Thread: The Engineering of Consent

I noticed there isn't a lot of discussion about propaganda. Not just here but anywhere, yet it is arguably one of the most important issues of the 20th century. I wanted to make this thread about Edward Bernays work, and just propaganda in general.

Edward Bernays (nephew of Sigmund Freud) was listed as one of the top 100 most influential people in the 20th century by life magazine, credited as "the father of public relations", and yet, not a lot of discussion about him. He argues in his book "propaganda" that being able to manipulate the opinion of the masses is a essential element of democracy:

"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. This is a logical result of the way in which our democratic society is organized. Vast numbers of human beings must cooperate in this manner if they are to live together as a smoothly functioning society. ...In almost every act of our daily lives, whether in the sphere of politics or business, in our social conduct or our ethical thinking, we are dominated by the relatively small number of persons...who understand the mental processes and social patterns of the masses. It is they who pull the wires which control the public mind."

He also argues in his book "The Engineering of Consent" that they must do this (control opinions, attitudes, attitudes towards other, etc). Especially to the American public who are described as fundamentally irrational and dangerous people who can't be trusted.

Also any discussion about the "Propaganda Model" theorized by Noam Chomsky and Edward Herman, particularly the five filters that "news" must pass before entering mainstream, is welcome. Here is a link to it for reference: The Propaganda Model Propaganda model - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

What are your thoughts and opinions on all of this?

And just for anyone who is interested, Here are some links to some talks on Propaganda:
Noam Chomsky - Propaganda and Control of the Public Mind- YouTube - Noam Chomsky - Propaganda and Control of The Public Mind Part 1 of 7
Noam Chomsky - About Propaganda- YouTube - Noam Chomsky about Proaganda (1h Interview) 1/6
Edward Bernays : Propaganda and Public Relations- YouTube - :: Edward Bernays : on Propaganda and Public Relations ::