Ideologies

Nuclear War
Neoliberalism
- Era promoting deregulation, following the Great Growth Era.
- Undermined social solidarity, mutual support, and popular engagement, framed as “freedom.”
- Freedom in this context = subordination to unaccountable power.
- Margaret Thatcher: “There is no society, only individuals.”

Unaccountable power shifted to producers under the guise of “freedom.”
Citizens became passive and apathetic, as neoliberal programs intend.
Deregulation removes government oversight, prioritizing profit over consumer health and welfare.
- Example: McDonald’s can add unhealthy fillers to food for profit without concern for consumer health.
Chomsky emphasizes government control is needed to check private companies and protect public interest.
Deregulation + concentration of power creates what Chomsky calls “the perfect storm.”

Grew up learning a story/ideology of good vs. evil: good = communism, bad = non-communism.
Narrative collapsed when he left China.
At Berkeley, learned a new meta-narrative: democracy vs. anti-democracy — also collapsed.
Critique: Meta-narratives promoted as universal solutions are often flawed.

Society = “sack of potatoes”: powerless, manipulated by elites.
Deregulation is code for “stay out of my profit-making business”, weakening accountability.

Definition: A set of ideas describing a political order, presenting an ideal vision, and prescribing how to transform reality into that ideal.
Components:
1. Political Order: The strategy or system in place.
2. Ideal Outcome: The final, desired result.
Ideologies are action-oriented; aim to influence individuals.
Less rigorous than a “theory” but shapes historical context.
Example: U.S. deregulates corporations to maximize profit and shift power to elites.

Belief: Ideologies mask the reality of the working class to benefit the ruling class.
False Consciousness: Workers are led to think systems benefit them, but actually serve elites.
Gramsci: Ideological hegemony — thought completely dominated to justify elite power.