SPIN DOCTORS

I am a strong believer that the powers who now control society would make George Orwell roll over in his grave. Even old George in all his visionary imagination could never have conceived of what has happened to today's society. The vision he perceived, in his book 1984, pales in comparison to what has happened in reality.

Edward L. Bernays was the granddaddy of public manipulation, and the art of verbal deception (spin, in today's vernacular). His influence started with a campaign to make the First World War acceptable to the American public. He never looked back.

The principles that he developed stemmed from his belief that the public was a "herd that needed to be led and this herd-like thinking makes people susceptible to leadership." His axiom was "control the masses without their knowing it." He also strongly believed that "they must never know that they were being manipulated."

His fledgling industry used the Freudian psychology for a distinctively different purpose than old Sigmund. A public relations industry was created. The agenda of this new industry was to mask the real agendas of corporations and governments, and to create illusions, and to deceive and misrepresent the facts. One of its greatest fans was Josef Goebbels, who was Hitler's Minister of Propaganda. He saw the success of the PR policies after careful study. Josef then developed the popular rationale that was used to convince the public that the Nazi policies were virtuous. (Enough said?)

One does not have to be an intellect to see that the policies of rousing the public have changed little over the years. I have myself been berated, in writing, for having a contrary opinion, to that which is now being ingrained into the public conscience.

The PR business took on clients from virtually every industry imaginable once the power of this new psychology was grasped. Every industry was there at his door asking for new images to polish their tarnished halos -- tobacco, insurance, pharmaceutical, chemical, automotive, brewery, tire, food processing, meat industry, the soap and soup industries, forest industry, ad infinitem.

Smoke and mirrors were, and are, the name of the game. Creating new images, and spin, that changed the way ideas or concepts were perceived by the public was paramount. To quote Tim O'Shea, from whom I gleaned much of this information, "the scientific manipulation of public opinion was necessary to overcome chaos and conflict in a democratic society." Here's a paragraph from the propaganda: "Those who manipulate the unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country. We are governed, our minds molded, our tastes formed, our ideas suggested largely by men we have never heard of; we are dominated by the relatively small number of persons who understand the mental processes and social patterns of the masses."

I have quoted Thomas Jefferson a few times lately. This is something that he said, (paraphrased) "I don't know of any safer place to keep the power of society than with the people themselves. If we think that they are not enlightened enough for the task then the remedy is to educate them. It is not our liberty to take it from them." The attitude of Jefferson is not shared by many of this world who believe that only a few possess the necessary insight to be entrusted with the task. The power of six billion people is now concentrated in the hands of an infinitesimal small number of people who see the world as a big monopoly game.

The PR industry found that third party endorsement was the best way to convince the public of anything. To make this happen it was found that one should make their own independent Research Institutes to make and present their cases for them. Literally thousands of such independents sprang up everywhere - all paid for and sponsored by the client itself. If you want to downplay the global warming problem, then invent a research institute to discredit those who see the threat. Portray the whole thing as a left wing pinko commie tree hugger hoax. If you are selling lead or MMT for gasoline, freon, pesticides, herbicides, biotechnology, plastic, or mercury amalgam, then do the same thing. Keep the public confused until the maximum profits can be skimmed off.

The fact is that there are literally hundreds of legitimate sounding think-tanks that are nothing more than fronts to dispense false and misleading information. The sole objective is to advance the image of the multinationals who pay the "researchers" salaries and bills.

There are lots of deceptive ways used to beguile the public with manipulated Press Releases, trigger words, language, labeling, name calling, celebrity endorsements, sports people, etc. Nothing has escaped the brain-washing techniques of this industry. Politicians, whole governments and governmental policies are now built the same way, using the contrived images and spin.

Start watching for these techniques in the paper, in the magazines, and on TV. Ask yourself, what is being sold here? After a while you will find yourself openly questioning the flagrant attempts at deception and manipulation.

Much of this work comes from an article by Tim O'Shea at his web site.

Have a nice day.