Almost a hundred years before Andrew Breitbart made his observation that “politics is downstream of culture”, Italian communist, Antonio Gramsci understood the significance of culture when he further developed the Karl Marx concept of cultural hegemony and the idea that the group that controls the cultural institutions, controls the rest of society. Permanently.
In summary, change the culture and you change the country. Loss of belief in the Australian project threatens our future
Conservative forces around the world, focussing more on economics and marginal tax rates have never understood the significance of this basic principle, and, too late, are just starting to catch on.
To the extent that they’ve been asleep at the wheel and not engaged, they are more than culpable for the decline of Western civilisation.
History is made by those who turn up and conservatives simply haven’t bothered.
With very few exceptions, conservatives have squibbed the culture wars and been missing in action. Think, the failure to rein in the ABC which is at the centre of it in Australia.
It is gutless conservative political leaders who are equally responsible and as much to blame.