Manipulation of the People

The following article seems to cover it all

Manipulation of The People— The Rudiments of Propaganda
John Smith—09/2003 (updated 09/05)

“Despite living in "the free world", there are very few free men and women walking around in our democracies. Very few indeed. This is because some men and women have a human failing that drives them to want to manipulate others for the sake of power. That manipulation has enslaved humanity throughout most of its history, and still presents the most ominous threat to democracy. Following is an outline to that manipulation, and what we can do about it.

WE THINK WE LIVE in a democracy, which is the type of society in which ultimate power lies with the people. Our leaders are supposed to be our servants, accountable to the people and fulfilling the wishes of the people, making decisions for the greater good of all. Of course, for the people to exercise this power responsibly and wisely, they need to have an accurate picture and understanding of what is going on in the world, so that they are able to steer society in the best direction. (Driving with poor eyesight is a recipe for a crash!) The lifeblood of democracies, therefore, is the free and undistorted flow of information, and the transparency of society's workings (except of course where those workings directly endanger national security).

The rate and density of information flow has been rising exponentially since the end of the Second World War. The arrival of television networks, electronic printing presses, satellites, cheap data routers, the computer and the internet have meant that information flow and processing have never been faster, easier, cheaper or more far-reaching. Whilst this potentially increases news flow, diversity and opinion, in reality the counter-pressures of market forces and corporate conglomeration, which has led to a virtual media monopoly where only a handful of multinationals now own and control the vast majority of mainstream media outlets, have meant that there has actually been an overall contraction in information diversity and opinion. Mainstream media is now almost invariably mass-produced, corporate-friendly, nationalistic and unchallenging, hooking the audience with a riveting milieu of banality, fear, violence, hatred, and sex.

With control over the West's mass media falling into the hands of a small group of multinationals (only 5 control just about all the US media), the potential for information flow to be spun by the interests of big business (and governments, which have a symbiotic relationship with big business) has never been greater. In fact, research directly demonstrates that news stories or opinions which are anti-capitalist, anti-nationalistic or anti-government are far less likely to make it into print or be covered by television than those that support capitalism, nationalism and our present governments. And reporters who do not tow the line with the media owner's opinions are likely to find themselves quickly out of a job!

So we know that the information channels that most people use in our democratic societies are becoming less free and undistorted, a process that is eroding the heart of democracy itself — the people's power. In fact, you could say that the level of democracy is inversely proportional to the extent to which information is controlled and spun. One positive thing that has come out of the recent US/UK illegal invasion of Iraq, and the murder of a hundred thousand of its civilians, is that people (at least outside the US) are beginning to wake up to the level of public manipulation. In the US, for example, 70% of people recently polled believed that Saddam Hussein was directly responsible for the World Trade Centre disaster. This is undeniably false and even Bush eventually and begrudgingly admitted that there was no connection, but this was only after stringing the people along on this one because the government needed public support.

Here in the UK, mass media has more diversity and so the people were not so obedient to their masters' wishes. That said, the lack of public support, party support, intelligence support and even Cabinet support, was not enough to stop Tony Blair from dragging this country into an illegal war alongside the US. With the UK's media diversity, the government was forced to do all the spinning itself, putting out lie after lie to the British public and the news agencies. The result is that Blair is the least trusted Prime Minister in recent British history, with his grin (that so many Americans seem to find endearing) synonymous with deceit. Blair's whole edifice of deception is looking more and more fragile, but that does not mean that he is necessarily out of government. A bit of PR, the sacrifice of a few scapegoats, photo-opportunities with world leaders, an adoring kiss from his wife on camera, and he will probably hold on to his job… such is politics.

Our leaders don't care about democracy. Why should they? After all, being accountable to the people only reduces their power, and as George Orwell said, "no one ever seizes power with the intention of relinquishing it. Power is not a means, it is an end. The object of power is power." The same holds for corporations… why would corporations care about people when their bottom line is the maximisation of profit? Sure, there are many instances when caring about people does maximise profits, but rest assured that when the two clash, and they often do behind the scenes, profits ALWAYS come before people, unless prevented from doing so by legislation. However, as government and big business are bedfellows, with ex-politicians often sitting on the boards of big companies, the business community is able to unduly and undemocratically influence that legislative process, steering our legal system towards a corporate and controlled state. Governments and corporations work hand in hand to erode democracy because that is in their interest. That is their nature. But for how long can democracy be eroded before it becomes a dictatorship? How much democratic savings do we have left in the bank before we wake up to the fact that we are merely a pseudo-democracy? (Some might argue that we are this already.)

If we want to live in societies that are democracies only in name, bearing all the attributes of dictatorships, then we only need to carry on in the direction we are headed: trust the government, wave our flags, support our boys and girls murdering in far-off countries, read the newspapers, watch the television, and vote every few years. Then we can congratulate ourselves that we are the "free world", looking with scorn on the barbarity of dictatorships in many developing countries. If that is what we want, then we will have it soon, sooner than we can possibly imagine. (There are huge military programs underway in the US for mass civilian control for when the people finally realize that they no longer have the freedoms of a democracy… but by that time it will probably be too late.)

If we the people decide that democracy is not worth giving up, that power is safest in our hands rather than in those who have the pathology to be driven towards power in the first place, then we need to be more proactive. First of all, we need to fully realize that whenever any group of people has a disproportionate influence over government policy, democracy has suffered a severe blow, period. There are no exceptions. If criticism of government or corporate activity in the US, for example, is automatically labeled"unpatriotic" or "un-American", then the America that is being defended is decidedly not a democracy and therefore not worth defending. Secondly, we need to understand exactly how the people are manipulated into doing the bidding of their leaders and the multinationals, so glaringly against their own interest. We need to understand the methods of manipulation. (I deliberately use the term propaganda sparingly as it is more difficult to define and understand.)

METHODS OF MANIPULATION

1. Control The Media: This is the first and most important step in the control of information. Media ownership is central to the manipulation of the people. Manipulate the people, and you manipulate their vote. You either control the media by owning it or by doing favours to those who own it. In the United States, large corporations own the media and these, in turn, receive favours from the Government in the form of influence over legislation and special tax breaks. Worryingly, only five mega-media corporations now control almost all of the US media, which is why the American people are among the most ignorant and brainwashed in the world.
2. Television: Television has done more harm to society than any other medium. It has shrunk attention spans with its 5 second sound bites, presenting us with a diet of dissociated facts and trivialities, completely out of any historical or sociological context, usually with an emotional charge to keep us watching. In its fairground approach, serious questions and reasoning is replaced by slick emotional imagery, discussion is reduced to a screaming match between two opposing extremists in a ludicrously polarized debate, and the reality of even serious matters such as war is reduced to entertainment. It would not be an exaggeration to say that television, in its present form, is the nemesis of true democracy. (Although it has the potential to be something far different.)
3. Perpetual War: A country at war with an enemy (external or internal) is generally a country that is united in fear, and one in which the people are happy to hand over power to their leaders. As Orwell wrote: "The consciousness of being at war, and therefore in danger, makes the handing-over of all power to a small caste seem the natural, unavoidable condition of survival." Until recently, the Soviet Union and communism represented this danger for us in the West. Upon its collapsed, however, there was a rise in civil liberties until the US was able to start a new war to camouflage its imperialist and dictatorial ambitions: The War Against Terror. Since the start of this war, huge swathes of freedoms have been taken back from the people under the guise of "national security" and "protection". The War on Terror has the added advantage of being unwinnable and therefore perpetually serves those who want power. Herman Goering said at the Nuremberg Trials: "The people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the peacemakers for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country."
4. Language: Orwell knew better than most the power of language in defining our reality and our behaviour. He wrote in Nineteen Eighty Four, "War is Peace"; doublespeak ominously mirrored by Bush during the Iraq war when he said, "The war in Iraq is really about peace." The assault on Iraq was continually referred to as "liberation", and the US military called it "Operation Iraqi Freedom". Of course, liberation and freedom had little to do with the real reason that the US and UK invaded that country, but the rhetoric at least allows concerned citizens an excuse to deceive themselves into supporting blatant imperialism. Other doublespeak terms used by the military include "collateral damage" for civilian casualties and "the axis of evil" which gives the impression that countries with different ideologies to that of the US are somehow plotting together to hurt the US (when in fact most of these countries have almost no diplomatic relationships with each other). Control language and you control people's thoughts. In 1984, Orwell asserts that the control of language (and the elimination of selected vocabulary) is a prerequisite for the control of the People: "Don't you see that the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought? In the end, we shall make thoughtcrime literally impossible because there will be no words in which to express it… The whole climate of thought will be different. In fact, there will be no thought as we understand it now."
5. Patriotism: At first patriotism might seem a show of solidarity of people and country, but it is actually one of the main methods that people are manipulated into serving their government in ways that may not be in their best interest. Tolstoy wrote: "…the subjection of men to government will always continue as long as patriotism exists, for every ruling power rests on patriotism — on the readiness of men to submit to power… " As long as people are patriotic, they will overlook the sins of their government, both towards their own people, and towards other those in other countries. When Blair is questioned whether he has any regrets over Iraq, for example, he avoids the question and appeals to patriotism, "I think our boys have done a fantastic job," implying that anyone who questions the legitimacy of the Iraqi invasion questions the legitimacy of "our boys". This tendency for evil policy to ride through on a wave of patriotism is particularly prevalent in the US.
6. Dissociation of the Facts: This is a classic method used by governments and the media to maintain the fantasies that they use to control the thought of their people. For example, the Blair government insisted that the London bombings were the result of irrational religious fanatics, period, because that gets them off the far more likely hook that they were an evil and direct consequence of its murderous foreign policy. In this way, "blow back" from its actions denied. Dissociation of facts is particularly easy with a media source like TV (see 2 above).
7. Religions and Cults: The promise of eternal life and the threat of hell (the carrot and the stick) approach of most religions and cults has led to more murder, misery, torture, sexual abuse, child abuse, suicide, guilt, shame, anger, perversion, hostility and slavery than any other form of manipulation in history. The Roman Catholic Church has even apologised recently for its abusive past (not that this will have much effect on its behaviour). Anything "fundamentalist" just means that ideology is being put in front of people… a recipe for individual and mass abuse.
8. Robotic Education: It is a fallacy to believe that only the uneducated can be manipulated. Some believe that the educated are actually the easiest to manipulate because they have been trained to to process so much information that they often become less critical. The educated also tend to need an opinion on everything. Educational today is tailored to manufacturer individuals to support government propaganda. Whereas students in the past were revolutionary and questioned society, today it would seem that that revolutionary edge has been tempered by an acceptance of the corporatisation of society, the poison of patriotism, and the soporific effect of institutionalised entertainment and titillation.
9. Corporate Slavery: Corporations are mini dictatorships that force people to work long hours for relatively little of the overall profits. Today, most people work for corporations, and so most people are used to dictatorial environments and are left with little time to concern themselves with the state of society and the world. This makes people very susceptible to government manipulation because they are so used to being manipulated at work, and to being slaves to a system. Some believe that the ethos of working long and intense hours, something that even slaves in former times were not subject to, is a good thing for society as it raises everybody's standard of living. This may be true to some extent, but it is still an underhanded manipulation of society, and in a democracy the people should be at least conscious of this fact.
10. Fear: This is one of the best ways to control people… fear of violence, destitution, disapproval, ridicule, change etc. Fear is used to manipulate people into receiving dangerous and expensive medical treatments, into buying 4x4 vehicles, into buying expensive cosmetics and clothes so that we are loved for being beautiful (and not hated for being old and ugly), into giving money to cancer charities (most of which squander it on chemotherapy poisons that can be statistically worse than no treatment at all), into attending church so we don't go to hell and into being a corporate slave so that we don't find ourselves thrown out on the street by our mortgage company. In fact, fear is the best motivation in governmental, corporate and religious manipulation. (see also 27).
11. Repeat A Lie: Joseph Goebbels said: "Never admit a lie - simply keep repeating it." This works wonders for governments intent on misleading its citizens. This is the reason why 70% of Americans believe that Iraq was behind 9-11 despite all evidence to the contrary. The Bush propaganda machine just keeps repeating it over and over. And over here in the UK, Blair just keeps repeating that weapons of mass destruction exist and that it was a "good thing" to illegally invade a sovereign state. When no WMD were discovered in Iraq, Blair just started repeating another lie that the world is safer as a result of his disastrous Iraq invasion.
12. Hide Truth in a Barrage of Lies: This is a very useful method of not getting caught making a lie. The lies that go along with the truthful piece of information spin that truth so that it is no longer any use. When questioned on this method, governments can always hold up their hands in mocked surprise telling us that they give us the truth all along. During the Iraqi war, for example, truth and fiction were deliberately mixed together by the US and UK governments in a very confusing way, with innuendos of fictitious Iraqi military capacity. The government here in the UK is trying to contend that the 45-minute claim in the intelligence dossier actually referred to more conventional weapons, and therefore everyone was telling the truth.
13. Unnecessary Secrecy: Every government needs to have some level of secrecy in military matters to protect its borders and its people. But when this is used to withhold information from the people which is not necessary for national security then the position of governments to classify information is being abused. This is now happening on a daily basis in so called democracies as governments take a dim view of the people's right to know. This focus on secrecy, often justified by war, is also extending into the corporate world where big business is demanding the right, for reasons ranging from terrorism to competitive edge, to keep its policies and workings secret from the public. When the public is kept in the dark, democracy itself is dimmed.
14. Vilifying Our Enemies: This is the classic method of manipulation that justifies hash treatment for both internal enemies and external enemies. Drug dealers, murderers, foreign dictators, asylum seekers and people in other countries are often dehumanized to justify their inhumane treatment and often murder at the hands of our governments, society and ourselves. Iraqi soldiers in the Kuwait war, for example, were falsely accused of mass murder of babies on incubators, which justified their mass murder at the hands of the American military. Dehumanization also blocks us making any attempt to try to understand the motives and feelings of our perceived enemies, something that if we did might reveal our own and/or our government's complicity in our enemy's actions. There is a pernicious assumption in our society that trying to understand the motives of someone who has performed an evil act or wants to perform an evil act is the same as condoning that act. Those who wish to manipulate us would far rather we label all acts in response to our society's control mechanisms, either here or abroad, as acts perpetrated by evil and irrational people, rather than evil and irrational acts perpetrated by desperate people. Only the second perspective gives a chance to reconcile with our enemy, something that our controllers would certainly not want (see 3 above).
15. Evasion of Responsibility: Leading politicians know exactly how to duck and dive their way out of sticky situations by setting up a string of fall guys and girls. Nobody is as expert at this as Blair who has survived several disasters of his prime ministership, any one of which could have terminated his appointment. Master manipulators are great at throwing up smokescreens; at being evasive. The people, therefore, are continually manipulated into thinking the problem is everyone except the leader or corporation involved.
16. Control Reporters: One of the simplest ways to control the information going to the media is to control which reporters have access to the source of information. You can be sure, for example, that no pacifists were invited along with the military to report on the invasion of Iraq. Another way that reporters where psychologically manipulated during recent middle-east conflicts was by having them embedded — in other words completely dependent and therefore grateful to the US/UK forces for protecting them in hostile environments. You hardly criticism the hand the feeds and protects you!
17. Advertising/PR: When we live in an environment saturated with corporate advertising and PR, we grow used to their presence. We almost expect to be manipulated into purchasing or consuming something or other. The way that most advertising is conducted is to hook us on an emotional response rather than employing our cerebral cortex — the idea being that more primitive responses of the brain are more predictable and so the outcome of the advertising/PR is more assured. What we don't realize is that these techniques are being used to sell us more than just products or services. They are being used by governments and corporations to sell us ideas and worldviews that support those governments and corporations aims. (Hundreds of millions of dollars were spent in the build up of the Iraqi war by the Bush government to manipulate the American people into supporting him — but few people realize this.)
18. Debt: A people and a nation in debt is far easier to manipulate than one that isn't because its members are so busy paying off their mortgages and rents that they don't have the time, the energy or the inclination to challenge the status quo. The average person is deliberately kept just short of bankruptcy so that he remains a slave to the system. (Slaves only question the system if they can imagine freedom; a slave who has no concept of freedom does not need much control or cohesion.) Manipulation via debt also applies to nations where it is used ruthlessly by the developed countries to enslave undeveloped countries and steal their resources.
19. Consumerism: Strange how shopping has become the favourite pastime for most young people these days. Hook people on consumerism and they will believe that the dissatisfaction that they feel is because they don't have the latest car or mobile phone. The pursuit of materialism blunts the democratic process for two reasons: firstly, the corporate model becomes the predominant model in society; and secondly, rampant consumerism is unecological and destructive to communities both in here and abroad — something that if people freely thought about they would realize is not in their interest (which is why advertising has to engage them emotionally). Consumerism has become such a pillar of modern social control that it is hardly even questioned any more.
20. Fantasy and Entertainment: Almost everyone is glued to their televisions many hours each day, and many young people play an inordinate amount of computer games. Film and pop stars are now our main role models, with a level of decadence and excess that only very few of the people could and ever will match. Entertainment has become Huxley's soma of the people, dulling their desire to challenge the status quo and giving those who would manipulate us a far easier task. The main way to keep ratings high on national television is to appeal to the primitive emotions of fear and anger. This sensationalism is one of the main reasons for the negative effect of this medium on the people and to its alarming distortion of reality.
21. Drugs and Alcohol: An extension of entertainment, drugs and alcohol give the people an "outlet" for their dissatisfaction and unhappiness, often sublimating their desire to democratically make changes in the society in which they live. The consumption of excessive alcohol, painkillers and anti-depressants has reached epidemic proportions. Some drugs, such as hallucinogens, can heighten our perception of what is going on in the world provided they are taken in the right context and not as an escape, but by far the majority of people are taking recreational drugs to cloud their perception of reality. A population that uses these sorts of escape valves is far less likely to challenge the status quo.
22. Romance / Sex Fixation: Romance and sex have always had a huge and healthy part to play in society. But when these two desires are railroaded by corporations then our natural instincts are being used to powerfully manipulate our behaviour into supporting the designs of others. There is nothing romantic about murder, but that has not stopped even war, which is mass murder, from becoming romanticized in our popular media.
23. Assumed Authority: Most people have an unhealthy respect for those in authority. This makes them controllable by those who assume that authority. Many young people today dislike people in authority, but this is usually only a psychological stage through which they are going to being adult members of society. In fact, hatred for authority is little different to love for it. We have to realize that in a democracy, anybody in "authority" is just a human being acting as a particular servant to the people. (Authority in corporations is a different matter as these are not democratic institutions.) Blindly following authority, however, can have devastating consequences. Each year in the United States, for example, 113,000 people die from the side-effects of medical drugs or errors in medication, but still most are unwilling to challenge their doctor's opinions because they are not only afraid of challenging authority, they love to acquiesce in it.
24. National Self-Centeredness: It is very easy for us in the West to be blind to the reason why "foreigners" get so upset about our military expansion and intervention in world affairs. We forget that if another country, say China, behaved in the way the US behaves internationally, we would be preparing for war. Nations are naturally self-centered, and what we might label as "defence" or a "war on terrorism" is very likely to be labeled as "attack" and "imperialist expansion" by those outside our borders. If, for example, Iran insisted on having a military base in Mexico, there would be national outcry in the US (and no doubt the rest of the Americas) and yet the US does not understand a similar response from other countries to the copious US military bases worldwide. In this way, people, corporations and governments are blind to their own actions because they have a short-sighted perspective. The people are thus manipulated into supporting "defence" when it is really offence. Denial is also involved with those with a strong sense of nationalism. George Orwell once wrote, "The nationalist not only does not disapprove of atrocities committed by his own side. He has a remarkable capacity for not even hearing about them."
25. Bogus History: George Orwell said "He who controls the past commands the future." History is being rewritten at every available opportunity by governments, corporations, religions and filmmakers in order to manipulate the worldview of the people. From the holocaust deniers to those that try to justify the dropping of atomic bombs on Japan at the end of WWII (despite the fact that Japan has already surrendered), history is continually rewritten to support particular ideological frameworks and of course national triumphantism. Today, few understand the hatred of the Middle-Eastern countries towards the West, conveniently attributing it to something as irrational as Islamic Fundamentalism. In reality, the West and especially the US was shamelessly manipulating this region of the world for most of the 20th Century and entirely out of self-interest. If anyone needs to understand this hatred, the irrationality of religious fundamentalism is most certainly not the place to start.
26. Insults: It is remarkable that in the 21st century, name calling is still one of the major techniques of political "discussion" at the highest level. Branding someone as a "communist" or a "socialist" is still considered a terrible slur, especially in the US. Like appeals to patriotism, insulting someone in this way is used ad nausea by government, corporate and other fascist representatives who have been presented with undeniable facts for their wrongdoing against the people. The Founding Fathers of the US would no doubt be liable to this insult if they were alive today for their people-oriented constitution.
27. Physical Intimidation: Of course, if none of the above techniques are working, "democracies" can resort to physical intimidation. I have a friend who was beaten by police in the US for just being on the street during a political protest… she wasn't taking part and was just watching the marchers pass. In the United Police State of America intimidation of the people is used to keep society in line, and it is absolutely incorrect to believe that physical abuse of captives only happens in far off dictatorships and socialist countries. The US illegally holds and tortures Afghan prisoners in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in direct contravention of the Geneva Convention. This is an astonishing example by the so called flagship of democracy to set to the rest of the world and to its own population. The message to the world is Might is Right (and so is torture).

All these methods and situations are used to manipulate society. Of course, it has been argued that some manipulation is necessary in order to have people fulfill their "function" or "role" in society: give their life to the corporate world, have 2.2 children, obediently pay off their mortgage, and silently go off to war like lambs to the slaughter to "defend" their country. Otherwise, God Forbid, the corporate world would crumble, people might have no children… or 10 out of wedlock, the banks might lose the interest that they charge on imaginary money (fractional reserve banking) and a lot less innocent women, men and children might be murdered in far off countries (or by state-sponsored medical poisons). What some call the positive or essential role of this manipulation or propaganda still takes away power from the people and puts it into a societal structure that benefits the few at the expense of the many. This clearly contravenes the ideals of democracy in which the people hold the power and make the decisions.

If democracy is something worth preserving (it might not be ideal but history bears testimony to the disasters and terrible suffering that inevitably happen when the people do not hold the power) then we have to reduce the level of manipulation on our lives so that we begin to act consciously in our interests rather than unconsciously in the interests of the few (politicians, big business, the military, banks etc.)

BREAKING FREE

Reducing our susceptibility to manipulation is actually relatively easy, although it does take effort. Part of it is just becoming conscious of the methods of manipulation above by thinking deeply about them, but this must be accompanied by an effort to push against the norm, against what everybody else does. However, it is a small price to pay when one considers that democracy itself and the freedom of our children is at stake. Manipulation may well be endemic in society, but the following steps will be more than enough to immunise us against its influence:

1. Stop Watching Television: Throw it out! There is no other medium that causes more distortion and manipulation than television. With its neuron-numbing sound bites, dissociated facts and images, its huge susceptibility to government and corporate propaganda due to almost 100% big business ownership, its distortion of the most serious situations like war into entertainment, and its ominous presence in every home, television has become the number one tool for manipulating society.
2. Stop Mainstream Newspapers, Magazines and Radio: These also present a highly distorted picture of the world, especially in the United States where media diversity is almost nonexistent. (There are a still a few good national newspapers here in UK such as The Guardian and The Independent.) Alternative press is very strong in magazine department and it is easy to find very good alternative magazines, often in your local health shop.
3. Get Your News Online: The internet is a great place to learn about what is going on in the world due to the very small setup costs that allow a huge diversity of opinion. Sites that are worth getting your basic news from might include YearZero.org, IndyMedia.org, AlterNet.org, MotherJones.com, Greenpeace.org, CorpWatch.org, YellowTimes.org, TomPaine.com, DisInfo.com WorkingforChange.com, GuerrillaNews.com, GlobalResearch.ca, InformationClearingHouse.info, CorporateWatch.org.uk, PositiveNews.org.uk and OneWorld.net. These will also give a much more democracy-friendly, global, accurate and less nationalistic perspective. (Most mainstream news is a complete waste of attention.)
4. Stop Waving The Flag: A human being is a human being no matter what country he or she happens to be born into. If we truly love and care about humanity, we accept people no matter what their country of origin. For too long countries like the America and the United Kingdom (and many others) have hidden behind a wall of patriotism, a wall that serves only to dehumanize those that we exploit in our imperialism.
5. Become Politically Involved: Although this means more than a vote every few years, a vote is a good place to start as voting turnouts have never been as low due to the increasing insignificance that people feel. Being politically active also means lobbying your local MP or senator over injustice in society and the environment (both in your own country and abroad), protesting against corporate behaviour that is at odds with the interests of society and humanity, and discussing matters over with friends and associates. Orchestrating purchasing power in a community is a very powerful way to rein in governments and corporations.
6. Read Recommended Books: Read some of the books that have been recommended on this site. These will give detail, the context and understanding that the mass media cannot even begin to cover.
7. Get Out Of Debt: It's easy to say and impossible for many, but if one can, even if sacrifices are needed to do so, it is better not to be in debt as the contract of a debt (mortgage, borrowing etc.) manipulates you into being a slave. Whilst many unfortunately have no choice as their very survival has created debt, it is concerning that there are a huge and growing number of people who are in debt not because they can't afford food and shelter, but because they have bought into the propaganda that they "need" a faster car, that bigger house and the latest flat-screen television.
8. Use Alternative Money Systems: Money is the currency of power. By using alternative money systems like LETTS, those that set up the official money systems (the few) can no longer drain power from the people. A money system is a contractual arrangement between two entities, and ideally one should use a system that only serves the interests of the people and the community.
9. Free The Mind: This is the hardest and most profound of all the steps to stop manipulation, and comes from a combination of self-education, focus and self-belief. A mind that knows itself knows how to be free and knows when it is being manipulated. It is a fact that those who have substantially practiced meditation or conscious introspection find it far easier to know when another person is lying or trying to manipulate them. Whether mediation means sitting cross-legged in front of an altar or walking out in the wilderness, practicing freedom of the mind — self-knowledge — makes us much more aware of the processes of enslavement. Timothy Leary, for example, was one of the freest men around, even when he was in jail, because he was free where it counted, in his mind. Whilst he used a lot of psychedelics to help him reach that level of self-knowledge, it can be achieved by anybody with non-drug methods such as meditation or other spiritual practices. Another technique that works wonders on the mind is to stop wearing a watch as often as possible… time synchronizes our mind energy with society's control systems.
10. Defend human rights and freedoms: If those in authority violate our human rights and freedoms, it is our duty to fight back for them in the courts. Increasingly, this is one of the only remaining places that we can challenge the system — mass protests don't seem to be as effective as they used to be. Do not let those in authority walk over you. If you do, you just make it easier for them to do the same thing to others, and the whole effect snowballs to Big Brother catastrophe.
11. Protest at every opportunity: Even though protests seem less effective these days, they serve the important purpose of uniting the people protesting. There is nothing more inspiring then physically marching with others for the common good of society.
12. Network, network, network: When we first start to question our assumptions about reality, our map of reality, it is natural to withdraw from the world whilst we re-evaluate ourselves. Often such a process can be quite emotional because we realize that the whole edifice of our lives has been based on lies (or at least on wildly inaccurate maps of reality). This process of doing the inner work is necessary for each individual to go through; each has to have his or her own dark night of the soul. But that process does not last forever: provided that we do not resist anything, we naturally move through to liberation, realizing that we no longer need society's template against which to measure ourselves. We become free, and it is natural to then want to go back into society and network with others like ourselves who are working for the liberation of humanity. Community is very important to help us stay awake, for mutual inspiration, and because we are much more effective when we work as a team. Each of us undertaking this journey has been helped by others who came before us, and we can express our gratitude to them and to the whole grand process of awakening by expressing that freedom in each situation and to every person that we meet (it could be just a simple smile to a stranger). That is our soul responsibility.

Anyone who follows all twelve steps above will be immunised from 95% of all societal manipulation. If a critical mass of people follows them (perhaps no more than 5%), power will gradually begin to return to the people and democracy will be restored. Otherwise, we will continue to unconsciously squander the democracy our forebears literally died for (THAT is the value of democracy), and we will wake up one day, sooner than we think, in a dictatorship. The choice is ours.

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Technological Utopianism? Power and Mechanical Efficiency Without Moral Restraint

Certainly technological progress can lead to very positive changes, however, that is only if we understand that technology is supposed to serve humanity, not the other way around.  Yet, today, technology is advancing so rapidly--exponentially--without time for conscious moral intention or consideration. Previous rules, mores, and norms--for better or worse--are discarded without blinking an eye.  So, are we wise enough, moral enough, intelligent enough to control technology? Artificial intelligence?  Apparently not, as you will see,  we have become subservient to the neutral machine/technology, devoid of any moral or spiritual value and/or meaning. . 


For one, we've become more isolated than ever before, substituting electronics for real face-to-face human interaction and outdoor activity.

Two, life, it seems, has become more complex, time consuming, and frustrating, even though technology is supposed to simplify not to mention, increase quality and recreational time. 

Three, despite easy access to information, we're dumber and more dependent (on technology) than ever.  While we have access to lots of information--way too much, in fact--information isn't knowledge if you don't understand it.  I mean, how can one have knowledge or understanding when computers do everything? 

Four, as we grow increasingly ignorant and more reliant on these emerging technologies, those who pull the strings of government and society have been and continue to be very busy translating information superiority into combat power. In other words, post modern warfare or network centric warfare to master the human domain.

The network centric warfare platform takes the individual decision making out of the equation. In other words, the system is making the decisions for you. Left to robots--real terminators--death will be on a massive scale few can imagine because believe it or not, human beings do not naturally kill other human beings. They must be brainwashed, indoctrinated, etc., to kill. Hence, the proliferation of electronic warfare games for children.





Links:

Failed Thermostat: The illusion of Control in an Information Rich Age

How the CIA made Google.

"INSURGE INTELLIGENCE, a new crowd-funded investigative journalism project, breaks the exclusive story of how the United States intelligence community funded, nurtured and incubated Google as part of a drive to dominate the world through control of information. Seed-funded by the NSA and CIA, Google was merely the first among a plethora of private sector start-ups co-opted by US intelligence to retain ‘information superiority.’

The origins of this ingenious strategy trace back to a secret Pentagon-sponsored group, that for the last two decades has functioned as a bridge between the US government and elites across the business, industry, finance, corporate, and media sectors. The group has allowed some of the most powerful special interests in corporate America to systematically circumvent democratic accountability and the rule of law to influence government policies, as well as public opinion in the US and around the world. The results have been catastrophic: NSA mass surveillance, a permanent state of global war, and a new initiative to transform the US military into Skynet.

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The Provocateur

This book is profoundly troublesome, dark, and provocative in the extreme because it raises disturbing questions about the manipulation of the public will, and even more importantly the manipulation of our private beliefs about, well, pretty much everything.  Although exaggerated--I give human beings more credit--and somewhat simplistic, it 's a horror story of hopelessness that could easily be remedied if we were not so easily and maybe even willfully blinded.

The Provocateur by Michael Stephenson

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

"What if everything you were brought up to think about society, all layers of cultural meaning, freedom, etc., are wrong? What if someone, or a small group of wealthy and powerful social engineers, specifically, powerful institutions of our contemporary global economy, were subverting your beliefs, ideas and values with behavioral tricks to use them against you?

Social control has and always will be a problem for each and every form of government since government is simply a mechanism with which to control a culture or society, and in large measure, its geared to the needs of the ruling elites of our social institutions, yet we seldom question where our thoughts, ideas, beliefs, even cultural trends originate...in other words, what/whom inspires, or more succinctly, controls our minds.

"The maniacal lunatics in control of our society know exactly how human beings tick and they are masters at manipulation." - Bruce McDonald

Anyway, I gave it five stars, not so much for the plot, characterization or writing style (which are very good as well) but for the very thought provoking experience as I read this book.

View all my reviews

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Controling the Dangerous Crowd in an Age of Mass Democracy

The triumph of the self is the ultimate expression of democracy, where power is truly moved into the hands of the people. Certainly the people may feel they are in charge, but are they really? The Century of the Self by Adam Curtis tells the untold and controversial story of the growth of the mass-consumer society. How is the all-consuming self created, by whom, and in whose interest?

The Freud dynasty is at the heart of this compelling social history. Sigmund Freud, founder of psychoanalysis; Edward Bernays, who invented public relations; Anna Freud, Sigmund's devoted daughter; and present-day PR guru and Sigmund's great grandson, Matthew Freud. Sigmund Freud's work into the bubbling and murky world of the subconscious changed the world. By introducing a technique to probe the unconscious mind, Freud provided useful tools for understanding the secret desires of the masses. Unwittingly, his work served as the precursor to a world full of political spin doctors, marketing moguls, and society's belief that the pursuit of satisfaction and happiness is man's ultimate goal....

Part 1-Happiness Machines:
Part one documents the story of the relationship between Sigmund Freud and his American nephew, Edward Bernays who invented 'Public Relations' in the 1920s, being the first person to take Freud's ideas to manipulate the masses. He showed American corporations how they could make people want things they didn't need by systematically linking mass-produced goods to their unconscious desires.

Part 2-The Engineering of Consent:
Part two explores how those in power in post-war America used Freud's ideas about the unconscious mind to try and control the masses. Politicians and planners came to believe Freud's underlying premise that deep within all human beings were dangerous and irrational desires. They were convinced that it was the unleashing of these instincts that had led to the barbarism of Nazi Germany, and in response to this, they set out to find ways to control the masses so as to manage the 'hidden enemy' within the human mind.

Part 3-There is a Policeman Inside All Our Heads, He Must Be Destroyed:
In the 1960s, a radical group of psychotherapists challenged the influence of Freudian ideas, which lead to the creation of a new political movement that sought to create 'new people', free of the psychological conformity that had been implanted in people's minds by business and politics. This episode shows how this idea rapidly developed in America through "self-help movements", into the irresistible rise of the expressive self: the Me Generation.

Part 4-Eight People Sipping Wine in Kettering:
This episode explains how politicians turned to the same techniques used by business in order to read and manipulate the inner desires of the masses. Both New Labor with Tony Blair and the Democrats led by Bill Clinton, used the focus group which had been invented by psychoanalysts in order to regain power. Both set out to mold their policies to manipulate people's innermost desires and feelings, just as capitalism had learned to do with products.

The Century of the Self:

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Is America Dumber Now Than Over 100 Years Ago? Take This Test and Find Out.

The use of the intellect to subvert the masses is not a new dynamic. Powerful men knew/know that if you want to keep power, you must always have the intellectual edge, and make sure the public stays dumbed down. How? Subjugate the public through poor education.

America is being deliberately dumbed down. The absence of critical thought, as a result of a dumbed down public education, in addition to the escalation of mind-numbing entertainment and technology, is producing a nation of Schnookies.

Anyway, this is the eighth-grade final exam from 1895 from Salina, Kansas. It was taken from the original document on file at the Smoky Valley Genealogical Society and Library in Salina, Kansas and reprinted by the Salina Journal.

Granted, some of the questions are outdated; however, there are enough questions that still apply.

1895 TEST:

Grammar (Time, one hour)

1. Give nine rules for the use of Capital Letters.
2. Name the Parts of Speech and define those that have no modifications.
3. Define Verse, Stanza and Paragraph.
4. What are the Principal Parts of a verb? Give Principal Parts of do, lie, lay and run.
5. Define Case, Illustrate each Case.
6. What is Punctuation? Give rules for principal marks of Punctuation.
7-10. Write a composition of about 150 words and show therein that you understand the
practical use of the rules of grammar.

Arithmetic (Time, 1.25 hours)

1. Name and define the Fundamental Rules of Arithmetic.
2. A wagon box is 2 ft. deep, 10 feet long, and 3 ft. wide. How many bushels of wheat will it
hold?
3. If a load of wheat weighs 3942 lbs., what is it worth at 50 cts. per bu, deducting 1050 lbs. for
tare?
4. District No. 33 has a valuation of $35,000. What is the necessary levy to carry on a school
seven months at $50 per month, and have $104 for incidentals?
5. Find cost of 6720 lbs. coal at $6.00 per ton.
6. Find the interest of $512.60 for 8 months and 18 days at 7 percent.
7. What is the cost of 40 boards 12 inches wide and 16 ft. long at $.20 per inch?
8. Find bank discount on $300 for 90 days (no grace) at 10 percent.
9. What is the cost of a square farm at $15 per acre, the distance around which is 640 rods?
10. Write a Bank Check, a Promissory Note, and a Receipt.

U.S. History (Time, 45 minutes)

1. Give the epochs into which U.S. History is divided.
2. Give an account of the discovery of America by Columbus.
3. Relate the causes and results of the Revolutionary War.
4. Show the territorial growth of the United States.
5. Tell what you can of the history of Kansas.
6. Describe three of the most prominent battles of the Rebellion.
7. Who were the following: Morse, Whitney, Fulton, Bell, Lincoln, Penn, and Howe?
8. Name events connected with the following dates: 1607, 1620, 1800, 1849, and 1865?

Orthography (Time, one hour)

1. What is meant by the following: Alphabet, phonetic orthography, etymology, syllabication?
2. What are elementary sounds? How classified?
3. What are the following, and give examples of each: Trigraph, subvocals, diphthong, cognateletters, linguals?
4. Give four substitutes for caret 'u'.
5. Give two rules for spelling words with final 'e'. Name two exceptions under each rule.
6. Give two uses of silent letters in spelling. Illustrate each.
7. Define the following prefixes and use in connection with a word: Bi, dis, mis, pre, semi,
post, non, inter, mono, super.
8. Mark diacritically and divide into syllables the following, and name the sign that indicates
the sound: Card, ball, mercy, sir, odd, cell, rise, blood, fare, last.
9. Use the following correctly in sentences, Cite, site, sight, fane, fain, feign, vane, vain, vein,
raze, raise, rays.
10. Write 10 words frequently mispronounced and indicate pronunciation by use of diacritical
marks and by syllabication.

Geography (Time, one hour)

1. What is climate? Upon what does climate depend?
2. How do you account for the extremes of climate in Kansas?
3. Of what use are rivers? Of what use is the ocean?
4. Describe the mountains of N.A.
5. Name and describe the following: Monrovia, Odessa, Denver, Manitoba, Hecla, Yukon, St.
Helena, Juan Fermandez, Aspinwall and Orinoco.
6. Name and locate the principal trade centers of the U.S.
7. Name all the republics of Europe and give capital of each.
8. Why is the Atlantic Coast colder than the Pacific in the same latitude?
9. Describe the process by which the water of the ocean returns to the sources of rivers.
10. Describe the movements of the earth. Give inclination of the earth.

Answers

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Could George W. End Up Being One of Our Greatest Presidents?

Perish the thought; however, it's possible. What if the Middle East transforms from a boiling cauldron of violence and hostility into a peaceful hub of American loving individuals in the next few years? What if our financial system once again serves as the model for the rest of the world to follow? You get the point. Anyone who has engaged in reading this blog knows what I think of President Bush, however, I am also aware of the difficulty of seeing the forest through the trees.

I never thought Ronald Reagan would go down as one of our greatest presidents, yet, less than two decades later, it seems as if he may just do that. Granted, he had something to do with the fall of the "evil empire", but for the most part, President Reagan added the finishing touches to an effort started long ago, which when combined with being in the right place at the right time, makes it appear as if he had more to do with it than he really did (Yes, I'm biased as he is not my favorite President, however he is not solely responsible). President Reagan did accomplish more than someone like me is likely to give him credit, as he also created the Earned Income Tax Credit, uncharacteristic of his presidential agenda, as it enables a disenfranchised America.

On the other hand, by pushing supply side economics and deregulating the shadow economy thus increasing the gap between the haves and the have-nots, President Reagan ignited a very egocentric, self-centered trend in our country that fueled the entitled, "overweight" America we see today...not to mention the Iran-Contra issue; ignoring the Aids crisis and many other blemishes that scar his leadership effectiveness.

Assessing leadership is difficult as it is not a moral concept in and of itself, yet it's almost impossible to evaluate someone as a leader outside of a moral context. All ethics and morality aside, Jesus Christ far "out-leaders" Hitler. Jesus influenced and continues to influence billions of people, thousands of years after his death and He did not use coercive techniques to unite his followers to share His vision. Hitler, on the other hand, amassed a large following, however his "leadership" did use brute force and over half a century later, has a handful of followers, at best.

However, comparing leaders is normally not that straight forward, with the exception of leaders like Jesus Christ and Gandhi, most leaders exhibit an egocentricity that leads to decisions that end up destroying as much as their leadership serves to restore. Consider Charlemagne. He was a great military leader and illuminated a very dark part of history, giving the people he ruled a taste of what it was like to live before the fall of Rome, however he also ordered the beheading of 3,000 people in a matter of a few hours for not adopting his new found belief, just one example of how bloodthirsty he could be. Was he a good leader? He was, overall a good leader, however, no one with a reverence for life can overlook his glaring inhumanity.

If we distinguish between leaders and tyrants, weeding out everyone who found it necessary to use brute force to remain in power, the task becomes somewhat easier, however even that runs into problems because "brute force" must be defined. What about the threat of "brute force"? What if leaders are more insidious and the "brute force" is not so apparent? Some leaders have, as much if not more blood on their hands, yet it's invisible to the naked eye.

George W. Bush will end up with the blood of thousands if not millions on his hands, however, if the Middle East ends up "democratized" and a peaceful land, wouldn't he rank up there with the great presidents of all time? Just as Ronald Reagan's legacy will always be the fall of the Soviet Union, if years from now, Iraq or the Middle East transforms, George W. will no doubt get the credit. Some of our greatest Presidents suffered the lowest ratings in the opinion polls at the time they served the country.

Whatever the eventual outcome regarding George W., we should, at the very least, judge our leaders on the "reality" they impose on the greatest number of people, rather than the personal weaknesses we all have that only affect those closest to them.

So, Monica Lewinsky was stuck with a dry cleaning bill of perhaps, $15 and maybe Hilary wept the tears of betrayal that 99% of our population has wept at some point in their lives, and "We, the people" go batshit crazy. On the other hand George W. sticks us with a bill of billions of dollars, maybe trillions of dollars, human suffering abound, and a death toll we'll probably never know the number.

“Scholars should remind us that leadership is not a moral concept. Leaders are like the rest of us: trustworthy and deceitful, cowardly and brave, greedy and generous. To assume that all leaders are good people is to be willfully blind to the reality of the human condition, and it severely limits our scope for becoming more effective at leadership.” -- Barbara Kellerman

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Or So He Thought.

Written by a good friend who occasionally posts on here, but wishes to remain anonymous and has no desire to have a blog.

A friend, I'll call Scott played by all the rules, listened to his mother, tried to be a good father, son, husband, employee, citizen. He ate the right foods, exercised every day, wore clean underwear, worked hard for a living, drove the speed limit, looked both ways when crossing the street and made sure to cast his vote in every election, even if he had no clue his chosen candidate's platform. He was voting, that's all that mattered because he had learned that it's doesn't really matter which button you choose, only that you made an appearance, or so he thought.

As a father, Scott coached his kid's teams, volunteered a great deal of his time to athletic associations his children were affiliated, attended all of his children's sporting events and followed his parent's example right down to the woman he chose to marry, or so he thought.

Scott's goals in life consisted of becoming an instrument to carry out the "law". He desired to become a policeman, a secret service man, part of the military police...anything that would allow him to take the reins. He failed to follow through with those career goals, mostly because he fell in love, or so he thought with the woman he was to marry, to have children with, in order to carry on his parent's legacy, the legacy he learned he'd better follow to stay free from harm, or so he thought.

So, Scott followed the money trail. That way, he could provide for his family, and create the "storybook" life he had dreamed about, only this time it was his turn to grasp the reins, or so he thought.

He had a blueprint to follow and come hell or high water there was no deviating, even when the times, environment and circumstances swerved considerably. He could not, for he was taught to revere the rules, not to think about them. That's why he had to grab those reins as fast as he could. They provided ballast, to keep his flimsy boat from hitting an iceberg, or so he thought.

So, Scott unquestioningly and uncritically accepted those arbitrary authoritative, prescribed directions for conduct, and wanted to honor them by punishing those who might cause his "guardrails" - tradition, custom, ways of behaving - to disappear. Those same guardrails that served to define who he was; that saved him from pain and kept him from harm, or so he thought.

After all, what would he base his decisions on? How would he develop a course of action? And worst of all, how would he predict an outcome? In other words, he would be cast adrift with nothing to hold on, or so he thought.

Scott never gave up on his dream of holding a position of authority. He fulfilled his desire first through coaching his children, then by taking positions on the board, then the ultimate, refereeing. For what other position in life gives so much authority? Never mind that those you have authority over are all of ten-years old or that 14-year olds comprise 90% of the referee population. The referee's word is the final word and if you don't like it, he can admonish you, punish you, do whatever he wants to you short of murder, or so he thought.

Scott grew evermore confident of himself as things seemed to go his way...to the point that he began to embody the code of conduct he had learned to adhere. The "rule of law" no longer applied, only the "rule of Scott", or so he thought.

Years ago, Scott looked upon what he had created, his family, his children, and just as God proclaimed when looking upon the Garden of Eden, he proclaimed, "Life is good", however that was before he became God. His grip back then allowed for slack and he could appreciate his children and his wife for what they added to his life and he could loosen his grip, because they, his family, rarely resisted...they just went along for the most part. Yes, they argued and sometimes fought for their way, but in the end, he knew it was his way or the highway, or so he thought.

The kids grew up, his wife no longer went along and the more power Scott gained the more he wanted. The more money Scott made, the more he "needed". Now, the very people Scott clung too, were the very same people who were now holding him back. They no longer wanted to live this "blueprint" Scott insisted they live. He learned his wife no longer wanted to emulate his mother, that she was tired of skimming the surface of life, and keeping up appearances...the very essence of what it was to be part of his family. He saw her as the enemy now for in his mind her very presence might annihilate the "guardrails" Scott felt he could not live without, or so he thought.

She must be destroyed...that was the only way he could avoid the "abyss", he imagined he would fall into as a child if he dared to create his own code for living. Every breath Scott took was taken in fear of this deep, immeasurable vast chasm of the unknown and the sole reason he abhorred anyone who seemed to possess depth of intellect, emotion, or knowledge. He knew he couldn't murder her body...he was above the law, however that might be taking it a little too far. No, he must go further. He must destroy her soul, her spirit, or so he thought.

Scott, with the help of his origins, set out to render his wife useless. Without going in to all the gory details, his wife became his ex, his children, pawns he used to accomplish his mission, and as a result were caught in the path of his trajectory.
As much as he thought he loved his children, he only loved what they represented...a chance to control his past and define his future. They couldn't provide that for him anymore so his "love" ceased to exist. He tried to keep up appearances but even that was getting old and once the mask came off,and the guardrails evaporated, Scott disappeared. It never occurred to him that purposefully letting go of the reins, rails and all the externals he trusted with all that he was, could save his life, perhaps even allow him to chart his own course. Anchored in one place, clinging to outdated guardrails and false appearances, Scott inadvertently made himself vulnerable to the arbitrary forces all around us, and so he was caught.

"That room — once you enter it, you never really leave. You can forget you're there, you can go on as if you hold the reins, that the course of your life, yea even its length, will reflect the force of your character and the wisdom of your judgments. And then you hit an icy patch on a turn one sunny March day and the wheel in your hands becomes a joke and you no more than a spectator to your own dreamy slide toward the verge, and then you remember where you are." - Tobias Wolff, from his new book Our Story Begins

Tragically, Scott's intense fear as a child, a fear he dressed up as hubris later on, gave formation to the outline that defined his hollow existence and devoured any resilience he may have had left.

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