PROPAGANDA

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Once he could read and write he would have a mind fit to rule. So ran the democratic doctrine. But instead of a mind, universal literacy has given him rubber stamps, rubber stamps inked with advertising slogans, with editorials, with published scientific data, with the trivialities of the tabloids and the platitudes of history, but quite innocent of original thought. [1]

In the book, a character says “the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought” so that people literally don’t have the words to express ideas that go against the government. Like we can’t talk about “freedom” if we never learned the idea or the name for it. By controlling language, people in power could forcibly stop many of our mental clichés, even positive ones. In 1984, Jobs launched the original Macintosh computer. Most computer companies would talk about “gigabits and megaflops,” but he focused on a story. Jobs made buying the computer feel like a revolution against an evil corporate power—their biggest competitor IBM. The systematic study of mass psychology revealed to students the potentialities of invisible government of society by manipulation of the motives which actuate man in the group. [2] High-Spotting. This is pointing people’s attention towards specific things, things that you want to represent your whole business. I find this one really fascinating, so let’s talk more about it… Our invisible governors are, in many cases, unaware of the identity of their fellow members in the inner cabinet. [2]sectetur adipiscing elit. Nam lacinia pulvinar tortor nec facilisis. Pellentesque dapibus efficitur laoreet. Nam risus ante, dapibus a molestie consequat, ultrices ac magna. Fusce dui lectus, congue vel laoreet ac, dictum vitae odio. Donec aliquet. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Nam lacinia pulvinar tortor nec facilisis. Pellentesque dapibus efficitur laoreet. Nam risus ante, dapibus a molestie consequat, ultrices ac magna. Fusce dui lectus, congue vel laoreet ac, dictum vitae odio. Donec aliquet. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Bernays applied the techniques he had learned in the CPI and, incorporating some of the ideas of Walter Lipmann, became an outspoken proponent of propaganda as a tool for democratic and corporate manipulation of the population. His 1928 bombshell Propaganda lays out his eerily prescient vision for using propaganda to regiment the collective mind in a variety of areas, including government, politics, art, science and education. To read this book today is to frightfully comprehend what our contemporary institutions of government and business have become in regards to organized manipulation of the masses. A propagandist uses existing mental clichés to create mass reactions. It is a far more effective strategy than trying to change how masses of people think through education. The Century of the Self (2002), a documentary series about Bernays and the invention of public relations The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organised habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country. [1]

Bernays once engineered a "pancake breakfast" with vaudevillians for Calvin Coolidge in what is widely considered one of the first overt publicity stunts for a US president.

The modern business guru Simon Sinek gives some great advice related to this: “Very few companies can clearly articulate WHY they do WHAT they do. When I say WHY, I don’t mean to make money—that’s a result. By WHY I mean what is your purpose, cause or belief? WHY does your company exist? WHY do you get out of bed in the morning? And WHY should anyone care?” Bernays is not as infamous as our other quotable sources, but he should be. The nephew and student of Sigmund Freud, he combined the psychoanalytical expertise of his uncle with the psychology of crowds developed by Gustave Le Bon and Wilfred Trotter. When the term propaganda fell out of favor due to Fascist and Nazi use of it during the 1920s – 1940s, he coined the far-friendlier term “Public Relations.” Of course, changing the name to shake off negative connotations is itself a technique of propaganda. Of this change, he wrote: The music room will be accepted because it has been made the thing. And the man or woman who has a music room, or has arranged a corner of the parlor as a musical corner, will naturally think of buying a piano. It will come to him as his own idea.

To save the word “propaganda.” He believed it could still mean positive things, like educating people to wash their teeth daily. The recent practice of propaganda has proved that it is possible, at least up to a certain point and within certain limits. Mass psychology is as yet far from being an exact science and the mysteries of human motivation are by no means all revealed. But at least theory and practice have combined with sufficient success to permit us to know that in certain cases we can effect some change in public opinion with a fair degree of accuracy by operating a certain mechanism, just as the motorist can regulate the speed of his car by manipulating the flow of gasoline. Propaganda is not a science in the laboratory sense, but it is no longer entirely the empirical affair that it was before the advent of the study of mass psychology. It is now scientific in the sense that it seeks to base its operations upon definite knowledge drawn from direct observation of the group mind, and upon the application of principles which have been demonstrated to be consistent and relatively constant. Make a list of 5 influencers you could partner with. Let’s say you want to promote a business, product, or idea. First decide who you want to reach, then find out what groups they belong to, and then who the leaders of those groups are. The minority has discovered a powerful help in influencing majorities. It has been found possible so to mold the mind of the masses that they will throw their newly gained strength in the desired direction. In the present structure of society, this practice is inevitable. Whatever of social importance is done today, whether in politics, finance, manufacture, agriculture, charity, education, or other fields, must be done with the help of propaganda. Propaganda is the executive arm of the invisible government. [1] When Venida, a hairnet manufacturer, hired Bernays' services, he started a campaign to convince women to grow their hair longer so they would buy more hairnets. Although the campaign failed to influence many women, it convinced government officials to require hairnets for certain jobs.People want to buy from companies that share their values. By selling what you stand for, you give people a powerful reason to buy from you, and it costs you almost nothing. In the first of these national competitions about 500 pieces of sculpture were entered. In the third, 2,500. And in the fourth, more than 4,000. If the carefully selected pieces were so numerous, it is evident that a vast number were sculptured during the year, and that a much greater number must have been made for practice purposes. The good will was greatly enhanced by the fact that this soap had become not merely the concern of the housewife but also a matter of personal and intimate interest to her children. After his semi-retirement in the 1960s, he worked with the pro-health anti-smoking lawyer John Banzhaf's group, ASH and supported other anti-smoking campaigns.