Ellen Herman (Historian of American Psychology): "Planners and policy makers had been convinced by their experiences during World War II that human beings could act very irrationally because of this sort of teeming and raw and unpredictable emotionality. The kind of chaos that lived at the base of human personality could in fact infect the society social institutions to such a point that the society itself would become sick. That's what they believe happened in Germany n which the irrational, the anti-democratic went wild. It is a vision of human nature as incredibly destructive and they were terrified Americans would in fact behave that way or were capable of behaving that way and they wanted to avoid a rerun of that."
[Edward] Bernays ("the father of public relations") was convinced that human beings were driven by irrational forces. The only way to deal with the public was to connect with their unconscious desires and fears. Bernays argued that instead of trying to reduce people's fears of communism, one should actually encourage and manipulate the fear. And in such a way that it became a weapon in the cold war. Rational argument was fruitless.
Ann Bernays (Daughter of Edward Bernays): "What my father understood about groups is that they are malleable. And that you can tap into their deepest desires or their deepest fears and use that to your own purposes. I don't think he felt that all those publics out there had reliable judgment; that they may very easily might vote for the wrong man or want the wrong thing, so that they had to be guided from above."
Bernays had manipulated the American people but he had done so because he, like many others at the time believed that the interests of business and the interests of America were indivisible. Especially when faced with the threat of communism. But Bernays was convinced that to explain this rationally to the American people was impossible. Because they were not rational. Instead one had to touch on their inner fears and manipulate them in the interest of a higher truth. He called it the engineering of consent.
Ann Bernays (Daughter of Edward Bernays): "He was doing it for the American way of life to which he was devoted, sincerely devoted. And yet he felt the people were really pretty stupid. And that's the paradox. If you don't leave it up to the people themselves but force them to choose what you want them to choose, however subtly, then it's not democracy anymore. It's something else, it's being told what to do, it's that old authoritarian thing."
"The Century of the Self". Part 2 - Engineering of Consent. BBC, 2002.
Let me add one quote about the Bilderberg Group: "It's much smarter than conspiracy," says Prof Kakabadse. "This is moulding the way people think so that it seems like there's no alternative to what is happening." [BBC]
[Edward] Bernays ("the father of public relations") was convinced that human beings were driven by irrational forces. The only way to deal with the public was to connect with their unconscious desires and fears. Bernays argued that instead of trying to reduce people's fears of communism, one should actually encourage and manipulate the fear. And in such a way that it became a weapon in the cold war. Rational argument was fruitless.
Ann Bernays (Daughter of Edward Bernays): "What my father understood about groups is that they are malleable. And that you can tap into their deepest desires or their deepest fears and use that to your own purposes. I don't think he felt that all those publics out there had reliable judgment; that they may very easily might vote for the wrong man or want the wrong thing, so that they had to be guided from above."
Bernays had manipulated the American people but he had done so because he, like many others at the time believed that the interests of business and the interests of America were indivisible. Especially when faced with the threat of communism. But Bernays was convinced that to explain this rationally to the American people was impossible. Because they were not rational. Instead one had to touch on their inner fears and manipulate them in the interest of a higher truth. He called it the engineering of consent.
Ann Bernays (Daughter of Edward Bernays): "He was doing it for the American way of life to which he was devoted, sincerely devoted. And yet he felt the people were really pretty stupid. And that's the paradox. If you don't leave it up to the people themselves but force them to choose what you want them to choose, however subtly, then it's not democracy anymore. It's something else, it's being told what to do, it's that old authoritarian thing."
"The Century of the Self". Part 2 - Engineering of Consent. BBC, 2002.
Let me add one quote about the Bilderberg Group: "It's much smarter than conspiracy," says Prof Kakabadse. "This is moulding the way people think so that it seems like there's no alternative to what is happening." [BBC]
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