Intellectual Hegemonies
Working definition: Any individual or group that thinks they already know everything AND expect that they should be able to dictate to others what they, too, should believe...
Examples in History
Religious Orthodoxy. We are all familiar with religious people and institutions being dogmatic, but of course it’s always the other guy that is guilty of that sin, never ourselves. The Catholic Church was most notoriously guilty of this, burning people at the stake if they did not conform. Of course, Islam might actually be worse about it, but I am less familiar with that experience personally.
Scientific Materialism. One reaction against the Catholics was the Protestant Reformation, the other was the rise of science. By and large, science has done a great deal of good in the world, with some caveats. Like for one is some of the assumptions they make concerning the nature of “substance” as an ontology. They continue to burrow down into smaller and smaller details looking for that elusive fundamental particle, and they have obviously learned a lot in that pursuit, but doesn’t this assume that there actually is a foundation, at least in the sense of an elementary particle or set of particles?
It all gets very complicated to think about, with many, many issues that could be addressed. But I don’t want to get lost in the weeds. The main problem I see with it is not the scientific pursuit itself as the dogma that rises up from it when you fail to exercise intellectual humility.
Science itself can become semi “religious” in the sense of it being dogmatic. It’s called, “Scientism,” when you believe that the worldview and methodology of science is the only pathway to knowledge. It’s arrogant and wrong. It’s misguided at best and downright delusional when it gets out of hand. On the other hand it is decidedly anti-religious in the sense that their objective is to destroy our enchantment with the world.
They have lost touch with the very idea of the Sacred, which I believe to be the true foundations of Reality. And that’s why I don’t think they will ever discover what really is at bottom of it all, because they simply refuse to even consider the possibility that those foundations are simply God. They are, “close, but no cigar,” as it were.
Fortunately, early in the 20th Century there appeared on the scene a guy by the name of Ludwig Wittgenstein, and he came up with this idea called, “the rope analogy,” wherein he describes our web of beliefs as twines in a rope rather than castles in the sand in search of a basement. No one twine needs to be that strong in order for the rope as a whole to do a lot of work.
It’s similar to the spirit of American Pragmatism, which basically amounts to, “It doesn’t matter if it’s true. Does it do the necessary work you need it to if you act as if it’s true? Just solve the damned problem you are dealing with and move on with your life.”
Either Wittgenstein or the Pragmatists can cure you of the quest for the ultimate foundations of knowledge that go all the way back to René Descartes. There are other schools of thought that address this issue to some degree, as well, but none are coming to mind for me at the moment. And it’s besides the point, really. Most of the rest of the intellectual world has moved on. It’s sad that some many scientists remain so stuck in the past. Move on, already, will you?
Contemporary Problems
The Secular Priesthood. Think back for a minute. Haven’t we heard somewhere about the separation of Church and State? Don’t think of Church in the literal sense, that was just a specific example in history that we have already addressed with the idea of the Catholic Church versus the Protestant Faith. We are really not talking about any particular set of beliefs per se, just the idea that everyone should have the right to their own opinions, so just stop being so dogmatic about what you believe to be true. Stop acting like everybody else has to agree with you.
The current version of this issue is popularly known as, “cancel culture.” But I think, “the Secular Priesthood,” is both more accurate and has a better ring to it. Because I think the issue here is to distinguish between the pursuit of truth on the one hand and the pursuit of justice on the other. It’s fine if you want to be a teacher. It’s fine if you want to be a politician. Either way is fine. But when you try to combine these two distinct social roles, you end in disaster.
Turn your attention to what Karl Marx said, and I can’t remember where he said it so I can’t look up the exact quote, so I paraphrase when he was bitching about Hegel, “the point is not to understand the world, the point is to change it.” It’s sentiments like these that have led to Academic Activism, and it perverts our schools. Debates that should be taking place in the political arena are being presented as fact in an academic circles. And those so-called facts are just plain wrong. How can you even know you need to change the world if you haven’t even understood it yet? Maybe if you take a little more time to understand it, you’d discover that it’s functioning quite well, thank-you. So change yourself rather than the world, because it’s easier to wear shoes than pave the world in leather. Grow a thicker skin and stop being such whiners, snowflakes.
We could address the entertainment industry, but it’s only serving the same master as the Secular Priesthood in a more watered down version. Fix the problem in the University and the entertainment industry should correct itself. That goes for Big Media, too.
Government Protections
Social Contract Theory. There’s lots of details in this that I don’t even want to know about myself, so I won’t suffer my readers to worry themselves about it too much, either. I just remember it has something to do with the idea of legitimate government resting in the consent of the governed. Don’t we have something in the constitution about this? Maybe the 1st Amendment, perhaps? Shouldn’t that idea also apply in education? Shouldn’t our teachers have to respond to their students’ best interests? And since most of our students are too young to represent themselves or their best interests in speaking back to corrupt teachers, shouldn’t the parents have the right to do that for them? They are their kids, after all. Shouldn’t the school board have to answer to the parents? And to the tax payers more generally? They are destroying society and using our own taxes against us in order to pull it off. And the teachers and teachers’ union, as well? Legally, yes. But the school systems are running out of control, and the parents need to start taking legal action as soon as possible. Sue their asses! Run them out of town! Whatever it takes to protect their kids from this filth being shoved down their throats.
I have no idea why this evil has been allowed to go on for so long, but people are waking up to the problem and what they might have recourse to do about it. Things are getting better fast. It’s only a matter of time before this snowball reaches avalanche speeds. I recently read a story about a bunch of angry parents just overwhelming their local school board meeting concerning the mask mandate for students. I wish I had a link to that story to share with you now. But I did find a Facebook group covering this Free-the-Face issue (I wonder how long it will last). You can visit it if you like, but it’s mostly just a bunch of memes people are sharing, and I for one would have to hold my nose the whole time I was using anything having to do with Facebook these days.
Facebook itself is a great example of what I am talking about with this idea of an Intellectual Hegemony (I love using their own words against them). But you can’t say anything at all if you don’t already agree with their official political and ideological stance.
I’ve been learning so much lately that I feel like I am suffering from information overload. Things pas into and out of my consciousness so fast that I don’t have time to properly digest them. I can’t remember exactly what has been said or what the source was were I came across it. I’ve just been so desperate to solve this problem that I end up getting ahead of myself. I need to learn how to slow down and enjoy myself now, because I basically feel like I get the gist of what’s happening and feel empowered enough to do something about it. This is why I am writing this newsletter, so others can benefit from the work I have put into it.
The fruits of my labor are free to you, for now, so spread it around to your friends that might be ready to gain from it. Make sure to start looking into other types of important tools that are at your disposal. There’s Alt-Media, which is any alternative to corporate run media, in whatever field within the culture industry, as well as Alt Tech, which amounts to the Open Source Software movement on which the Alt Media is built. And this is important, because Alt-Media isn’t allowed to live on Big Tech. Facebook and Twitter are just the best examples of this problem.
Membership Policy
Wrapping all of this up, if you believe that people should have the right to their own opinions, have the right to disagree with other people, and especially those with a lot of political influence, you are a cultural warrior, whether you know it our not. You might as well take the time to understand what’s actually happening on this front. You might even start to recognize a little hypocrisy within yourself if you are expecting others to agree with you without you trying to find consensus with them first. You might choose to correct that tendency within yourself and start disassociating with dogmatic people. You might start looking for a different sort of people to make friends with, and we’re out here. You just need to start looking for them.