NOTE: Propaganda, engineered (manufactured) consent, and social engineering are topics we'll be delving into over the coming weeks. Consider this the first installment in an ongoing “Propaganda, Consent, and Social Engineering” series.
Written by Edward L. Bernays in 1928, “Propaganda” examines the methodologies used to manipulate people's beliefs, perceptions, and actions/reactions. By using social science, psychological and behavioral research, symbolism, and other techniques to influence politics, society/social change, and consumer trends, a great deal of control can be exerted over the public's positions on a number of issues.
The combination of these techniques and how they were used would lead to the creation of “public relations”, the basis for modern day advertising, and government propaganda. Bernays’ believed the word “propaganda” held too many negative connotations and promoted the usage of the term “public relations” instead. For this reason, Bernays’ is often referred to as the “father of public relations”.
"The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized 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. We are governed, our minds are molded, our tastes formed, our ideas suggested, largely by men we have never heard of.”
-Bernays
Notably, Bernays was the nephew of Sigmund Freud. His mother was Freud's sister and his father was the brother of Freud's wife, Martha Bernays. Bernays utilized and expanded on much of Freud's work and would put many of Freud's theories into practice. He was one of the primary figures responsible for developing the fields of public relations and modern advertising and worked for dozens of corporations and American government agencies.
One of the most famous examples of Bernays' early contributions to the field of public relations/advertising was his work for the American Tobacco Company, who hired him to lead a campaign to encourage more women to become smokers. Bernays did so by making smoking appear desirable, glamorous, and even empowering to women. Though this is the most frequently cited example of his work, he was involved in countless other campaigns, for both private entities and the US government.
In the 1920s, Joseph Goebbels came upon the writing of Bernays and quickly became an admirer of his work. When Goebbels became the Third Reich’s Minister of Propaganda, he utilized Bernays’ concepts and methods to great effect against the Jewish population of Germany, and Europe as a whole. Goebbels considered Bernays to be his single greatest influence.
One of the most foundational Freudian concepts that inspired Bernays was the thesis that humans tend to suppress their innermost desires. This idea was something Bernays would build upon to create methodologies for manipulating perceptions, actions, and even outcomes.
“Man's thoughts and actions are compensatory substitutes for desires which he has been obliged to suppress. A thing may be desired not for its intrinsic worth or usefulness, but because he has unconsciously come to see in it a symbol of something else, the desire for which he is ashamed to admit to himself.”
-Bernays
Bernays hypothesized that propaganda triggered such an extreme emotional response in people that it could be used to create binary mentalities, resulting in knee-jerk, enthusiastic responses to whatever the issue, policy, or product in question was. This hypothesis very accurately sums up the current approach taken by the media and our governments in dividing the public on a wide range of issues. All to benefit them and those they're beholden to, not the people they claim to represent and advocate on behalf of.
Bernays also coined the term “engineering consent” and would later write an essay and coauthor a book laying out the concept and methods that could be used to accomplish it. Today this is more commonly known as “manufacturing consent” and is a tactic utilized regularly to elicit the desired response from the public on a wide range of issues.
Psychology and the social/behavioral sciences have long been corrupted for the purpose of control, becoming some of the most effective tools governments and corporations employ to accomplish their own goals and implement agendas that do nothing to benefit the people. Because of their deep understanding of human psychology/human nature, the art of propaganda and engineered consent often go unnoticed despite the fact that they permeate every aspect of our existence and everyday experiences.
Bernays’ “Propaganda” - PDF