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Edward Bernays

Edward Bernays Biography

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“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 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 daily 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 which control the public mind.”

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“Once he could read and write he would have a mind fit to rule. So ran the democratic doctrine. But instead of a mind, universal literacy has given him rubber stamps, rubber stamps inked with advertising slogans, with editorials, with published scientific data, with the trivialities of the tabloids and the platitudes of history, but quite innocent of original thought.”

WritingMindGivenFitUniversalOriginalsDemocraticDoctrineInnocentAdvertisingDataRanLiteracyStampsSlogansRubberTabloidsEditorialsPlatitudesTrivialityOriginal Thought
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“The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organised 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.”

ImportantCountryGovernmentOpinionHabitElementsMassConsciousIntelligentDemocraticInvisibleOur CountryPropagandaManipulationNew WorldConspiracyMechanismUnseenRulingManipulateNew World OrderWorld OrderMind ControlDemocratic SocietyMass MediaWorld GovernmentOrganisedNwoSecret SocietyMedia ManipulationControlling GovernmentMedia Control
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“The minority has discovered a powerful help in influencing majorities. It has been found possible so to mold the mind of the masses that they will throw their newly gained strength in the desired direction. In the present structure of society, this practice is inevitable. Whatever of social importance is done today, whether in politics, finance, manufacture, agriculture, charity, education, or other fields, must be done with the help of propaganda. Propaganda is the executive arm of the invisible government.”

MindHas BeensDoneHelpingGovernmentTodayFoundSocialPowerfulPracticePowerInfluenceFieldsArmsMassImportanceMajorityStructureCharityInvisibleFinanceInevitablePropagandaMinoritiesExecutivesManipulationAgricultureMold
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“A single factory, potentially capable of supplying a whole continent with its particular product, cannot afford to wait until the public asks for its product; it must maintain constant touch, through advertising and propaganda, with the vast public in order to assure itself the continuous demand which alone will make its costly plant profitable.”

WholeOrderAsksWaitingParticularProductsDemandCapableConstantPlantAdvertisingPropagandaFactoriesContinentsProfitable
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“The invisible government tends to be concentrated in the hands of the few because of the expense of manipulating the social machinery which controls the opinions and habits of the masses. To advertise on a scale which will reach fifty million persons is expensive. To reach and persuade the group leaders who dictate the public's thoughts and actions is likewise expensive.”

PersonsHandsGovernmentActionSocialLeaderOpinionMillionsGroupsHabitMassScalesInvisibleAdvertisingExpensiveFiftyManipulationExpensesMachineryThoughts And Actions
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“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.”

IfsMenWayMindHumansIdeasTogetherHuman BeingsResultsNumbersHeardTasteDemocraticPropagandaOrganizedLogicalManipulationNew World OrderWorld OrderMind ControlDemocratic Society
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“Just as women supplement men in private life, so they will supplement men in public life by concentrating their organized efforts on those objects which men are likely to ignore. There is a tremendous field for women as active protagonists of new ideas and new methods of political and social housekeeping. When organized and conscious of their power to influence their surroundings, women can use their newly acquired freedom in a great many ways to mold the world into a better place to live in.”

MenWorldWayIdeasUsePoliticalSocialFreedomEffortInfluenceFieldsObjectsConsciousMethodActiveOrganizedGreat MenManipulationNew IdeasBetter PlaceSurroundingsPrivate LifeMoldPublic LifeConcentratingSupplementsProtagonistsPlaces To LiveHousekeeping
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“It is not necessary for the politician to be the slave of the public's group prejudices, if he can learn how to mold the mind of the voters in conformity with his own ideas of public welfare and public service. The important thing for the statesman of our age is not so much to know how to please the public, but to know how to sway the public. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country.”

IfsKnowsMindImportantIdeasCountryGovernmentAgeKnow HowGroupsPoliticianPleasePrejudiceImportant ThingsSlaveInvisibleOur CountryWelfareConformityVotersConspiracyMechanismUnseenRulingManipulateMoldStatesmenPublic ServicePublic Welfare
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“No serious sociologist any longer believes that the voice of the people expresses any divine or specially wise and lofty idea. The voice of the people expresses the mind of the people, and that mind is made up for it by the group leaders in whom it believes and by those persons who understand the manipulation of public opinion. It is composed of inherited prejudices and symbols and clichés and verbal formulas supplied to them by the leaders.”

PeopleMindBelievePersonsMadeIdeasVoiceLeaderOpinionWiseGroupsDivineSeriousPrejudiceSymbolsManipulationFormulasPublic OpinionLoftySociologists
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“If you can influence the leaders, either with or without their conscious cooperation, you automatically influence the group which they sway. But men do not need to be actually gathered together in a public meeting or in a street riot, to be subject to the influences of mass psychology. Because man is by nature gregarious he feels himself to be member of a herd, even when he is alone in his room with the curtains drawn.”

IfsMenNeedsFeelsTogetherLeadershipRoomsLeaderPsychologyGroupsInfluenceStreetsSubjectsMembersMassConsciousMeetingsCooperationCurtainsRiotHerdsGregarious
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“We have voluntarily agreed to let an invisible government sift the data and high-spot the outstanding issues so that our field of choice shall be narrowed to practical proportions. From our leaders and the media they use to reach the public, we accept the evidence and the demarcation of issues bearing upon public questions; from some ethical teacher, be it a minister, a favorite essayist, or merely prevailing opinion, we accept a standardized code of social conduct to which we conform most of the time.”

UseGovernmentChoicesSocialLeadershipLeaderAcceptingOpinionIssuesTeacherMediaFieldsEvidencePracticalsInvisibleSpotsDataCodeMinistersProportionEthicalConformOutstandingPrevailingEssayists
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“If we understand the mechanisms and motives of the group mind, it is now possible to control and regiment the masses according to our will without their knowing it In almost every act of our daily 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 which control the public mind.”

IfsThinkingMindPersonsSocialProcessNumbersKnowingGroupsMassPatternsPropagandaMotiveDaily LifeManipulationEthicalSpheresMechanismWireMind ControlSmall Numbers
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“The American motion picture is the greatest unconscious carrier of propaganda in the world today. It is a great distributor for ideas and opinions. The motion picture can standardize the ideas and habits of a nation. Because pictures are made to meet market demands, they reflect, emphasize and even exaggerate broad popular tendencies, rather than stimulate new ideas and opinions. The motion picture avails itself only of ideas and facts which are in vogue. As the newspaper seeks to purvey news, it seeks to purvey entertainment.”

WorldMadeIdeasFactsTodayNationsOpinionHabitDemandNewsEntertainmentNewspapersTendenciesPropagandaUnconsciousBroadsNew IdeasWorld TodayVogueMotion PicturesCarrierDistributors
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“Mass production is only profitable if its rhythm can be maintained.. that is, if it can continue to sell its product in steady or increasing quantity. The result is that while, under the handicraft or small-unit system of production that was typical a century ago, demand created the supply, today supply must actively seek to create its corresponding demand.”

IfsTodayResultsCenturyProductsDemandMassSellsProductionsSellingRhythmSteadyQuantityTypicalUnitsProfitableCorrespondingMass ProductionHandicrafts
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