Goebel Gone Global

In June 2003 a Washington Post-ABC News poll found that about 1 in 4 Americans (incorrectly) believed Iraq had used weapons of mass destruction during the recent war with the United States. [1] A separate poll in the same month found that 34% of Americans believed the United States had already found weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. [2] In September another poll found that 69% of Americans believed Saddam Hussein was personally involved in 9-11. [3] Even the Bush administration has been forced to admit that these claims are not true. These misconceptions are the outcome of a system of thought control called ideological hegemony. Hegemony operates through many mechanisms including the media, education system, newspeak and others with the primary function of maintaining support for the dominant socio-economic system in the United States. 

In all class societies, the ruling class can maintain control through violence and/or ideology. If the majority can be persuaded that the rule of the ruling class is legitimate then it can be maintained with less violence. Examples of ideologies that serve this function include the divine right of kings, social Darwinism and Marxism-Leninism. All of them acted to legitimize the rule of specific elites in certain societies and helped those elites maintain power. Some hierarchical societies rely more on violence, others rely more on ideology. The United States relies more on ideology, although a certain degree of force is used. 

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