Question #4: Hegemony

Unlike military dictatorship or "rule by terror," ideological hegemony is a softened dictatorship by means of the media narrative and "consensus." In a capitalist society, the power relationship is cleverly maintained and managed by narrative hegemony, to the extent that all members of society widely accept the ruling class's viewpoint as "self-evident truth," or "common sense," or "a no-brainer," or "the way things ought to be," or something "natural." Now tell me how Gramsci, the Italian Marxist, developed his theory of "media hegemony." How does false consciousness end up being "hegemony" (i.e., "the natural" way of thinking) of a given society? What kind of narrative in our country has exerted subtle yet indisputable influence in our daily life? Have you ever felt the pressure of those "hegemony narratives," such as something like political correctness? Have you ever felt that you want to scream like Howard Beale in Network: "I am as mad as hell, and I am not going to take it anymore?"