippmann (Manufactured Consent) and Edward Bernays (Propaganda). It also saw the transformation of the standing army for national defense to a hegemonic global military force. By the mid 20th century that military projected the will of the ruling classes on weaker nations and align itself with corporation and politicians to create the military industrial complex. This increased the ruling class power & control over the masses at home and abroad. By the end of the 20th and beginning of the 21st century, technological advances in computers and the internet has resulted in the largest wealth gap in recorded history.
Next week’s (Black) History will deal with the indoctrination and control systems used to maintain Western Cultural Hegemony and the social constructs that the ruling class have established that are accepted by the masses like natural laws of physics, gravity or time. When the masses begin to challenge the values & beliefs established by the ruling class, that’s when change will come.
