The DISH
Unbossed and
unbought news and information you can use
Vol. 13 Issue 11…Dedicated to the Dialogue on
Race…March 14, 2010
Bit of History
Edward L. Bernays (1891-1995)
Edward L. Bernays was born in 
Bernays.
Anna was the sister of Sigmund Freud. His family immigrated to
Bernays chose journalism as a
career and joined the Medical Review of Reviews in
Selected to serve on the US
Committee on Public Information, after the
Bernays had lofty ambitions that
went far beyond the role of "press agent." He described himself as
the world's first "counsel on public relations." He promised to
actively shape public opinion in the interests of his clients. Journalist Doris
E. Fleischmann became Bernays partner in his new business; the pair married in
1922.
Improving sales of Lucky Strikes cigarettes among women demonstrated Bernays
tactic. The taboo against women smoking in public was strong, but it was also
the "roaring 20s" when women's suffrage imbued women with a sense of
triumph and freedom. Bernays presented cigarettes as "torches of
freedom" for women, so smoking in public expressed equality.
Enlisted by United Fruit Company
(today Chiquita Brands International) and the
Although celebrated as the "father of public relations" and described
as an articulate, innovative thinker and philosopher of propaganda, Bernays did
not win the industry many friends. More precisely, Joseph Goebbels used
Bernays' books Crystallizing Public Opinion
and Propaganda (1928) as the
basis for his destructive propaganda campaign against Jews and blue print for
Nazi consolidation of power in
Critics of Bernays are many, but one notable opinion expressed by Supreme Court
Justice Felix Frankfurter in a letter to President Franklin D. Roosevelt
described Bernays and other PR men as "professional poisoners of the
public mind, exploiters of foolishness, fanaticism and self-interest."
Moreover, history has shown that Bernays' identification of the "manipulation
of the masses" as a natural and necessary feature of a democratic society
was fatally flaw. The fascist rise to power in
Bernays provided public relations counsel to a wide variety of private and
public organizations, including General Motors, the Columbia Broadcasting
System, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and
Bernays retired in the early
1960s but continued consulting and advocating public relations. Ironically, in
light of his work for Lucky Strike cigarettes in the 1930s, he became an
anti-smoking crusader. On March 9, 1995, Bernays died at the age of 103 in
By John Burl Smith
"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 molded, our tastes formed, our ideas suggested, largely by men we have
never heard of. This is a result of the way in which our democratic society is
organized…Bernays
Self-perception is the mental
picture one holds of him or her self, which shapes one's sense of awareness. A
number of philosophers, psychologists and other thinkers developed theories
claiming subconscious forces control individuals and their responses to their
world. Sigmund Freud's psychoanalysis theory had a profound impact on modern
man and many have used it to try and control not only individuals but the
workings of society.
Edward Bernays, his nephew,
adapted psychoanalytical principals to manipulate mass behavior and became a
major developer of "public relations." Bernays saw public relations
as a means of controlling large numbers of people without their knowledge or
consent. This type of manipulation has become known as "propaganda."
It is not that propaganda is
either good or bad; it is WHY it is used that determines its purposes. The
danger is that masses of people can be tricked into supporting ideas and
actions they would otherwise oppose, if they understood. Moreover, the ideas or
actions are not the problem, it is those doing the manipulating and their views
of those they manipulate that pose the real danger.
To understand WHY, one must turn
to Plato and his discussion of "The Big Lie or Noble Lie." Plato
describes and defends "the noble lie" as a "necessary evil"
to maintain social stability. In Plato's ideal Republic, there are three
hierarchical classes: Guardians or Rulers, Soldiers or Auxiliary class and the
Worker class -- laborers, craftsmen, and farmers. Plato believed, "Truth
should be valued, but 'lies' are sometimes necessary and should be used by only
special persons who represent the community, society, or the state."
The 'noble lie' is needed to maintain
the hierarchical structure and the moral order. It should be used like
medicine. The 'noble lie' should be restricted to rulers, as medicine is to
physicians. The rulers of the State should have the privilege of lying for the
'public good.' Such 'lies' foster the people's belief in the State and make
them care more for it and for one another. A 'noble lie' makes citizens more
civic-minded, patriotic and instills a sense of community." In short, the
noble lie is necessary to justify the rigid hierarchy as a "public
good."
The interests of power and those
of the public are often at odd in democratic societies. During the twentieth
century, powerful institutions have justified their existence in terms of the
"common good." Egalitarian ideals of democracy challenged ancient
customs that upheld social inequality. Against this backdrop, powerful
institutions and people could no longer justify their existence and privileges
as people claimed their birthright of social justice and democracy.
Bernays books Crystallizing Public Opinion (1923) and Propaganda (1928) were intended to
"justify exigencies in exercising power under the pretext of the 'common
good." He saw the masses as "increasingly bold and threatening to the
customary interests of power. "There is an increased readiness of the
public, due to the spread of literacy and democratic forms of government, to
feel that it is entitled to a voice in the conduct of all aspects of society.
This sense of entitlement places new and treacherous demands on the higher
strata of society."
Philip Lesley, publisher of Managing the
Human Climate, adopted the medical metaphor. "The elites
(rulers) were fending off public opposition like a disease and public relation
was like a vaccine. It is far more effective to "inoculate" the
public in advance." Today, "inoculation" against dangerous
ideals such as social justice, equality, redistributing wealth and regulating
banks, requires specialized elites, which include professors, analysts, diplomats,
commentators and think tanks.
Bernays felt elites and experts
were necessary. "Intellectual elites tell the people, the crowd, the herd,
the mob, in a democracy, what to think as well as how to think because they are
ignorant and act irrationally. Therefore, the people do not know what is the 'public
good.' Their awareness is shallow,
primitive, crude and unsophisticated. So, the intellectual elites are needed to
aid and assist the primitive, unsophisticated and ignorant individuals in a
democracy."
What guides the masses, the
people, in a democracy? According to Walter Lippmann, "Images in our
heads, we are all captives of the picture in our head--our belief that the
world we have experienced is the world that really exists. The image, not the
actual reality, is everything. Manipulate the image and you change the
perception of reality. This is the dominant 'narrative' or paradigm in
'manufacturing consent' in a democracy and is the way it actually works."
"Manufacturing consent"
or "engineering consent" is crucial in a democracy for Bernays.
"The conscious and intelligent manipulation of organized habits and
opinions of the masses is an important element of control in democratic
society. These elites pull the wires which control the 'public mind' or the
'group mind.' The ultimate object is to control the masses in a democracy, to
manipulate them with the noble lie to do what they otherwise would not do. If
we understand the mechanism that motives the group mind, is it not possible to
control and regiment the masses according to our will without their knowing
about it?"
An architect of guiding society, Bernays was convinced of the value of
manipulating people. "Working behind the scenes, out of public view, the
public relations expert is an applied social scientist, educated to employ
sociology, psychology, social psychology and economics to influence and direct
the public's attitudes. These tacticians analyze the social terrain and adjust
the mental scenery from which the limited intellect of the public mind derives
its opinions. Statistical poll results are continuously broadcast, emphasizing
the popularity (or lack thereof) of politicians, policies, products and
wars." Grassroots expression is now being manufactured by firms
specializing in the generation of extemporaneous public opposition or support.
Clearly, Americans are not in
control of anything, particularly if they believe they live in a democracy.
Public relations experts, media talking heads, politicians, lobbyists, you name
it, manipulate images to make the people believe what they want them to
believe. The Tea Parties, Swiftboat Veterans, opposition to healthcare,
grassroots support for Sarah Palin are all PR stunts designed to trick the
masses. What is thought to be democracy is simply a neural matrix of residual
self images as described by Lippmann. If you believe differently, "You're
living in a dream world Neo."
The "BIG LIES" are what
the people were told during the run up to the invasion of Iraq - there were
WMDs, Condoleezza Rice's "next smoking gun could be a mushroom
cloud," Bush's claim that Saddam Hussein was involved in 9-11 and the
outing of Valerie Plame. What the elite wanted the people to believe was
drilled into their heads by the American media, marching in lockstep as the White
House's echo chamber. The real trick of PR magic was to convince Americans that
they are too smart to be fooled by propaganda. That way they never think about
or question "the big lies" they are told.
Propaganda (Excerpts)
By Dead Prez
Intro: (news snippets)
Let me now turn, to our program for the future...
The economy right now is extremely supportive of the president and his policies
FBI scientists have found chemical traces, consistent with a bomb or a missile, on a piece of wreckage...
Police using clubs and tear gas against demonstrators...
They called me a mother (bleeped out)-ing so-and-so...and a white
Fascist...like they
said, 'you're getting some of your own medicine'...
Verse 1:
You can't fool all the people all of the time
But if you fool the right ones, then the rest will fall behind
Tell me who's got control of your mind? Your world view?
Is it the news or the movie you're taking your girl to?
Know what I'm saying because Uncle Sam got a plan
If you examine what they telling us, then you will understand
What they planting in the seeds of the next generation
Feeding our children mis-education
No one knows if there's UFO's or any life on Mars
Or what they do when they up in the stars
Because I don't believe a word of what the president said
He filling our head with lies got us hypnotized
When he be speaking in cold words about crime and poverty
Drugs, welfare, prisons, guns and robbery
It really means us, there's no excuse for the slander
But what's good for
the goose is still good for the gander
Verse 2:
I don't want no computer chip in my arm
I don't want to die by a nuclear bomb
I say we all rush the pentagon, pull out guns
And grab the intercom; my first words will be I believe
Man made god out of ignorance and fear
If God made man, then why the hell would he put us here?
I thought he's supposed to be the all loving
The same God who let Hitler put the Jews in the oven
We don't fall for the regular sh*t, they try to feed us
All this half-a*s leadership, flipping position
They turn politician and shut the hell up and follow tradition
For your TV screen, is telling lies to your vision
Every channel got some brainwashed cop sh*t to watch
Running up in nigg*s cribs claiming that they heard shots
It's a plot, but buster can you tell me who's greedier?
Big corporations, the pigs or the media?
Sign of the times, terrorism on the rise
Commercial airplanes, falling out the sky like flies
Make me wonder what secrets went down with Bob Brown
Who burnt churches to the ground with no evidence found?
It's not coincidence; it's been too many studied incidents
It could have been the Klan who put that bomb at the Olympics
But it probably was the FBI, deep at the call
Cause if they make us
all panic then they can start martial law
Chorus:
I don't believe Bob Marley died from cancer
31 years ago I would have been a Panther
They killed Huey because they knew he had the answer
The views that you
see in the news are propaganda
Singing:
Police is telling lies fooling millions
What are they teaching our kids in these school buildings?
Televised, enterprise in all the killing
Controlling our
lives, this ain't living
Chant:
FBI, CIA, ATF, KKK, IRS, TNT, CBS, NBC
FBI, CIA, ATF, KKK,
IRS, TNT, CBS, NBC.
Stimulus' Failure to Benefit Blacks
By Hazel Trice Edney
A little more than a year ago,
Feb. 17, 2009, newly inaugurated President Barack Obama took his first
corrective action to quell the escalating economic crisis.
That action was to sign the
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), known as the stimulus bill, a
$787 billion package to create and preserve jobs and spur economic growth.
But, one year later, a
non-partisan study by the Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity
at Ohio State University has found that despite the President's noble efforts,
the economic stimulus has not only failed to boost the economy for
African-Americans and other historically disadvantaged people, including women,
but it has produced starkly disparate results between white workers and people
of color and failed to correct long-standing racial disparities.
"I know that a lot of the programs that were developed in the 1930s and
40s were developed in such a way that didn't target people who were the most
marginalized such as African-Americans, Latinos and other groups like
Native-Americas. And I was concerned that unless we did that during this deep
recession, you could actually end up with a set of programs that would not only
not serve those communities well, but also push those communities further
behind,'' says John Powell, executive director of the Kirwan Institute, telling
why the study was done.
He compared the stimulus to those established during days of Jim Crow when
racially disadvantaged groups were not even considered in economic initiatives.
The report tells why his comparison is not extreme: "While overall
unemployment has started to decline (and decline for white workers), black
workers may soon reach the 2010 unemployment rate which was once projected to
occur if a stimulus or recovery bill was not enacted," the report states.
"This suggests that many of the employment gains from American Recovery
and are not reaching workers of color."
The report continues, "White
unemployment has started to decrease (from a peak of 9.4% in October 2009 to
8.7% in January 2010), while Black unemployment rates continues to rise (from
15.5% to 16.5% during the same time period). Latino unemployment rates have
also decreased slightly but remain very high, decreasing from 13.1% in October
2009 to 12.6% in January 2010."
Among other disparities listed in
the report: (1) One in five children were living in poverty in 2008, and
poverty rates for children of color are climbing above 40 percent in some
states; (2) While one in 10 workers are unemployed nationally, one in six black
workers and one in eight Latino workers are unemployed; (3) Nearly half of all
subprime loans went to African-American and Latino borrowers, even though many
qualified for prime loans; (4) African-American and Latino homeowners are
expected to lose $164 - $213 billion in assets due to the housing crisis.
The report, released late last
month, comes just as President Obama's proposed 2011 budget seeks to boost
programs aimed to improve the quality of life for African-Americans, according
to the White House Office of Public Engagement.
The Kirwan report comes as no
surprise to African-Americans who are well aware of the economic pains
experienced first-hand. Many have expressed disappointment in Obama's lack of a
targeted plan in the Black community; including civil rights leaders Ben
Jealous of the NAACP, Al Sharpton of the National Network and Marc Morial of
the National Urban League, who two weeks ago trudged through a snow storm to a
White House meeting with President Obama just to express what most Americans
already know: That his "rising tide lifts all boats" theory about
unemployment, expressed in a press conference, is apparently not working.
Neither is it working for black contractors and businesses, the Kirwan Report
confirms. Minority and disadvantaged business contracting is a critical source
of job and wealth creation for marginalized groups and communities. Many
concerns have been raised about the ability of minority firms to successfully
compete for contracts," states the report, titled, ''ARRA and The Economic
Crisis: One Year Later Has Stimulus Helped Communities in Crisis?''
It continues, "Although consistent
state level data on ARRA contracting to minority firms is not widely available,
figures from federal procurement indicate troubling and disparate contracting
patterns. While Black-, Latino-, and Women-owned businesses represent 5.2%,
6.8%, and 28.2% of all businesses respectively,12 as of February 1, 2010, they
had only received 1.1%, 1.6%, and 2.4% of all federally contracted ARRA funds.
Of the $45 billion in direct federal contracts allocated by February 1, 2010,
less than $2.4 billion (5% of the total) were allocated to black-, Latino-, and
women-owned businesses."
Black contractors have long complained that they were not getting their fair share of state and federal dollars. That complaint continued specifically about the economic stimulus dollars. Also, Black-owned newspapers point out how they've been consistently shorted in allocation of advertising dollars from federal agencies such as the U. S. Census Bureau as well as private corporations that received stimulus money, including car dealerships.
Financial Manipulation of the American People
By John R. Deahl
In the past and in our present, we are being manipulated
through our educational system and our main stream media. This has been going
on in the
What people do not fully understand is we are also being manipulated
financially. In the past the most apparent financial manipulation was through
the Federal Reserve's control of the banks. All the Federal Reserve had to do
was lessen the required cash reserves banks had to have on hand to back the
loans they had made. Normally banks had to have one dollar for every 9 to 10
dollars they had loaned out.
The Federal Reserve causes financial boom times by lessening
this ratio. If a bank only has to have 6 to 7 dollars on hand to back loans,
they can lend out more money.
The crash comes when the Federal Reserve requires the banks
go back to the 9 to 10 ratio. Banks would have to scramble to get as much cash
on hand as possible. This causes them to stop lending and foreclose on
customers. The economy slows down and can almost stop.
Since everyone has had to borrow for cars, homes, college, businesses and other
things, all people have debt. The international bankers have worked their best
to make sure everyone has to borrow to survive.
When the cash flow is disrupted, recessions and depressions
result. The international bankers know this and planned it, and use it to steal
even more money from governments and the public. During these times the
international bankers use these financial crises to their advantage.
In this financial crisis they received bailouts from the
government. Many of the recipients used the bailout money to raise rates on customers
and buy out other banks and mortgage corporations.
There has also been a backdoor swindle going on. The federal
government has a program to pay more than the going value for bad mortgages;
these same banks have been buying even more of the bad mortgages and selling
them at a profit to the government.
This was all made possible by a couple of corrupt presidents
and their appointees. Some of these appointees were the cause of the financial
crisis when they worked for the banks and Federal Reserve.
By the way, this is why the gold standard was so important. Gold consistently
maintained its value. When money is printed by the Federal Reserve and the
bankers have a fluctuating money supply and value, this makes the value of
money relative to the supply and causes inflation. If the Federal Reserve
prints more money, it devalues the dollars already in circulation.
As we have seen recently, these same international bankers get laws passed or
repealed during these financial hard times that benefit only them. Oftentimes, these
laws are not known to the public and even to some members of Congress.
In all of these cases, the international bankers have stooges in congress they
have bought and paid for to do their bidding. These are the people that are
killing our country.
This last financial crisis has seen more laws passed to give
more power to the Federal Reserve and the US Treasury, which they are using to
create a world wide banking cartel to usher in their one world government.
The current financial crisis appears to have a different purpose than the ones
they have caused before. This one seems designed
to end the
Let me give you an example of how little the congress cares
for the public. After the financial crisis started, congress passed some
banking laws. One of which was supposedly for the protection of bank credit
card holders. Congress passed some restrictions on the credit card companies,
but the restrictions did not go in to effect until the banks had time to
defraud their customers one last time.
Before the law took effect some banks raised interest rates on their customer's
credit cards by almost double. They also tied these new interest rates to
variable indexes. This means that when interest rates go up, and they will
because of inflation caused by the Federal Reserve printing enormous amounts of
money, the customer's interest rates could go as high as 50% on their credit
cards. Bank of America being the most notorious. They did this at the same time
they were buying out other banks.
I also might add that Bank of America was one of the
companies that caused the financial crisis. They were one of the leaders of
credit cards and loans to illegal aliens.
But a person has to ponder the reason for this very ruthless action by the
banks. At a time when people are losing their jobs, they decide to raise
interest rates beyond what people will be able to pay.
For all the money that has been robbed from the public by these bankers, is it
any wonder why some employees are given millions in bonuses?
If you are having a hard time coming to the realization the American public is
being railroaded into despair and poverty so they will accept a one world
government sold as a solution to the problems created by the very people
offering the solution, then let me give you a couple more examples.
If the aim of the president, government and congress is for the welfare of the
people, why have they spent the last year trying to pass government control of
healthcare, which is control of the people, instead of jobs?
Why is the government under reporting unemployment and inflation? Believe me;
it is not for the good of the people. By the government stating there was
absolutely no inflation in 2009, the government has hurt the disabled veterans
and the elderly the most. The very people they need to help the most.
You may be surprised but I am not, I know how ruthless and uncaring the
government is, it was just a few years ago the Veterans Administration tried to
deny disability benefits to quadriplegic veterans that had fought for the very
people that were trying to deny them benefits.
I have noticed one thing that has been blatantly absent in
all the financial debates. That is the cost of the wars. Over a trillion
dollars has been spent in the last decade for these wars.
If you have not realized it by now, all of this is about
debt --the
Disgruntled wants to know: I am always
amazed by the insensitivity of some people, particularly those who live well
above the fray of the day-to-day struggle of American blue collar workers.
Among the
Disgruntled says: Op-Ed Columnist Bob
Herbert's The Source of Obama's Trouble is spot on. I agree that the Obama
administration has spent entirely too much time and energy trying to pass healthcare
reform when what people really want and need is gainful employment. All this
optimism over the economic recovery amounts to smoke and mirrors. On news of
last month's job loss of 36,000, stock prices rose and the president touted the
decline in the pace of job losses as a sign of good news on the economic front.
People are still losing jobs! But there is good news, if you are part of the
wealthy elite. Corporate
Disgruntled feels: Complicit! It would be
a mistake to leave the media out of any assessment of blame for leading this
country to war in
Mailbox: E-Mails, Faxes and
Telephone Calls
Email www.cbsnews.com...Rep.
Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I.) railed against the
Email http://journals.democraticunderground.com
...You Say You Want a Revolution? By David Glenn Cox...You say you want a
revolution? Call your cable or satellite providers and say, "This is me
and this is you; this is f*ck and this is off." This would be a step in
the right direction. Outside of the time and money you'll save to pursue more
meaningful activities, you will find your own ideas emerging from what you
read. You might have to buy gasoline from huge corporations but you don't have
to buy their opinions. You will never overthrow a government such as this with
guns and violence as long as they control the media. They can shoot you down
like dogs in the streets while vilifying you in the press until before long the
public will condemn you for stopping their bullets. The media and the government
spend billions of dollars each year trying to sell you things, wars, torture,
Toyotas, bath beads, tax cuts, hemorrhoid creams and political ideas. The oil
companies all have bloated TV budgets explaining how green they've become, and
the sheep say, "Baa, baa." You say you want a revolution? Step one:
Stop listening to them! Stop buying from them and stop giving them access to
your most important possession, your mind.
Email www.noonehastodietomorrow.com ....at
this point in history, many people are too credulous to whatever
"authority" tells them and too willing to follow. People in a state
of shock seek guidance. People who are afraid are manipulable. And being able
to manipulate the masses results in unimaginable benefits to a lot of very rich
and very powerful people. War is incredibly expensive, but the money has to go
somewhere. War is very profitable for the very few. And somehow their sons
always end up in