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Antonio Gramsci of Italy was one of the most important and original political and philosophical figures of the 20th century. He was a staunch antifascist and was jailed for years in Mussolini’s prisons. He wrote with great insight about class, culture, and the state. He said that once the state establishes ideological authority, its use of violence can become unnecessary. Gramsci was critical of intellectuals who play a major role in manufacturing consent for the policies of the hegemon, the leader. He developed such key concepts as cultural hegemony, organic intellectuals, and war of position. He warned of “morbid symptoms” afflicting so-called liberal democratic societies. Today, almost a century after his death, Antonio Gramsci continues to inspire and inform progressive activists.

The challenges humankind faces from the climate emergency to species extinction to terminal war may be difficult to comprehend, but we ignore them at our peril. Looking away is a lot easier than facing reality. Viewing the Earth as a giant shopping mall to be exploited is leading us to a literal dead end. The capitalist system solely cares about making money. Can a deep caring for the Earth emerge that is nourishing and sustaining rather than recklessly exploiting it? What creative steps can we undertake to reverse the dangerous course we are on? The clock is ticking as our precious planet takes one hit after another. Can global society wake up to implement policies that will avert catastrophe? If not, Joanna Macy says, “It’s curtains.”

The geopolitical checkerboard has seen, in recent years, a major shift. China, once a poor and ravaged country, is now challenging the U.S. for supremacy, and Washington doesn’t like it. The Pentagon is flexing its muscle. The U.S. military budget is over a trillion dollars and climbing. It’s triple what China spends. The Pentagon is planning for war. U.S. military bases surround China, yet Washington says that China is a threat. The U.S. is used to getting its way, but China won’t be easily bullied or pushed around. China has a global economic strategy. It is expanding its influence by investing in the Global South, particularly in Africa and Latin America. It is taking the lead in sustainable energy, manufacturing 80% of the world’s solar panels. While the U.S. is a military powerhouse, China is increasingly an economic one and most likely will supplant the U.S. as the global hegemon in the coming decades.

From ancient Athens to 21st-century America, the rhetoric is the same. When "the dogs of war" are set loose, there is a cascade of jingoistic platitudes and cliches. We want peace. When we fight a war, it is just. We are good. The enemy is evil. We are victims seeking justice. We are making the world safe for democracy. And if they were honest, they'd add, We are making the world safe for lexical and moral hypocrisy. Erasmus, the great 16th-century philosopher monk, said of war, "There is nothing more wicked, more disastrous, more widely destructive, more loathsome." He then added that war was useful to a government, for it enabled it to extend its power over citizens. Erasmus warned that "Once war has been declared, then all the affairs of the State are at the mercy of the appetites of a few."

Many people, when they hear the word propaganda, immediately associate it with Nazi Germany and torchlight parades or Putin reviewing the troops in Red Square. But propaganda has Roman Catholic church origins going as far back as 1622, when Pope Gregory issued a proclamation using the term to exhort the faithful to propagate the faith. Today, propaganda is disseminated far and wide through the internet. It is used by autocrats to shield themselves and their policies from public view. Bots are at work. Malicious actors spread fake news. Deceptive techniques are so sophisticated that it is sometimes difficult to separate fact from fiction. Misinformation is eroding public trust in institutions and stressing and straining democracy. Stories are planted, rumors are spread, lies are told, and narratives are laundered.