The author/historian Stuart Ewen was writing a book in the late 1980’s about public relations – he had done research before about different decades of the twentieth century, and no matter where he turned, he met “the father of public relations,” Edward Bernays. He was astounded to learn in 1990 that he could meet Bernays in the flesh, as the old man still tottered about at age 99. Bernays lived to be 105, dying in 1995.
The essence of the interview was this: Public relations defines reality. It does not lie to people. It guides them to the proper destination. The average citizen has an IQ of 100, and is not capable of fathoming the depths of policy formation. There is only a small class of people of higher intellect capable of dealing with such matters, and they must do so even as a recalcitrant citizenry is brought along.
Over time, and with the advent of mass media, the elite have settled on the public relations industry to guide the public.
I’ll concede all of that to a point. The public is largely uneducated, even those who go through 16 years of education, as I did. The public is emotional. The public has a short attention span. The idea that the public can rule by voting on occasion does not begin to pass the sniff test. Voting has become an end in itself, while governing goes on in private.
Behind every major issue of the day, if we unbolt a few doors, we will find public relations people. They are manipulating our opinions via images and skilled sophistry. They are allowing us to think we govern ourselves even as they guide us to the ‘right’ outlook. We are allowed to fight out intense and meaningless battles between the “two” parties that are really one. It’s all good fun. The outcome does not matter. It’s merely our playground, a place where we are kept occupied while parents go on about their business.
This is reality. This is necessary as well. It can be no other way. But there are pitfalls with this system – that we exist as we are, weak and malleable, is our greatest defect. We are necessarily governed by people who want power for its own sake, otherwise they would not be governing.
But these are not our best people. Far from it. The best leader is the Cincinnatus, the reluctant general called into service who did his duty, and then returned to farming. Our system demands that we force leadership out of reluctant people of high quality, and then as quickly force them out of service before they become enamored of power.
That’s another reality. It works on a small scale, absent mass media, absent public relations. In this mass reality we are governed by an elite – take George W. Bush as an example, even if he was only a front man for a power bloc. He is a man of privilege, and a man not given to contemplation of important issues. He was granted access to elite universities, forgiven all of his sins, and then steered towards the presidency as if by birthright.
“He”, who really represents a whole class of people of similar privilege and birthright, led us from one calamity to another. This is the problem of aristocracy – excellent people are cast aside, privileged people allowed to govern. These privileged people never give up power. Though they are given our best in terms of “education”, they cannot guide us well, as that education only leads them to carry out their base instincts and motives with a flowery cover of high-sounding words. They are stupid people, but appear otherwise. (I like the phrase “supremely stupid,” borrowed from one of my daughter’s high school teachers.)
Bernays, the nephew of Sigmund Freud, lent his high intellect to this class; was actually part of this class. Even at age 99 he self-justified without honest reflection on the results of his life’s work. Far from honor, we need to bestow something less on his legacy – utter contempt.
Piece of Mindful 
“Public relations defines reality”
No Mark, it does not.
You should start challenging your own, and others’ assumptions once in a while. You’ll come to a lot of different conclusions. And you’ll quit looking for rationales to explain your own zeitgeist.
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I didn’t say that. Bernays did. But it would help you if you could dig below the surface a little bit. For instance, “reality” is that the “War on Terror” is a fear campaign against the American people. Public relations “reality” is that we have real enemies out there trying to harm us.
Whose reality is real? You can say the former, but the American public will mostly tell you otherwise.
So “reality” is 2+2 = 4, and that 2+2 doesn’t even matter. Pick ’em.
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Gee Mark, I think we’ve got some things to agree on.
Average IQ 100, check.
Masses not capable of determining policy formation, check.
Public is emotional, uneducated, short spanded, check.
All these traits manifest themselves in the ballot, check.
And if they didn’t we’d never send this stupid SOB back to DC.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNZczIgVXjg&feature=player_embedded
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Good thing we dodged the bullet with that idiot Palin.
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Stop! You stop right this minute young man. Those whole point of the post was that it doesn’t matter who we elect. It’s our playground. The adults don’t care.
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Not so fast Mark, this is classic chicken or the egg.
My point is the dumbing down process of “caring” or “making things fair’ results in stupid people/stupid politicians.
Could Rep. Johnson have stood up when we were in short pants and made this speech, I think not.
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You can tit for tat all you want – I’ll trade you one Johnson for a Palin or Quayle – that is not the point. And it is not chicken and egg – it is as it has always been. However, with the advent of popular democratic government, it became necessary for the elite to govern from behind a wall. The method they chose was public relations.
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Johnson for Palin or Quayle?
Dumbing down confirmed.
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Virtually all politicians are, by definition, mediocre people. Those who follow them impress upon them excellent qualities as a form of projection. In a sense, they are merely holding up a mirror to us. George W. Bush is nothing, nobody, but he’s likable, you want to have a beer with him, and because you think you are relating to him on a personal level, you invest in him.
That’s PR. That’s how it’s done. And don’t hit me with Obama being the same. Obama is the same. OK?
Of everyone I deal with on the blogs, no one surface skims as you do. You’re like a jet boat.
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And what’s the opposite of introspective naval gazing? Surface skimming?
Did it ever occur to you that my style is intentional in purpose?
Can you measure one’s intelligence by the volume of words or their meaning?
And damn you, I own a jet boat.
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That is, as Wulfgar might tell you, a “false dichotomy”. It’s not that we either surface skim as you do, or navel gaze as I do. It’s that you do a little more, I do a little less.
I write because it is what I like to do. It is amazing that I get 150-200 hits every day. If I only got ten, I’d do it anyway because this is what I do – I dig and analyze and try to figure things out. Did it ever occur to you that I do this because I am having fun?
Your style – the link, the YouTube, is hit and miss. More often than not you bring interesting stuff to light and I hope you are having fun. There is no other reason to do this.
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