Bernard “Hap” Kliban (1935–1990 CE)
Try explaining the concept intended better than this. Try. Good luck. Advertising = propaganda = memes = manipulation = beliefs = theology = politics = reality. From religion to mythology to political ideology, everything depends and perception in awareness and a particular frame of reference that has been sold to us and, better yet, that we’ve bought. The data and memes ooze and leak and seep and extravasate little by little, drop by drop until our thoughts have been cemented. Within today’s disquisition I free flow through a host of subjects including the role of humor and satire as viable and relevant components to contemporary political analysis and commentary. The critical and important but misleading impact of Jon Stewart and the latest coterie of comic prompter readers. They and their teams of writers deserve a hearty thank you for at least bringing a number of younger folks to the fore but be not mistaken – their message is as infected and contaminated and encrusted with distorted bias and misdirection as the worst from the dread right. Truth in politics and world events is akin to finding the mechanism of cancer. It’s variform, a multiplicity and mélange of vectors and influences and considerations and plots and not-so-subtle goals depending upon the perspective. And with that is another notion, that of perspective. Whose truth and whose history?
The origins. You can’t get better than the granddaddy of public relations, Edward Bernays. Read this aloud and slowly to friends and family like. And listen to each word in the power of each idea. And you will immediately see that it is the foundation of how everything you think and believe are processed.
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.
― Edward L. Bernays, Propaganda