Blockk Blockk Blockk Blockk
  • News Portal
  • World Desk
    • Sign In
    • Submit Content
    • Register
  • All Content
    • Edited
      • Topics
        • Agriculture
        • Culture
          • Arts
          • Children
          • Education
          • Entertainment
          • Food and Hunger
          • Sports
        • Disasters
        • Economy
        • Energy
        • Environment
        • Government
        • Health
        • Media
        • Science
        • Spiritual
        • Technology
        • Transportation
        • War
      • Regions
        • Africa
        • Americas
          • North America
          • South America
        • Antarctica
        • Arctic
        • Asia
        • Australia/Oceania
        • Europe
        • Middle East
        • Oceans
          • Arctic Ocean
          • Atlantic Ocean
          • Indian Ocean
          • Pacific Ocean
          • Southern Ocean
        • Space
      • News
      • Commentary
      • Analysis
      • Advisories
      • Source
    • Flatwire
  • About Us
  • Site Map
  • Contact Us

Latest Stories

... loading images
Post-Vaccine Vaginal Bleeding Rates Associated With All ...
Post-Vaccine Vaginal Bleeding Rates Associated With All COVID-19 Vaccine Types Across Reproductive Ages | Justin Jackson
Are NFTs Really Dead And Buried? All Signs Point To 'Yes' ...
Are NFTs Really Dead And Buried? All Signs Point To 'Yes' | John Hawkins
GOOD MORNING! 231002
GOOD MORNING! 231002
Hermit 'Scribblings' Of Eccentric French Math Genius ...
Hermit 'Scribblings' Of Eccentric French Math Genius Unveiled | Juliette Collen
More Banks to Fail? Not in North Dakota | Ellen Brown
More Banks to Fail? Not in North Dakota | Ellen Brown
BOOKS: ‘Capitalism Is Dead. Now We Have Something Much ...
BOOKS: ‘Capitalism Is Dead. Now We Have Something Much Worse’ | Carole Cadwalladr
Ghosts of the Past: For Israel, War on UNESCO is an ...
Ghosts of the Past: For Israel, War on UNESCO is an Existential Battle | Ramzy Baroud
Artificial intelligence (AI) | Wikipedia
Artificial intelligence (AI) | Wikipedia
Blockchain | Wikipedia
Blockchain | Wikipedia
NASA's First Asteroid Samples Land On Earth After Release ...
NASA's First Asteroid Samples Land On Earth After Release From Spacecraft | Marcia Dunn
Our Digital Twins Will Help Diagnose And Treat Diseases ...
Our Digital Twins Will Help Diagnose And Treat Diseases | Thomas Gull, University of Zurich
US Farmers, Tech Tycoons Square Off Over Plans For Utopian ...
US Farmers, Tech Tycoons Square Off Over Plans For Utopian City | Glenn Chapman
Falling Solar Power And Storage Prices Make Global Climate ...
Falling Solar Power And Storage Prices Make Global Climate Transition Cheaper Than Expected | Ulrich von Lampe
Why the Next Crypto Bull Run Will Be Like Nothing We've ...
Why the Next Crypto Bull Run Will Be Like Nothing We've Ever Experienced | Solo Ceesay
Human-Driven Mass Extinction Is Eliminating Entire Branches ...
Human-Driven Mass Extinction Is Eliminating Entire Branches Of The Tree Of Life | Stanford University
The Untold Story of the Abuse of Palestinian Women in ...
The Untold Story of the Abuse of Palestinian Women in Hebron | Ramzy Baroud

Controlling the Masses: From Religion to Bernaise | Tom Rushing

More items by author
Categories
Edited | Analysis | Commentary -- WNT Selected | All Content | Commentary | Labor | Politics
Tool Bar
View Comments

Tom Rushing -- Information Clearing House 

Aug. 30, 2006 -- The most powerful political/economic force on the planet is and always will be “We the people.”

In this article, I will make an attempt at giving a very brief overview of the methods used to assert control over the masses, the use of these methods in past and present governments and the evolution of the methods themselves. Many of the methods of control from the past are still used today. With increased understanding of the human psyche and the human brain, the sophistication level of these methods have evolved into completely new more subtle yet more powerful techniques and are implemented on a grand scale daily.

There have been benevolent companionate powerful rulers and brutally barbaric powerful rulers, but the rulers or the established rule that maintained their rule all had one thing in common. They were able to avoid political coups and revolutions. Established rule that ignores the power of the people will run the risk of being ousted. Weather Marie Antoinette said, “Let them eat cake,” or not and whatever her intended message was, the masses had the impression that their lot in life was not going to improve unless action was taken in the form of revolution.

Education and Organization

Education and organization are the two major factors that must be in place for the people to exert any influence in politics. Knowing this, the ruling classes made certain for centuries that few had the opportunity to even learn to read. The idea of commoners being able to read scriptures for themselves or the law of the land was not acceptable really until almost modern times. This greatly improved the chances of the ruling class to hold on to their power and restrict any vertical class movement. On occasion, however, enough information could be acquired through experience or word of mouth to evoke an organized response.

If education is the primer, then organization is the powder. Too many times I have heard, “There is nothing I can do.” In a manner of speaking that statement holds some truth. One person can be extremely effective, but this effectiveness is usually proportional to the number of people influenced by that person. When half of the population can be of one mind on any given course of action, almost anything is possible. If it is singular action to a course, a relative low percentage of the population need be involved to spawn change. We need only look to the civil rights movement to see how a minority group incited change to a country made up of a vast array of different kinds of people and interests.  

Before Sigmund Freud and Bernaise

Control over the masses in the pre-modern era was a relatively simple matter before Democracy. Common people were accustomed to being ordered about and serving. Usually if one was not too hungry they considered themselves perhaps even lucky. Without the ability to read and understand what life could be like, there was little room for comparison. The power and might of the ruling classes’ minds and military relative to the peasant was seemingly insurmountable. The occasional public punishment by various methods was often times enough to make the uneducated mind fall in line. The age of revolutions and civil rights could not have come about without the ability of conferring complex ideas to a significant percentage of the population.

Religion played an essential role in placating the masses. Before reading became popular, people went to their religious leaders and were told what was right and wrong and read to them selected text to confirm their assertions. The rulers made sure to keep close tabs on the religious leaders and rewarded and punished them according to the messages and influence they pushed on their congregations. If this sounds familiar, it should. This method continues to be used today. Perhaps the current administration is using it more than most have in a very long time however. Even today, the people that I have met that are most steadfast in their faith in our rulers and question least their religion are the ones that do not  bother to read more than what is recommended to them by their religious leaders. It continues to amaze me that most Christians have not read their bible at least once from cover to cover, but have no problem dedicating their lives and beliefs and their votes in accordance to their preacher’s wishes without much deliberation. Religion is and has been perhaps the most effective tool of the ruling classes.

The Twentieth Century to the Present

Make no mistake about it. The class war has never ended. The ideal presented in Star Trek is a long way from reality. Almost everything that can be owned in the United States and the world is owned by a very small percentage of people and the wealth that these people enjoy is a direct result of the blood, sweat and tears of the lower classes.

Sigmund Freud introduced the idea that humans were in a struggle with their animalistic natures and if this goes unchecked then people will run around naked destroying things and society will fall apart. He apparently had very little confidence in humans. This idea was widely accepted especially in the upper classes thus confirming of the fear that Democracy left unchecked could destroy their society. If the people could not be trusted to control their basic animalistic nature, then how would they know how to vote?

In steps Freud’s nephew Edward Bernaise. Propaganda during war was nothing new, but Bernaise saw an opportunity to use the unconscious desires of humans to manipulate the masses in times of peace also. Bernaise believed that by fulfilling the unconscious desires of people would change a potentially unruly population into a controlled docile one. Bernaise invented the much used term “public relations,” and used it to turn the population of the United States into consumers. Before Bernaise worked his magic, the American population only bought goods according to their needs. It was practically unheard of to buy something for any other reason. Bernaise made it acceptable to make a purchase based on desires. Using Hollywood through product placement, and the media, he changed the population into an easily placated self-absorbed group where before they were actively participating. Over the years, this has changed Democracy from a function of the entire society into less than a passing diversion. It is not by accident that here in the United States we have perhaps a lower voter turnout than anywhere else in the world. Bernaise put his methodology to the test in many areas. Bernaise, being approached by the tobacco company, effectively double their customers with one wave of his wand. He asked had a few women light up after a march in front of the press and in a movie or two prominent actresses were instructed to smoke and almost overnight erased the stigma of women smoking. After this victory and his ideas tested and proven, Bernaise was ready to move onto bigger things. He was involved in all sorts of advertising and promotion from the automobile industry to governmental agencies that needed public support. Although there have been many attempts to oppose these methods as unethical, they have gone largely unopposed. As long as industry is making money and politicians are passing the laws they are pushing for the industry, they will continue to go unopposed. This is pure propaganda and is intended to be a psychological attack at the essence of humanity to evoke a non-response to governmental malfeasance and other societal issues as well as to evoke a gluttonous consumer based society. If that seems to sum up much of how the world seems to consider most Americans, at least we can now tell that it is not by accident.

The methods had been used for years to promote the hard to sell policies of the government, but starting with Clinton and Blair a new use was found. Polls were taken to find out what the voter desired most. These finding were easily turned into speeches and in the cases of Clinton and Blair, won elections. Blair took it one step farther and used it to set policy while Clinton simply did what he and his advisors thought was best after the election was won. Blair took polls and no one seemed concerned about the rail system in Britain, so little funding was appropriated until trains began derailing and killing people. Politicians soon learned that people’s concerns were not always in line with their needs. Of course if they had studied Bernaise and the methodology of the polls, they would have known this. Now, politicians use the polls to write their speeches and continue to do what they feel is best regardless of what they say in the speeches. This is why Bush talks about peace and wages war and all the other double speak that persists, to placate to the desires and not the needs of society which effectively placates the masses.

One would think that the population would eventually catch on to this trick, and perhaps some have, but the public relations business is stronger and more centralized than ever. Just a few short years ago, there were over 50 media stations broadcasting news to Americans. Now there are only five. This number could go lower soon, but at this point the company heads are all of one voice pounding out PR about whatever they want us to think we want. The journalism schools in the U.S. are very few and most have switched over to public relations. Journalists will soon go the way of the dinosaur if something does not change this horrible trend.

I am not certain if the ruling class has a valid fear of humanity or not, but unchecked control of the masses through psychological operations should be met with some opposition at the very least, and steps need to be taken to remove some of the mediums that make these operations so pervasive. We do still have a choice to shut off the television to watch and read from sources that take pride in their lack of participation in the promotion of self absorption

http://currentera.com/

See also - The Century of the Self - How politicians and business learned to create and manipulate mass-consumer society.

Information Clearing House

back to top
  • Created
    Thursday, August 31, 2006
  • Last modified
    Sunday, March 29, 2015

World Desk Activities

  • Report
Francis M Goodwin
Francis M Goodwin ▶ Editorial -- Blockchain & Crypto 02/10/2023
  • Report
 

www.coindesk.com/policy/2023/10/02/bankman-fried-s…

FTX's Sam Bankman-Fried Saw Missing Billions as ‘Rounding Error,’ Biographer Michael Lewis Says
FTX's Sam Bankman-Fried Saw Missing Billions as ‘Rounding Error,’ Biographer Michael Lewis Says Michael Lewis revealed management failings at crypto exchange FTX and a multi-billion-dollar plan to keep Donald Trump from running for office again, in an interview… www.coindesk.com/policy/2023/10/02/bankman-fried-saw-missing-ftx-billions-as-rounding-error-biographer-says/
Francis M Goodwin
Francis M Goodwin 02/10/2023
  • Report
 

medicalxpress.com/news/2023-10-katalin-karik-drew-…

thumbnail

Nobel in medicine goes to two scientists whose work enabled creation of mRNA vaccines against COVID-19

  • Report
Francis M Goodwin
Francis M Goodwin ▶ Editorial -- Blockchain & Crypto 01/10/2023
  • Report
 

www-forbes-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/www.forbes.c…

‘Flashing Red Warning’—$33 Trillion U.S. ‘Debt Death Spiral’ Could Suddenly Trigger A Bitcoin Price ‘Vicious Circle’
‘Flashing Red Warning’—$33 Trillion U.S. ‘Debt Death Spiral’ Could Suddenly Trigger A Bitcoin Price ‘Vicious Circle’ www-forbes-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/www.forbes.com/sites/digital-assets/2023/10/01/flashing-red-warning-33-trillion-us-debt-death-spiral-could-suddenly-trigger-a-bitcoin-price-vicious-circle/amp/?amp_js_v=0.1#webview=1&cap=swipe
  • Report
Francis M Goodwin
Francis M Goodwin ▶ Editorial -- Blockchain & Crypto 01/10/2023
  • Report
 

www.coindesk.com/consensus-magazine/2023/09/29/whe…

Where Liquid Staking Meets Tokenization
Where Liquid Staking Meets Tokenization The crypto industry is changing rapidly, and liquid staking stands at the forefront of this transformation. www.coindesk.com/consensus-magazine/2023/09/29/where-liquid-staking-meets-tokenization/
Francis M Goodwin
Francis M Goodwin added a video. 29/09/2023
  • Report
 

Sonny Saul Trio:  Intergalactic Suite, recorded live 9/1/2023

Sonny Saul Trio: Intergalactic Suite, recorded...

  • Report
Francis M Goodwin
Francis M Goodwin ▶ World News Trust Project 29/09/2023
  • Report
 

www.niemanlab.org/2023/07/openai-will-give-local-n…

OpenAI will give local news millions to experiment with AI | Nieman Journalism Lab
OpenAI will give local news millions to experiment with AI | Nieman Journalism Lab Some of the funding will go to form a "studio" within the American Journalism Project; the rest will go to about 10 of AJP's grantees. www.niemanlab.org/2023/07/openai-will-give-local-news-millions-to-experiment-with-ai/
Francis M Goodwin
Francis M Goodwin 29/09/2023
  • Report
 

phys.org/news/2023-09-mouthwash-dogs-additive-pome…

thumbnail

Mouthwash for dogs: Water additive with pomegranate helps to keep canine teeth healthy

  • Report
Francis M Goodwin
Francis M Goodwin ▶ World News Trust Project 29/09/2023
  • Report
 

www.niemanlab.org/hubs/business-models/

Business Models  |  Hubs  |  Nieman Journalism Lab
Business Models | Hubs | Nieman Journalism Lab www.niemanlab.org/hubs/business-models/
  • Report
Francis M Goodwin
Francis M Goodwin ▶ Editorial -- Artificial Intelligence 29/09/2023
  • Report
 

www.economist.com/briefing/2023/09/27/how-microsof…

How Microsoft could supplant Apple as the world’s most valuable firm
How Microsoft could supplant Apple as the world’s most valuable firm It hopes to seize on AI to transform the future of work | Briefing www.economist.com/briefing/2023/09/27/how-microsoft-could-supplant-apple-as-the-worlds-most-valuable-firm?utm_medium=social-media.content.np&utm_source=twitter&utm_campaign=editorial-social&utm_content=discovery.content
  • Report
Francis M Goodwin
Francis M Goodwin ▶ World News Trust Project 28/09/2023
  • Report
 

www.theguardian.com/media/2023/aug/30/manchester-m…

Manchester Mill newsletter eyes expansion after £1.75m valuation | Regional & local newspapers | The Guardian
Manchester Mill newsletter eyes expansion after £1.75m valuation | Regional & local newspapers | The Guardian Startup considers cities including Leeds and Glasgow for new versions of its paywalled local media model www.theguardian.com/media/2023/aug/30/manchester-mill-prepares-for-uk-expansion-after-valuation?_hsmi=76769268&_hsenc=p2ANqtz--2SxuaW2Axl1BHKIamPkywITYo6r-0bBCoIY6QB5Xo9Tr5dgheWB1i28OXqqLr0UPOzzIYSWuuDlJRz-dH9WKkare06C1LWxgyEPOC3i4SuHaXJ2E

Community Videos

  • Sonny Saul Trio:  Intergalactic Suite, recorded live 9/1/2023 01:25:30
  • David Bowie - Under Pressure (Live) 1996 • TopPop 04:07
  • Chumbawamba - Tubthumping 03:34
  • ZZ Top - La Grange (Live From Gruene Hall) | Stages 04:38
  • Exmagma - Goldball   1974  (full album) 35:06
  • Digital News Report 2023 | Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism 02:20
View all videos

Blogs & Submissions

  • More Banks to Fail? Not in North Dakota | Ellen Brown
  • Israeli ‘Coup’ and the Death of False Democracy | Ramzy Baroud
  • The Other Side of the West Africa Upheaval | Ramzy Baroud
  • ‘Bread and Circuses’: Musk, Zuckerberg and the Art of Distraction | Ramzy Baroud
  • The Twisted Israeli Logic of Murdering Palestinian Children, and What Can We Do to Stop It? | Ramzy ...
blue-flag-thumb2_50x50Our side's flag is a thin, airlight blue, drifting almost unseen against the sky. Our military march is a meadowlark's song among the dandelions.
--Ken Kesey, The Real War 
 
Welcome to the World News Trust social news network. We are dedicated to your privacy and the highest standards of journalistic excellence. Help us build a great news service. Visit our World Desk community to register or log in. See you there.
 
 -Francis Goodwin, World News Trust founder
‘Bread and Circuses’: Musk, Zuckerberg and the Art of ...
‘Bread and Circuses’: Musk, Zuckerberg and the Art of Distraction | Ramzy Baroud
What Are Smart Contracts? | Bing
What Are Smart Contracts? | Bing
Climate Conflagration: Maui to Montana | Amy Goodman & ...
Climate Conflagration: Maui to Montana | Amy Goodman & Denis Moynihan
Best Way To Enter News Stories Into A Blockchain? | Bing
Best Way To Enter News Stories Into A Blockchain? | Bing
War By Other Means: Short-Selling JPMorgan | Ellen Brown
War By Other Means: Short-Selling JPMorgan | Ellen Brown
Israel’s Slippery Slope | Nouriel Roubini
Israel’s Slippery Slope | Nouriel Roubini
How To Stop And Reverse Global Warming | Bing
How To Stop And Reverse Global Warming | Bing
US and Israel: Is the ‘Unbreakable Bond’ Finally Breaking? ...
US and Israel: Is the ‘Unbreakable Bond’ Finally Breaking? | Ramzy Baroud

Electronic Frontier Foundation

  • Cities Should Act NOW to Ban Predictive Policing...and Stop Using ShotSpotter, Too
    October 02, 2023
  • The Growing Threat of Cybercrime Law Abuse: LGBTQ+ Rights in MENA and the UN Cybercrime Draft Convention
    September 30, 2023
  • Watch EFF's Talks from DEF CON 31
    September 28, 2023
  • Get Real, Congress: Censoring Search Results or Recommendations Is Still Censorship
    September 28, 2023

The Intercept

  • Rep. Josh Gottheimer Headlines No Labels Call While Eyeing Run for Higher Office
    October 02, 2023
  • Amazon and Google Are Finally Facing the Music
    October 01, 2023
  • New Group Attacking iPhone Encryption Backed by U.S. Political Dark-Money Network
    October 01, 2023
  • George W. Bush Is Building a Memorial to the War on Terror. He Wants Your Feedback.
    September 30, 2023

VTDigger

  • Suspect in fatal Rutland motel shooting moving to trial more than 2 years later
    October 02, 2023
  • Another of Vermont’s most photographed farms off limits to leaf peepers
    October 02, 2023
  • Vermont’s congressional delegation celebrates short-term budget — but not without chastising House GOP
    October 02, 2023
  • Brattleboro mourns the deaths of brother-in-law patriarchs of neighboring farms
    October 02, 2023

Mountain Times -- Central Vermont

  • Your weekly horoscope, Sept. 28 – Oct. 3, 2023
    September 28, 2023
  • Great Gulf announces design team for village at Killington Resort
    September 28, 2023
  • Teenagers earn podiums at U.S. Open
    September 28, 2023
  • Mountain Times – Volume 51, Number 39 – Sept. 27 – Oct. 3, 2023
    September 28, 2023
  1. You are here:  
  2. Home
  3. All Content
  4. Edited
  5. Controlling the Masses: From Religion to Bernaise | Tom Rushing
Copyright © 2023 World News Trust. All Rights Reserved.
Joomla! is Free Software released under the GNU General Public License.