Ruling Ideas And Contemporary Life Essay

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Jimmy John

Marx’s theory of “ruling ideas” indicates that the ideas of the ruling class are the ruling ideas, that is, the class that is the ruling material power of society is at, the same time its intellectual power. This theory is known as ideology, the function of this is the continual reproduction of the means of production and thereby to ensure the continuous dominance of the ruling class. Ideology achieves this by distorting reality. In this paper I show how Marx’s theory of ruling ideas not only is designed to keep the economic elite safe at the top, but also prevent objective truths from being spread to the public with out biases and agendas being tagged along with them.

The people with the most economic power have the greatest ability to spread their ideas. Frequently the ideas that are being pushed by the economically elite are disguised as objective truth. This is done though a variety of institutions such as newspapers, schools, publishing companies, and research institutions just to name the best examples. These people who have great economic power or who are the “ruling material power” fund or some how compensate these institutions in order to present their ideas as if they are objective truth. These ideas are created in order to keep those with the economic power on top through protecting their investments while also legitimizing their own rule and position.

Right now in this day and age, controlling the production of knowledge and means of intellectual production is more valuable than ever before. These people with economic power are who some call the one percent. It is also becoming increasingly difficult to distribute ideas because of the access everyone now has to unlimited information through the Internet. But the aspect that is most difficult for the regular person is trying to figure out who can be trusted and who is just supporting ideas that are partial to support the wealthy. Not only is it hard to find truth on the Internet but this also carries over to the real world. Many feel they can and should trust people such as law enforcement, teachers and doctors, but in reality they also have agendas whether they know it or not. Doctors appear to be legitimate and trust worthy people but medical companies heavily influence them to push their products. State police and teachers both work for the government, and they follow the orders and rules they are given. Who creates and passes down these commands and rules or bills and creates legislature; government officials in Congress and Senate. It finally all comes around because these people in government are being controlled through lobbying of the economic elite. Anyone with money can use the government through this same method to spread and legitimize their ideas. This helps keep the rich rich and the poor poor only further stimulating this cycle.

People who do not have the means of intellectual production still crave knowledge; this is why it is so easy to just give the people what they want though skewed and biased information that benefits the wealthy. The people with money will always try and find a way to protect their investments and themselves; this is why it is important to not blindly accept information as objective truth. There is money to be made and a market for almost every aspect of life, and the people who are capitalizing on this all
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