Bernays Propaganda Week 3 Blog Post
According to Bernays, propaganda started very long ago and was thought to be ruled by an “invisible” government which he means are people that work behind the curtain or behind the people we see ruling. He believes that the government is ruled by a higher power of people we do not see and will never know who they actually are. This is where propaganda originally started because these invisible people will directly be giving false information for the government we see physically to report whatever they tell them. If this information is false information being given, it is considered propaganda.
People rely on these “invisible people” or “invisible government” because they give us information and facts that we want to hear. They provide us with information that will best appeal to the people in order to make themselves look good which in return will make the people respect these invisible leaders. People also rely on these invisible powers because they make the hard decisions for us people so it will give us the best options in the long run.
Bernays believes that all organizations, even charitable ones, must engage in the practice of shaping the public and using propaganda because these groups inspire and appeal to people. People praise all different types of companies so if these companies support an idea and use propaganda to exploit them, people will have a better chance of supporting it because that specific group they like supports that idea. He believes people have an easier time connecting with something they support and enjoy rather than a bunch of people in government trying to persuade you to vote or like a certain idea.
According to Bernays, fashion is a form of propaganda because fashion is based off of one designer who creates an image, which then stems to a whole group of buyers weather its guys or girls. He states, “Thousands of women may unconsciously belong to a sorority which follows the fashion set by a single society leader.” He means that groups of people might not know exactly what they’re wearing but the designer could be trying to make an underlying statement and the people wearing the clothes would have no clue.
My attitude about propaganda has changed drastically after reading this book because you don’t realize how many higher powers can almost control you without even blinking an eye. I realized that almost any power you support, look up to or like could be the most influential propaganda leader out there. With huge corporations getting involved, this could drastically change our world for the better. A lot of corporations nowadays do commercials with other organization’s to support each other. I think that corporations should do more with the government, which can lead to a better nation, but there’s always that thought that there is an invisible part of the government behind it, trying to persuade its supporters on certain topics.