“The war” mentioned above was World War I — more than 100 years ago.
Translation: The more recent tactics that launched a thousand memes are nothing novel. Tony Fauci did not invent propaganda and those who resisted The Jab™ are not conquering heroes who prevailed against a new enemy.
Philosopher David Hume — back in 1758 — explained it this way:
“As force is always on the side of the governed, the governors have nothing to support them but opinion. It is, therefore, on opinion only that government is founded and this maxim extends to the most despotic and most military governments as well as to the most free and most popular.”
The manipulation kicked into high gear in the early 20th century — thanks to Edward Bernays, author of a 1928 book called Propaganda. He was the nephew of Sigmund Freud, a public relations “pioneer,” and one of America’s most innovative social engineers.
Bernays actively chose to transform his uncle’s psychological techniques into weapons against critical, sovereign thought.
Here are just a few of those concepts:
Independent Third-Party Endorsement: For example, Bernays used “medical experts” to help convince the public that bacon and eggs were the true all-American breakfast.
Reframing an Issue: In the 1920s, working for the American Tobacco Company, Bernays sent a group of young models to march in the New York City parade. He then told the press that a group of women's rights marchers would light "Torches of Freedom." On his signal, the models lit Lucky Strike cigarettes in front of the eager photographers. This helped to break the taboo against women smoking in public by framing it as an issue of equality and liberation. Meanwhile, at home, Bernays had his young daughters destroy his wife’s cigarettes to save her from the deadly habit.
Think Globally, Act Locally: “Ideas are sifted and opinions stereotyped in the neighborhood bridge club,” declared the diabolical Bernays. “Leaders assert their authority through community drives and amateur theatricals. Thousands of women may unconsciously belong to a sorority which follows the fashions set by a single society leader.”
Photo Op: Bernays once engineered a "pancake breakfast" with vaudevillians for dull and unpopular President Calvin Coolidge. He called stunts like this “overt acts.” Today, they are more commonly known as “photo ops.”
Pop Psychology: Bernays biographer, Larry Tye, said Bernays took Freud’s works and popularized them into “little ditties that housewives and others could relate to.”
Lies of Omission: As Bernays wrote: “Modern propaganda is a consistent, enduring effort to create or shape events to influence the relations of the public to an enterprise, idea or group.” He called this the “engineering of consent.”
Create False Needs/Sense of Entitlement: Equate material consumption with success. If you “make it,” you deserve to treat yourself.
Distraction and Misdirection/Defer to Experts: Get the public to leave the important stuff to those capable of handling it. Tim Adams of the London Observer once wrote: “Bernays thought that the safest way of maintaining democracy was to distract people from dangerous political thought by letting them think that their real choices were as consumers. He believed, and argued to Eisenhower, that fear of communists should be induced and encouraged because by unleashing irrational fears, it would make Americans loyal to the state and capitalism.”
Demonize the Enemy: Learn more about Bernays’ work with the Creel Committee and getting Americans to support World War I in my post here:
Emotion Over Logic: Bernays saw public relations as an “applied social science” that uses insights from psychology, sociology, and other disciplines to scientifically manage and manipulate the thinking and behavior of an irrational and “herdlike” public.
The Powers That Shouldn’t Be™ have spent trillions on keeping us compliant and oblivious to our compliance. Resisting this emotional assault is an ongoing process. There is no finish line or graduation.
If you’ve deciphered one form of propaganda, resist the lure of resting on your meager laurels. You’re up against an entrenched agenda with more than a century of practice and refinement.
Any path to autonomous thought is paved with innumerable insidious traps. The moment you assume a position of superiority over the “sheep” with whom you disagree, you’ve taken the parasites’ bait.
Choose humility and solidarity over pride and division, and please keep yer guard up…
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Great advice, thanks! Excellent encapsulation of Evil Ed.
“ If you’ve deciphered one form of propaganda, resist the lure of resting on your meager laurels. You’re up against an entrenched agenda with more than a century of practice and refinement”
Exactly … on point.