July 13, 2012

I Watch Therefore I Think? – Media Control Propaganda

By in Indoctrinate Me, Random News & Commentary 3 Comments

Psycholinquistics & Mind Control

In Propaganda and Control of The Public Mind, Noam Chomsky states that “propaganda is to a democracy as a bludgeon is to a totalitarian state.” On the surface the method of execution is drastically and visibly extreme, however the reason and intent remains constant. Chomsky eloquently chronicled the results of excessive government and corporate control throughout history, and the resulting effects of oppression on the masses. Every facet of American society including higher education, was utilized to indoctrinate the masses to the capitalistic story. Ivy league indoctrination was essential, as alumni would maintain positions of power in government and private corporate sectors, effectively maintaining social and economic mechanisms of control (Skull & Bones Society – Yale University).
Dr. John Coleman has much to say about Bernays, a leader at Tavistock Institute
“The fall of dynasties, the Bolshevik Revolution, WWI and WWII saw the destruction of old alliances and boundaries, the convulsions in religion, morals, family life, economic and political conduct, decadence in music and art can all be traced back to mass indoctrination (mass brainwashing) practiced by the Tavistock Institute Social Science scientists. Prominent among Tavistock’s faculty were Edward Bernays, the double nephew of Sigmund Freud. It is said that Herr Goebbels, Propaganda Minister in the German Third Reich used methodology devised by Bernays as well as those of Willy Munzenberg, whose extraordinary career is touched upon in this work about the past, present and future. Without Tavistock, there would have been no WWI and WWII, no Bolshevik Revolution, Korea, Vietnam, Serbia and Iraq wars. But for Tavistock, the United States would not be rushing down the road to dissolution and collapse.”

“Funding was provided by the British royal family, and later by the Rothschilds to whom Lord Northcliffe was related through marriage. Arnold Toynbee was selected as Director of Future Studies. Two Americans, Walter Lippmann and Edward Bernays were appointed to handle the manipulation of American public opinion in preparation for the entry of the United States into WWI, and to brief and direct President Woodrow Wilson.”
“The deceptive language of the Federal Reserve Act was under the guidance of Bernays and Lippman who set up a “National Citizen’s League” with the notorious Samuel Untermeyer as its chairman, to promote the Federal Reserve Bank, that secured control of the people’s money and currency and transferred it to a private monopoly without the victim’s consent.”

The Rich vs. Poor Disparity

James Madison, the American politician and political philosopher said, “The primary responsibility of government is to protect the minority of the opulent against the majority.” The masses of uneducated rural blue collar proletariat, always a constant threat to the capitalistic endeavors of the bourgeois minority.
In Profit Over People, Chomsky wrote:
Madison foresaw that the threat of democracy was likely to become more severe over time because of the increase in “the proportion of those who will labor under all the hardships of life, and secretly sigh for a more equal distribution of its blessings.” They might gain influence, Madison feared. He was concerned by the “symptoms of a leveling spirit” that had already appeared, and warned “of the future danger” if the right to vote would place “power over property in hands without a share in it.” Those “without property, or the hope of acquiring it, cannot be expected to sympathize sufficiently with its rights,” Madison explained. His solution was to keep political power in the hands of those who “come from and represent the wealth of the nation.”
Although force was the primary weapon to enforce mass submission (Bludgeon), this would not always be a viable tactic. A time would come when the government could no longer control the public by brute force alone. As political power and wealth was to remain in the control of a “more capable set of men” (Wealthy Elite) while the mass majority of uneducated poor (Middle Class) was to remain fragmented, disorganized and confused. (Divide & Conquer)

The Birth of Public Relations

Edward L. Bernays, the American nephew of Sigmund Freud and father of modern public relations, quoted in his 1928 treatise, “Propaganda“:
Those who manipulate the 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 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 that control the public mind.
Chomsky was basically reiterating what Bernays had believed regarding the subconscious indoctrination of a democratic society. As the population increased dramatically, it became evident that a more subtle approach to mass indoctrination and control was required. The preferred method of delivery was via popular mass media available at any historic period. Newspapers have historically been a target for dissemination of information. As time passed and the advent of newer technologies emerged, radio, television and even the internet became equally viable sources of social control and information dispersal.
However, the television because of it’s mass appeal and 24 hour accessibility to programming became the single most powerful tool in the arsenal of social programming and indoctrination. No household was without the coveted social contraption. Soon every home contained numerous “idiot boxes” – some in every room including the kitchen, bathroom and garage. As the technology evolved to include more features, the bells and whistles became status items, often reflecting the cost. Keeping up with the proverbial Jones meant who had the bigger screen with more built in features.
As families relied more heavily on the television to provide news, entertainment and a sporadic reprieve from loneliness, human interaction and communication begins to degrade resulting in numerous social and individual concerns that continue to plague modern society.

Communication….a dying art

Media Control = People Control

Control of the media enables one to essentially control the mass population. AOL, Viacom, NewsCorp, Disney General Electric, created a media oligarch that infiltrates every home. Television in this regard, is an opiate for the masses, a conduit from where media conglomerates dictate the thoughts and actions of a society at large. People’s habits and opinions are manipulated and perception of reality distorted. Diversity of opinion and critical skills in thinking is quickly disappearing.
Television programming also promotes a specific lifestyle. This lifestyle is not based upon reality but a virtual fantasy whose motivations stem from advertisers and networks seeking to increase profits and revenue. This type of programming creates a consumer based society which promotes commodities acquisition. The viewer sits in a passive state with no control over the images. Changing stations or channels has the same effect. Shows are not created or designed for enjoyment, but to attract and retain as many viewers as possible from which to reap revenue from advertisements and product consumption.
Jerry Mander, a former advertising executive in San Francisco, published Four Arguments For The Elimination Of Television. In his book, Mander states:
“If you decide to watch television, then there’s no choice but to accept the stream of electronic images as it comes,” “Since there is no way to stop the images, one merely gives over to them. More than this, one has to clear all channels of reception to allow them in more cleanly. “Thinking only gets in the way.”
“Every advertiser, for example, knows that before you can convince anyone of anything, you shatter their existing mental set and then restructure an awareness along lines which are useful to you. You do this with a few very simple techniques like fast-moving images, jumping among attention focuses, and switching moods,”
“Television inhibits your ability to think, but it does not lead to freedom of mind, relaxation or renewal. It leads to a more exhausted mind. You may have time out from prior obsessive thought patterns, but that’s as far as television goes.”
In this respect, watching television actually provides the opposite effect that the viewer expected. The passive physical nature of the “couch potato” provides the mental and emotional state for the indoctrination and programming to take place.  In essence, the television does not to teach you how to think but what to think.
A Soviet correspondent who was based in the USA for a number of years, once remarked on the key difference between western propaganda and the Soviet version:
“I have the greatest admiration for your propaganda. Propaganda in the West is carried out by experts who have had the best training in the world in the field of advertising and have mastered the techniques with exceptional proficiency. Yours are subtle and persuasive; ours are crude and obvious. I think that the fundamental difference between our worlds, with respect to propaganda, is quite simple. You tend to believe yours … and we tend to disbelieve ours.”
Government involvement and utilization of mass media for propagandist doctrine is clearly admitted by central prominent figures:
“The Central Intelligence Agency owns everyone of any significance in the major media.”
–William Colby, former CIA Director
“There is quite an incredible spread of relationships. You don’t need to manipulate Time magazine, for example, because there are [Central Intelligence] Agency people at the management level. ”
–William B. Bader, former CIA intelligence officer, briefing members of the Senate Intelligence Committee, The CIA and the Media, by Carl Bernstein
“You could get a journalist cheaper than a good call girl, for a couple hundred dollars a month.”
–CIA operative, discussing the availability and prices of journalists willing to peddle CIA propaganda and cover stories. Katherine the Great, by Deborah Davis
“The owners of the Washington Post long ago acknowledged that the Post is the government’s voice to the people. In 1981, Katherine Graham, who owns the Post and Newsweek announced that her editors would “cooperate with the national security interests.” National security in this context means “CIA.”
–John Stockwell, former CIA official and author
“There is no such thing, at this date of the world’s history, in America, as an independent press. The business of the journalists is to destroy the truth, to lie outright, to pervert, to vilify, to fawn at the feet of mammon, and to sell his country and his race for his daily bread. We are the tools and vassals of rich men behind the scenes. We are the jumping jacks, they pull the strings and we dance. Our talents, our possibilities and our lives are all the property of other men. We are intellectual prostitutes.”
–John Swinton, Chief of Staff New York Times at New York Press Club, 1953
“Think of the press as a great keyboard on which the government can play.”
–Joseph Goebbels, Minister of Propaganda
“Only the mob and the elite can be attracted by the momentum of totalitarianism itself. The masses have to be won by propaganda.”
– Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 1951
“In Russia we only had two TV channels. Channel One was propaganda. Channel Two consisted of a KGB officer telling you: Turn back at once to Channel One.”
– Yakov Smirnoff, Comedian
Based on the origins of the quotes above, the prevalence and intensity of government propaganda in mainstream media is historically consistent. GCN talk show host Michael Rivero stated:
“Most people prefer to believe that their leaders are just and fair, even in the face of evidence to the contrary, because once a citizen acknowledges that the government under which he lives is lying and corrupt, the citizen has to choose what he or she will do about it. To take action in the face of corrupt government entails risks of harm to life and loved ones. To choose to do nothing is to surrender one’s self-image of standing for principles. Most people do not have the courage to face that choice. Hence, most propaganda is not designed to fool the critical thinker but only to give moral cowards an excuse not to think at all.”

Propaganda Techniques

It is important to remember that propaganda techniques create often persuasive messages, however they are generally false. Most of the techniques will utilize one or more of the following approaches:
  • Fear Based – Instill fear in a population to create and build support for an idea or course of action.
  • Authority Figure – An appeal to authority figure to create a sense of awe and justification for a central idea, position or course of action.
  • Group Mentality – The join the bandwagon or “winning team” scenario. This technique is used to convince the audience that a program is an expression of an irresistible mass movement and that it is in their interest to join.
  • Disapproval Mentality – Utilizes disinformation to get a mass or group of people to change their belief or opinion based on information or suggestion that an identified “hated” group shares that very same stance or opinion. If people are “led” to believe their so-called enemy has one opinion then you must obviously have the opposite on any topic, stance, idea or course of action.
  • Word Control – General and vague use of words, cliche phrases and language that instill a highly emotional state of from the masses. So strong is the message that there is little or no examination of the reason. Words such as peace, glory, patriotic, love of country, God Bless America, freedom, home, liberty..etc
  • Appeal to the “Common Man” – Common man in this sense equates with common sense for the political propagandist. Designed and utilizes common man language, mannerisms and actions to win over the confidence and support of the mass “common” population.
  • Scapegoat – Distraction technique that works by assigning blame to an individual or party who is not responsible to parry any blame or truth in resolving an issue. Accuse others of what you are guilty of.
  • Stereotype – Labels a particular group or individual (blame) as something that the target mass population already hates, despises or even fears. Guilt by word association.
  • Slogans – Another manner of word control. Utilization of catchy phrases or cliches that equally invoke the predictable group/herd mentality response and reaction.
“If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State.”
–Joseph Goebbels, Minister of Propaganda




“We deal in illusions, man. None of it is true. But you people sit there day after day, night after night, all ages, colors, creeds. We’re all you know. You’re beginning to believe the illusions we’re spinning here. You’re beginning to think that the tube is reality and that your own lives are unreal. You do whatever the tube tells you. You dress like the tube. You eat like the tube. You raise your children like the tube. You even think like the tube. This is mass madness – you maniacs! In God’s name you people are the real thing, WE are the illusion.” “So turn off your television sets. Turn them off now. Turn them off right now. Turn them off and leave them off. Turn them off right in the middle of the sentence I am speaking to you now. Turn them off!!”
– Howard Beale, as played by Peter Finch, during his live studio broadcast of the Network News Hour

  • Kill Your Television TurnOffYourTV.com
    Website with numerous articles, informative links and practical advice about breaking the addiction and primary tool of propaganda dissemination in our century.

TV, News & Propaganda…..


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