Operation PBSUCCESS was the name of the CIA covert action.

"From Episode Two of the film series "The Century of the Self" by Adam Curtis. The nephew of Sigmund Freud, Edward Bernays started his business life as a publicist. While still in his twenties, he was part of the propaganda effort that drove the United States into in World War I (WW I.)

He personally advised several US presidents starting with Woodrow Wilson and counseled numerous corporations and business associations. Hitler's propaganda chief and Nazi henchman Joseph Goebbels was a reader and fan of Bernay's writing in particular Bernay's book "Crystalizing Public Opinion."

In this short excerpt from Curtis's film we see one example of Bernays at work.

Bernays was one of the engineers of the Cold War. He perfected the technique of manufacturing a distant but ever-threatening enemy and then creating a constant state of fear by generating false news reports that endlessly re-stated and exagerated the threat.

The stated purpose of Bernay's methods was to give those in power greater control over what he called "the mass mind." It worked well in the 1950s and sadly, it appears to be working quite well today... but maybe not forever."

this is directed by Adam Curtis, who did "The Power of Nightmares" documentary. it's the same style...

wow. the interview with Howard Hunt (@-3:40)is an incredible addition to this documentary.

... also amazing is the Nixon phony PR interview with the newly installed faux-president... WHO HAS A HITLER MUSTACHE! (@ -1:45)

it's amazing to see how consistent the pattern is. the same people were playing the same angle (more fear, more power) in the '50s as the '70s. and their friends from the '70s (the "plan B" part of Power of Nightmares -- Ledeen, Rumsfeld, etc) are still trying the same tricks today.

... pushing the conversation beyond where it reasonably should go, I believe that Edward Bernays recognized the power and the evolutionary purpose of belief in a higher power... human beings are driven by irrational forces, and the evolutionary advantage to this is that groups stay unified. Instead of being unified around a set of gods, Bernays recognized that anyone controlling the stories controlled the beliefs.

... but don't tell anyone!

excellent point, plastiquemonkey ... they know what works, but the majority of the population just don't want to believe it!

*promote

Promoting this classic video back to the front page; last published Monday, March 5th, 2007 2:59am PST - promote requested by eric3579.

A most excellent post. thanks for such a timely and insightful video.

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Sigh... The only reason I want to hit 100 stars is so that I can promote sifts like this.

Ignorance, laziness, fear, and apathy are killing America.

*documentaries

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