Informal Educators

http://www.infed.org/thinkers/et-gram.htm


I just read about Antonio Gramsci and a brief overview of his ideas. They have to do with how people comprehend the relationships between the rulers and the ruled:

"Overcoming popular consensus, however, is not easy. Ideological hegemony meant that the majority of the population accepted what was happening in society as ‘common sense’ or as ‘the only way of running society’. There may have been complaints about the way things were run and people looked for improvements or reforms but the basic beliefs and value system underpinning society were seen as either neutral or of general applicability in relation to the class structure of society. Marxists would have seen people constantly asking for a bigger slice of the cake when the real issue was ownership of the bakery."

The informal educator is someone who spreads the ideas and connotations of Marxism, creating a counter-hegemony to the current ruler-supporting ideological hegemony. The term "slave mentality" wasn't explicitly used, but it does come to mind when we see people happily defer control of their lives to someone else.

It is a short article, and worth a quick read.