The circumstances leading to the fascism of Gramsci's time are starkly comparable with the current rising tides of fascism; it terrifies me on a daily basis.
Nonetheless, Gramsci was optimistic about how people, together, can create change: 'when the individual can associate himself with all the other individuals who want the same changes ... the individual can be multiplied an impressive number of times and can obtain a change which is far more radical than at first sight seemed possible.'