DEATH BY PROPAGANDA PART 1 of 2

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http://www.newswithviews.com/Dean/carolyn33.htm DEATH BY PROPAGANDAPART 1 of 2 Dr. Carolyn Dean, MD, ND andElissa MeiningerFebruary 16, 2006NewsWithViews.com "The twentieth century has been characterized by three developments ofgreat political importance: the growth of democracy, the growth ofcorporate power, and the growth of corporate propaganda as a means ofprotecting corporate power against democracy." --Alex Carey(Australian academic) Looking back over how corporate power became the dominant force in oureveryday life and how government now follows in lockstep to suit everycorporate whim, it is useful to understand its origins. In all, it'sbeen a long, deliberate process that continues to become evermoresophisticated in its manipulation of us, the American public. One of the principle architects in the takeover of the American mindis a fellow named Edward Bernays, who is considered the father of theAmerican public relations industry. If his name doesn't ring a bell,then maybe his Uncle Sigmund Freud's will. In 2002, the BBC broadcast a four-part documentary called "The Centuryof Self," covering the story of the relationship between Freud and hisAmerican nephew, as Bernays learned about the human mind and how tomanipulate the masses. Bernays' goal, from the early part of the 20thCentury, was to be able to teach corporations how to make people wantthings they didn't need through a variety of manipulative techniquesappealing to people's unconscious fears and desires. What makes this production interesting is that it covers post-warAmerica and illustrates how politicians and policymakers learned touse Freud's ideas in their desire to control the masses as well. Itshows how Sigmund Freud's daughter, Anna, and his nephew Bernays, werecentral players, along with the U.S. Government, corporate America,and the CIA in believing that by controlling the masses via"engineering consent," they could avoid the debacle of Nazi Germanywhere all the baser elements of the human character had committedatrocious acts. Interestingly, during the 1960s, thanks to others in the psychologicalfield, reactions against Freud's ideas emerged, resulting in the ideaof the "Me Generation" where individualism, not Freudian conformity,became the norm. Corporate America quickly adjusted by using focusgroups, an idea first developed by the psychoanalyst industry, andlearned how to further manipulate us by appealing to the unconsciousdesires in all of us to be "individualistic.The Century of the Self" has been turned into a feature lengthdocumentary film that is now making the rounds in art movie houseshere in the states. It is not yet available on DVD or VHS, but,nevertheless, is one of those "must see" films. [Read] The basis upon which all of us are being manipulated, whether werealize it or not, rests on Freud's basic theory that deep down, allhuman beings possess dangerous fears and desires that need to becontrolled. The goal is to condition us like Pavlov's dogs! The momentwe hear our cue, we, in perfect unison, are motivated to think and actas we have been conditioned to do, even if the conditioning wereceived was outside our conscious awareness. In Bernays 1928 book, Propaganda, which was recently re-issued, hetalks about the invisible governance by manipulation. "The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organizedhabits and opinions of the masses is an important element indemocratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism ofsociety constitute an invisible government which is the true rulingpower of our country. We are governed, our minds molded, our tastesformed, our ideas suggested, largely by men we have never heard of.This is a logical result of the way in which our democratic society isorganized. Vast numbers of human beings must cooperate in this mannerif they are to live together as a smooth functioning society." A "smoothly functioning society" molded by advertising is what we nowhave as corporate America and Big Pharma think nothing of spendinghundreds of millions of dollars on the promotion of one drug alone.The fact that the drug may be harmful further illustrates theirunderstanding of the power of propaganda. Bernays, thanks to his relationship to his Uncle Sigmund, believedthat the "group mind" does not think but, instead, it has impulses,habits, and emotions. The first of these impulses, according toBernays, is to follow the example of a trusted leader. In the area ofmedicine and disease, use of doctors, scientists, governmentofficials, private or public agencies associated with public health,and prominent social leaders and celebrities all should be drafted tocarry the propaganda message. Bernays had a gift for cooking up extravagant public relationscampaigns and one of his most famous ones was when he was hired by theAmerican Tobacco Company. The head of the company, George WashingtonHill, want to make Lucky Strikes the most smoked cigarette in Americaby opening up a whole new market of prospective smokers - women. Atthe time, people thought women who smoked were of low character andthose in the better classes who did smoke, did so in secret. The first part of the campaign was to launch the slogan "Reach for aLucky Instead of a Sweet." Arthur Murray, the famous dancing schoolfounder was then engaged to claim that his dance instructors smoked tokeep their slim figures instead of overeating the food and punchoffered at public gatherings. This propaganda pitch was quickly followed by finding a doctor toendorse the idea that smoking after a meal had several health benefitsincluding being able "to disinfect the mouth and sooth the nerves."Hotels were then urged to add cigarettes to their dessert menus! Menusprepared by House and Garden were circulated that recommended smokinginstead of eating dessert as part of a healthful diet. No venue was missed by Bernays. Homemakers were told to be sure tostock up on cigarettes as they were now household kitchen staples likesalt, sugar and the like. The popular Ziegfield Girls formed a club sothey could pledge giving up fattening food and take up smoking tocontrol their weight. Bernays even asked a psychoanalyst colleague ofUncle Sigmund's to claim that women in the workforce who had no desireto be homemakers and mothers had a need to see smoking as a feministstatement that they were equal to men--and cigarettes, to them, weretorches of freedom. A bevy of debutants were then drafted to join the fight for equalrights between the sexes by strolling down Fifth Avenue on EasterSunday smoking their torches of freedom. In my book, Death by Modern Medicine, in addition to providingdetailed information about how Bernays built his reputation asAmerica's PR wunderkind, I also describe how Albert Lasker picked upwhere Bernays left off and became the "Father of Modern Advertising." This is another important branch of America's propaganda industry.More importantly, I cover in detail Lasker's central role in creatingthe money hungry machine we call the National Institutes of Health,which began when he retired as the richest man in the history ofadvertising. Lasker and his wife, Mary, longtime board members of the AmericanCancer Society, realized that really big money could be had forresearch, if only the public could be convinced that tax dollars -- ifpoured into research year after year -- might lead to cures for allsorts of diseases, particularly cancer. Over the years, Lasker had developed a number of Madison Avenuepropaganda techniques similar to Bernays that he applied to motivatepeople to generously fund the American Cancer Society (ACS). Lasker'scampaign strategy was based on our fear of death and the hope thatwith enough money, we could cure cancer. He coached his friend, ElmerBobst, president of the American branch of Hoffmann-LaRoche and laterWarner-Lambert drug company, to start every fundraising speech withthe following statement, "One in five of us here - every fifth personin the audience - will die of cancer." He would then turn the fear hehad engendered into hope with his next line, "We want to cure cancerin your lifetime…donate generously." Starting in the 1950s, those public donations he and his colleaguesraised turned into vast pools of annual government funding when Laskersold Congress on the idea of massively expanding the scope and size ofthe National Institutes of Health (NIH) to cover all diseases. Sincethen, charities like the American Cancer Society, the ArthritisFoundation, the American Diabetes Association and other charities havebecome the public relations arm for their respective diseases. Disease charities, both nationally and at the local level, keep eachdisease visible through well-organized local fund drives, specialpublic events, and the like, but most people don't know that much ofthe money they give to these organizations locally may go to lobbyistsin Washington to garner the big bucks –from our tax dollars! From ameager $3 million budget in 1945, and thanks to a well-oiledpropaganda campaign that has gone on ever since, the NIH had beentransformed into a fat $28 billion world headquarters for medicalresearch by 2003. Today, there are 27 institutes and centers financedby taxpayers who all fear disease and all hope for a cure –if onlyenough money can be raised. Albert Lasker coached his ACS associates on the need to keep cancer inthe minds and hearts of the general public as much as possible. Theidea was to make sure that when the annual fund drives came around,the people, like Pavlov's dogs, would dig deep into their pockets andgive. And so would Congress, convinced by Mary Lasker and her minionsthat the American people would be willing to use tax dollars to fundthe search for cancer cures. And, more importantly, while each of usgives money, "to help the cause," we also become "feel good"representatives to what has become a massive propaganda machineimmersing us with all manner of fear and hope messages 24/7 so we aretrained to want to raise billions for cancer research. These days, the American Cancer Society promotes no fewer than 23special propaganda campaigns each year, scheduled by the month forcampaigns with names like "National Cervical Cancer Awareness Month,""National Minority Cancer Awareness Week,Skin Cancer Detection andPrevention Month,National Cancer Survivors Day,Childhood CancerMonth," and the like. As each of these cancer awareness calendar datesrolls around, appropriate press releases, photo ops and specialpublicity events are staged to make sure that there is not only newscoverage of the moment, but also free advertising time (aka "publicservice announcements") provided to make the public aware of this"feel good" cause. Corporate America has by no means been left out in the cold on cancerpromotion projects. While many corporations give checks and arewilling to lend their name to sponsor public events, some go all outand make corporate commitments to raise money, using the full assetsof the corporation to achieve what has become part of the officialgood-corporate-citizen agenda. One of the most all-encompassing propaganda campaigns about the issueof cancer is that which is called "The Pink Ribbon Campaign." Thiscampaign is quite likely the largest propaganda campaign everorganized and has, over the years, followed, to the letter, Bernays'formula of getting the most prominent people, corporations, publicagencies, celebrities private foundations involved in a singleproject. – Raise money to educate people about the perils of breastcancer. All anyone has to do is google "Pink Ribbon Campaign" on the net tosee just how much this campaign has become part of our shared globalculture. It is not just the old American Cancer Society with a millionvolunteers going from door to door in their neighborhoods. It'scorporate America "partnering" with the project and carrying the torchto every hamlet and village on the planet. Annual "Walk for the Cure,Race for the Cure," and other publicevents are staged in the name of the Pink Ribbon Campaign. Fabriccompanies have manufactured special "pink ribbon" designs so quiltersinvolved with "quilt for the cure" quilting contests can do so withthe official pink ribbon fabrics. Entire lines of clothing, especiallyjogging togs, have been designed along with accessories and hundredsof individual products so every entrepreneur can get in the act, notjust the usual souvenir T-shirt folks. In addition, every corporationand retailer that wants to be a visible part of the local event hassomething tangible to sell "for the cause." For part 2 click below. Click here for part -----> 2 ACT FOR HEALTH FREEDOM NOW:Go to www.friendsoffreedominternational.org view and purchase the newmovie on Codex and Free Trade called "We Become Silent" by Kevin Miller Also purchase "Death by Modern Medicine." Proceeds from the sale ofthese products are crucial to help us fund our health freedom action.For state action go to: www.nationalhealthfreedom.org. © 2006 Carolyn Dean -