Bourgeois libertinism spread downward undermines working-class moral discipline
Evidence
It is worth insisting on the fact that in the sexual field the most depraving and “regressive” ideological factor is the enlightened and libertarian conception proper to those classes which are not tightly bound to productive work and spread by them among the working classes. This element becomes particularly serious in a state where the working masses are no longer subject to coercive pressure from a superior class and where the new methods of production and work have to be acquired by means of reciprocal persuasion and by convictions proposed and accepted by each individual. — Antonio Gramsci, Selections from the Prison Notebooks, 1114
Categorization
Category: Contrarian or Surprising Claims
- XREF: Resonates with the reader’s existing article on moral panics over ‘immodest’ dress — Gramsci theorizes why ruling-class immorality corrupts rather than liberates.
- ADDENDUM: Directly extends ‘Complaints About Immodesty Go Way Back’ with a theory of why ruling-class libertinism is ideologically depraving for subaltern strata.
Related
- Libertarian sexual ideology spread by leisured elites degrades working-class habits (similarity 0.86)
Broader Connections
- Working-class culture emerges from its material conditions combined with class struggle
#complicates(0.80)