Pre Class 10/17

"The individuals composing the ruling class possess among other things consciousness, and therefore think. Insofar, therefore, as they rule as a class and determine the extent and compass of an historical epoch, it is self-evident that they do this in its whole range, hence among other things rule also as thinkers, as producers of ideas, and regulate the production and distribution of the ideas of their age: thus their ideas are the ruling ideas of the epoch". This quote makes me think about the discussion we just had in class about the participatory culture. In many ways, the participatory cultures which follows modern day movies, sports, bands, etc. dictate much of what they produce. This is what I thought of when reading about the ruling class. As they rule as a class, they are also dictating thoughts and ideas that are shaping the world around them. This idea however seems conflicting to the idea of ideology which is discussed in Althusser's work. He writes, "all ideology represents in its necessarily imaginary distortion not the existing relations of production". So it is here that I wonder how the idea of the ruling class and ideology are connected?