THERE is much talk in the media these days about culture wars, being “woke” and the dangers of “cancel culture” — but they are concepts few people really understand.

In a Times Radio poll in February, respondents were asked what they think “culture war” means. Only 7 per cent came up with a relevant answer, 15 per cent got it wrong, and a whopping 76 per cent said they didn’t know. However, just because people don’t know what a culture war is doesn’t mean they’re not in one.
 
As long as you have a class system there will be culture wars: a conflict between the hegemonic culture of the elite and that of the oppressed classes. These simply reflect the conflict between class economic interests.
 
Today, with the sharpening of the class struggle and an increasing awareness of the bankruptcy of capitalism, the global ideological struggle also becomes more acute.

Faced as we are by existential problems, the struggle for ideological and cultural hegemony becomes increasingly significant — but also more acrimonious.