Hegemony

By definition, hegemony is the social, cultural, ideological, or economic influence exerted by a dominant group (Merriam-Webster.com).  Hegemony deals in every culture, but nowhere is it more noteworthy than modern-day America.  Our society is shaped by the dominance of capitalism over every aspect of our lives.  We survive by eating and drinking what the corporations make available, and we entertain ourselves with what the corporations decide to endorse.  Whether this is good or bad, or a mixture of the two, is beside the point.  Our society, once shaped by local traditions and folklore, has shifted in the past one-hundred years into a corporate entity.  We identify ourselves with brands.  Most of us have to work for corporate America.  Capitalism is the centripetal ideal that we have decided to build our society around.  This is my point:  If capitalism has, in fact, become hegemonic, is there any way to change it without somehow becoming a part of it?  

The idea of American capitalism isn't just an abstract ideal taught in educational institutions, though it is.  We are told from a very young age that the free market is right, and everything else is evil.  This is inherently false, however, because our economy is a mixture of all of these.  This is because capitalism isn't just "dry husks of ideology" as Raymond Williams said, but because it is the hegemonic entity of our society.  Capitalism will take on parts of other systems in order to survive.  The sharp, brutal edges of a completely free market will be sanded down by socialist institutions such as social welfare and social security.  It is through this incorporation of new ideas that capitalism renews itself.