Critical Commentary for Western Theoretical Tradition

         Class struggles are evident in the society today, resisting from the current situation the world is in. There are communities where resistance does not take place since they are able to cope up with sudden changes happening. As Gramsci defines hegemony, it refers to a situation in which consent from the oppressed is acquired through the exploitation of ideology such as the acceptance of capitalism and providing consent by the oppressed. Capitalism, taking as an example, has become a dominant influence which paves the way for the people to continuously aim for power, considering that capitalism’s main goal is to generate money as a necessity for survival.

        

         Other than this, I was attracted by the dialectics of enlightenment wherein the domination of nature is mainly by science and technology. Apparently, it is true. Especially today’s generation, technological advances are building its own culture and identity as a part of people’s everyday living. Because of this, it allowed the culture industry pertaining to the ways in which entertainment and mass media became industries that produce cultural commodities and manipulate people’s consciousness come in. They are being controlled by the visuals presented in television screens. This is where postmodernism enters the picture. People are now able to express themselves through the power of media, sharing their own insights that could be heard by the majority. Polyvocality is the trend. Since the society is bombarded with new ideas, we produce unique ways on how to say something, may it be through the world of internet, electronics, or verbal communications. Moreover, this has proven to be a helpful tool in embracing the ordinary lives of those who are not in the central sphere, the marginalized ones. They have now the opportunity to develop their own capabilities because of the emerging entertainment industry. Everything now becomes a matter to be discussed. These are the perks of modernity.

         However, questions would then be, “Will it last? Will the word perks still fit as years pass by? Is this situation really helpful to the society?”