Politics alone did not drive the recent throngs of people in the Middle East, like those in Tunisia and Egypt and now Libya and others, to rise up against corrupt and deceptive governments. What drove these masses of people to demand change was their belief that by replacing these governments, the life they imagined would be realized. The powers of state no longer represented nor promoted the populations' aspirations for a better existence.
In a thoughtful article, "Culture Matters More Than Politics", Creighton University Theology professor R.R.Reno posits that the "most powerful force in political life is human imagination". He refers to the fact that the constant drumming from partisan politics in the U.S. is making U.S. citizens "Marxists by default", enabling a political machine to define cultural/social values rather than the people themselves. But those members of a political machine who think they can control public opinion are mistaken, especially as the economy remains tenuous.
"Marx held that economic realities are fundamental, and questions of culture are epiphenomenal.
To use the technical terms of Marxist theory, the struggle for economic power functions as the base of social reality, while literature and poetry, music, and the arts are part of the “superstructure” that is determined by the base. Thus the primacy of politics, for whoever controls the levers of state power can influence and guide economic affairs, and thus control everything."
Pundits and partisan panderers may think they hold the reins of a social consciousness, but they are mistaken. Like hot coals from a past fire, something deeper lies smoldering at the core of a people's collective imagination,waiting for a single spark to ignite. As of yet, no state has employed inception to steer the dreams and imagination of its people. The force of human imagination remains unbridled, and therefore, a worthy force in inciting upheaval over dominating authority.
In a thoughtful article, "Culture Matters More Than Politics", Creighton University Theology professor R.R.Reno posits that the "most powerful force in political life is human imagination". He refers to the fact that the constant drumming from partisan politics in the U.S. is making U.S. citizens "Marxists by default", enabling a political machine to define cultural/social values rather than the people themselves. But those members of a political machine who think they can control public opinion are mistaken, especially as the economy remains tenuous.
"Marx held that economic realities are fundamental, and questions of culture are epiphenomenal.
To use the technical terms of Marxist theory, the struggle for economic power functions as the base of social reality, while literature and poetry, music, and the arts are part of the “superstructure” that is determined by the base. Thus the primacy of politics, for whoever controls the levers of state power can influence and guide economic affairs, and thus control everything."
Pundits and partisan panderers may think they hold the reins of a social consciousness, but they are mistaken. Like hot coals from a past fire, something deeper lies smoldering at the core of a people's collective imagination,waiting for a single spark to ignite. As of yet, no state has employed inception to steer the dreams and imagination of its people. The force of human imagination remains unbridled, and therefore, a worthy force in inciting upheaval over dominating authority.
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