Gramsci's "From the Prison Notebook" and Michel's "Truth and Power"

Gramsci's analysis of philosophy depicts it is an individual tool to use as a mass tool. He claims that anyone can be a philosopher. At first, I thought this idea was really weird and romantic. I thought he would say that everyone is smart blah blah blah, but no. By philosophy, he means the way one may depict the world. Sure, that seems cool, but he uses philosophy is a way to connect the masses of people. At first, this confused me; Gransci claims that people should have their own philosophies and not to simply be submissive to an "intellectually superior group". How does this create unity among people?

I first hit a stump when he brings up common sense. He devalues common sense by claiming that everyone has their own version of common sense, but didn't he just say this about philosophy?

However, his main focus is on religion, what he calls a "fabricated common sense".  I found this fascinating. I never really looked at it in this way before; religion (in this case, he is speaking about the Catholic Church, but it can be applied to most religions that have moral foundation) sets up standard rules and constraints to set up what Michel would call fabricated truths. I actually kind of agree with Gransci. Religion almost forced people to conform their whole lives and beliefs to one system. And while this seems unifying, Gransci claims that it actually is not because it divides the upper class for the simpletons. To be honest, religion has a huge place in power and politics. The Catholic Church is historically one of the most powerful institution. It has created a power structure, to what Hall would call a form of containment.

I guess Gransci is saying that Philosophy is the opposite; it is a site of resistance. It's fighting the Catholic Church by exclaiming their own ideals and beliefs about the world without too much outside influence. People are not separated based on class, but perhaps on intellectually superiority.

Michel's article fascinates me. The idea of truth is so subjective depending on which social, political, and economic conditions are present. Truth is controlled by these three factors. Societies we live in try to impose so many assumed truths upon us, whether it be about ourselves, how we should act, what we should and should not do...does it all really come from some authoritarian lord from above? I always thought that social institutions were put in place because it naturally grew into pop culture, but am I wrong? Is there someone manipulating the cultural system in their favor?