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In Today’s World, It’s Play or Be Played
Has our modern life become a series of entertainments and diversions staged for our viewing pleasure, and to manipulate us? Are we becoming like the ancient Romans, whose bloody games were part of their rites of worship? As an example, consider Haiti. We've all seen the suffering in Haitian eyes; we watched as some heroically survived under rubble for weeks. So why haven't certain governments -- including America's -- forked over the promised funds to aid in Haiti's recovery?
According to CNN, only about 5 percent of the more than $5 billion promised to Haiti has been delivered. Perhaps the donor nations meant well and the money will be arriving later, after thousands more have died. Or perhaps some made noble-sounding pledges that they never intended to keep, hoping to look good in the bright light of constant media coverage. Now that the media is gone, the promises, too, have evaporated.
This is the Haiti game, a spectacle for years in which the object has been to exploit and neglect one of the poorest and most abused nations in history.
The Gulf Coast game began with the botched response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and continues with the BP oil spill. An entire way of life may be disappearing while BP dissembles. First, the company lied about the amount of oil flowing from its well, then "misunderestimated" the time it would take to fix the problem, and now is seriously lagging in compensating the victims.
The Gulf Coast game will continue because, no matter what its spiffy TV ads say, BP's object is to allow time to pass so that we forget its culpability while besieged Gulf residents will move on, give up, or die before they can collect.
There's no escaping the fact that, around the world, people are being gamed nearly to death by corporate and governmental "playas." Greed drives the prevailing winds.
Psychiatrist Eric Byrne, in his seminal 1964 book "Games People Play," defined a game as, "a recurring set of transactions ... with a concealed motivation ... or gimmick." That nails the world in which we live.
Here's a smaller example: If you have a relative in a senior-care or assisted-living center, chances are Medicare (that's us taxpayers) is being billed for "debridement of nails 1-10" without your loved one's awareness. "Debridement" means toenail clipping. The charge is between $35 and $70, more than enough to buy Mom a pedicure at a local spa.
In this ongoing game called Steal the Public's Money -- also popular among defense contractors -- the object is to overbill for products and services for as long as possible. Imagine how much public money is secretly slipping into podiatrists' pockets through Medicare for this dubious service.
When we shop at almost any store, we're also being gamed. Merchandisers and marketers want us to spend more money, and they've studied the psychology of purchasing. They call it "managing a buyer's experience." The best-value (and lowest-profit) products are invariably at the very bottom or very top of the shelves, not at eye level.
If you buy a service like carpet cleaning -- or replace your garbage disposal -- you're likely being gamed. The service provider comes to your home, looks at your furnishings and gives you a price based on your zip code and what he thinks you can afford. Too high? Well, he has a "little leeway" and can cut a third off that outrageous price.
The question is, what is the real value of that product or service, and why didn't he offer you the "new" price in the beginning? If you argue that "real value" is a relative term, you're making yourself a part of the game.
The curse of moral relativism is that we never stop paying its ridiculously escalating price, which is the erosion of reality. Cheating is now viewed as part of the game, not an aberration, and our children regularly look up "cheat" codes on the Internet so they can become videogame champions. Whom do they think they're cheating?
Likewise, commercials showing a family taking a casino vacation attempt to deceive viewers about the very nature of gaming and the addictive dangers it poses for kids. But, hey, I don't want to imply that taking your kids to the casino is a form of child abuse. In today's world, that would be presumptuous and wrong -- wouldn't it?
The persistence of gamesmanship in our daily lives makes us less trusting, more callous and cautious, weary of authentic human interaction. While we can certainly be manipulated, the back end of the equation is rage and distrust. And because everyone seems to be doing it, a kind of learned helplessness becomes part of the game itself.
I wonder if the spectators in the Roman Coliseum felt helpless, too, as they watched slaves, Christians, Jews and gladiators scream in agony as they were being ripped apart? Whatever they felt, it didn't cause the Romans to find their moral center, and it didn't stop the games for centuries.
Syl Jones, of Minnetonka, Minnesota, is a journalist, playwright and communications consultant.
46 Comments so far
Show AllThe advent of Christianism did not bring the games to an end either. What finally ended the games was the lack of enthusiasm owing to the depletion of wild animals available for spectacle. One Roman in Britain writes that they found only one scrawny bear and one mangy lion for the season's games.
The only game in town is the lethargic roller coaster swoop of imperial decline.
I don't find that moral relativism is the culprit here. It is the absence of true morality in the unifying paradigm of Western civilization: Christianism. What is the obligation of a Christian towards moral acts or increasing self awareness when the only quality that matters is the faith in the magic god?
"What is the obligation of a Christian towards moral acts or increasing self awareness when the only quality that matters is the faith in the magic god?"
That could be said about all of the Abrahamic religions.
...i'll put this at the bottom where it belongs....
"to be or not to be...that is the question"...heard of that?...well that IS the question....SURVIVAL...
that survival thang was hard-wired back during the sacred "passing of the gas" (scientists call it the "big bang"/ philosphers have unsuccessfully tried, bye the way, to answer the question: "if god farts in a universe, is there a sound?"...what do either of them know)
so...considering the dilemma facing humanity (forced by circumstances, or a devious god, to deny the efficacy of immediate mass suicide)...humanity soldiers on....
from that first "GAME"(concealed motivation) of survival, which few can even "see" they were forced into accepting...the LYING then, necessarily, endlessly permutates into the YIN/YANG game of the"kitten AND the snake in the grass", god/satan, eros/thanatos...you know.....
we feel our pain...peace
ClassAct, the 'magic god' in this case is money, and always has been. How many would be Christians in this country if it meant being relegated to a life of poverty and rejection? How many Americans follow Jesus' teaching about not storing up treasure on earth? How many truly believe that it's harder for the rich to get into heaven than for a camel to go through the eye of a needle? (Obviously not some of the kingpins of the Christian right.)
Christianity is just another useless label, like 'patriotism,' 'pro-life' or 'family values' or any of the other meaningless gunk they spew, to get the suckers in the tent so you can sell them something else -- if not a product or service, then a political party or ideology.
The business, military and political elite would be shaking in their Guccis if true Christians ever appeared en masse in America -- modern-day predatory capitalism, as practiced by Wall St and multi-national corporations, would be the one of the first things to go, right after war and the Pentagon.
Faith in the magic god may be Pauline theology but it was not what the Jewish Peasant taught.
Find one thing that you can commit your life to. Only then will you begin to live. Don't try to get even; that is playing the game. Live for and if necessary die for peace without hate or the impulse to revenge. Practice not hating. Begin with small things. If you cannot forgive somebody who cuts you off in traffic how can you hope to die forgiving your killer?
Good points, Nietzsche. As George Bernard Shaw said: "No sooner had Jesus knocked over the dragon of superstition than Paul boldly set it on its legs again in the name of Jesus."
Why would I hope to forgive my killer? I would hope that I kill no one and vice versa. You might believe the things you wrote but that is a far cry from having faith in yourself to do the right thing. What you outline is the psychology of victim and enabler. What could be more convenient for the kings than to have a populace BELIEVE in such fantasies. As our world gets torn asunder, at no time has it ever been more important for humanity to carefully consider our responsibilities towards implementation of just and fair societies. This requires anger as motivator, courage as facilitator, insight and compassion as guide.
Lefty, someone once said people turn to peace when they've exhausted everything else. We may find out in our lifetimes if that's true.
Hi RSJ,
I think this passive approach is a most dangerous one. The vast majority of people I know have turned to peace throughout their lives. They aren't prone to driving tanks around, picking up guns or cutting their neighbor's throat. What you have is a small minority of people who chose this path and in turn, force us to choose this path. Allowing ourselves to be both victims and enablers is not a suitable response. As the world spirals into the abyss, it is crucial that people discard this psychology of victim and enabler. I believe the survival of the human race is now at stake.
FedEx plays the "guarantee" game well. They told me that their delivery guarantee did not apply even though they were 23 hours late, and besides, even though I had paid for the shipping, it was the shipper who had paid FedEx, so I would have to ask the shipper to hassle FedEx for a refund, except that I would be wasting my time because the circumstances were covered by an exception. So I decided to try to find the list of exceptions.
While it's easy to find FedEx's online guarantee stating that if an express package is even 60 seconds late FedEx will refund the shipping charge, it takes some persistence to find the actual list of exceptions to the guarantee. The lettered list, running through the alphabet and starting over at "aa," defines over 30 general classes of circumstances for which the warranty does not apply. Naturally, I couldn't find (or even imagine) a corresponding list of any general circumstances for when the "guarantee" would apply, not even a single specific example…
FedEx is the very model of the modern barbaric, malignant corporation.
If, God forbid, one needs to contact them to help resolve a problem, expect the Customer Disservice Representative to baldly lie about their policies and/or your options.
They also shamelessly blame the other party, and let you know that if you're not personally paying for a delivery, you're not really a "customer".
They're absolutely scurrilously self-serving. Perhaps I should say "it's", because I'm referring to the corporation. The drivers are, by and large, pretty cool.
I always took dull brown UPS for granted, but now I smile when I see an UPS truck coming up the street.
I feel your pain, Don_Alejandro.
Moralism is always relative - the struggle with this is what religion tries to cure, and does nothing but confound the matter.
All you really have is the moment, and how much of history you walk with.
How you behave, what you get angry at, etc. is all governed by what you know. It used to be that the research matter of a phd would become common knowledge in about 20 years, in some cases now, it could be ten years.
However, some basic knowledege that could actually further the human race is being held back for the general populace, as it is not pro establishment and status quo.
Love
Zero
>>However, some basic knowledege that could actually further the human race is being held back for the general populace, as it is not pro establishment and status quo.
Feel free to list the specifics.
One specific is that 'civilization' is supposed to have been an invention which allowed us to stop leaving grandmothers and daughters who had lost all family support out on the ice, or in the fields, to die. Because of agriculture and animal husbandry we can now take care of those that once depended upon hunters for their sustenance.
The other specific is the father (or is that mother?) of all socialist notions. Specifically this is 'Justice'. Those who believe in justice willingly give up their right to personal violence, placing it into the most objective repository we've yet invented - the courts. Justice is only justice if it is blind to race, sex, religion, political or economic status. It ceases to be justice the moment it can be purchased.
While these are great ideas, we see all around us that it has always been a lie. All governments, all laws are 'sold' to us as protective of life, liberty, and property. That we spring from a history of genocide, in which 'civilization' is always combating against evil 'barbarians' or 'terrorists' (or whichever unwanted tribes happen to be squatting on 'our' resources) escapes most of us.
Civilization is a lie, as is true democracy. Democracy is an evolutionary step toward social anarchy (and, no, I do not mean 'chaos' or 'lawlessness') in which people civilize themselves out of compassion rather than through the threat of punishment (law). This is the heart of the Gospels, in fact.
We see 'civilization' being the largest perpetrator of genocide and theft. Count the dead. Historically, the numbers of dead civilians (noncombatants, women, children, etc) who have perished at the hands of soldiers of 'civilization' outnumber those who have died at the hands of 'barbarians', 'terrorists', or tribal 'savages' by a factor of ten thousand to one. If we talk about lawlessness, then the last decade proves to us who the lawless are, and they are predominantly those who are elected to steward civilization itself. When was the last time a government official was tried and convicted of a crime against the state, against humanity, or against the Constitution? When was the last time a corporation (which now enjoy the legal status as 'persons' under the law) received the death penalty? Has there been any greater lawlessness than the actions (and inaction) of the last two Federal administrations?
While I agree with a number of observations that you make, I fail to see how this information is being held back. If you and I have come to similar conclusions independently, how is it held back?
I continue to examine the world's religions and your assertions about the heart of gospels does not ring true. As best I can tell, scriptures of most major religions seem to be an amalgam of mythologies collected over the years. I don't see anarchy as a driving theme. Be fruitful and multiply. While good advice for the human race when extinction was a very real possibility, it really is a dangerous thought pattern today. Monotheism might have been a great uniting factor for disjointed groups of people but dear old dad has outlived his usefulness. It has become a force of division in a world made small by technologies and improved communication.
I don't see any of your observations or mine being held back. It is up to us to become aware and to in turn, act accordingly.
My guess is that you haven't actually read the gospels and epistles, or thought about the philosophic ramifications (as they relate to social anarchy) between the old testament covenant (the 'Law' of Moses) and the new testament covenant of grace (The law of 'love your neighbor as yourself').
First of all, let me state for the sake of argument that the old testament act of granting free will (sovereignty) to any creature is an indication of God's priorities. Had obedience been at the top of the list, then free will and personal responsibility is a cruel joke, meaningless, and probably an illusion.
The old testament covenant with Moses was about Law, an external imposition of ethics combined with the threat of punishment. Contrast this idea with the new testament covenant of grace, in which true morality is the product of actual compassion, or love, and in which the 'Law' is dead and has no power to redeem or reconnect a person to their creator.
The Christian concept of heaven is an illustration in social anarchy in that nobody who gets there has to fear punishment any longer, forever, purely because they have civilized themselves through the love of God, as expressed in the treatment of their fellow man. The new testament says that Christians are heirs (brothers/sisters) with Christ to all that God possesses, and that ALL are 'Kings and Priests' who will do greater works than Christ. So much for authoritarianism. So much for the need for a priest to intercede with God on your behalf.
I'm not saying I believe in any religion, but I I am saying that social anarchy as a concept is to be found within the Bible, both old and new testaments. I think Christ can easily be argued as a force for social anarchy at least as far as morality being a matter of love rather than fear of death or punishment. I shouldn't even have to mention the threat his philosophy represented to the power structures of his day. It put ALL authority on trial. While I am not educated regarding Islam I would bet that I could find these concepts even within the Quran, especially as it relates to the way people understand power, strength, and morality (or misunderstand it - whatever the case may be). If, for the sake of argument, God exists and granted sovereignty to any creature at all, I can see no reason for it than to love and be loved by an equal. I can't think of any other reason to give any being the ability to give you the finger. That Christianity, and other religions, are an amalgam of mythologies and more ancient religions are not at issue, but in fact support my own assertion. I agree with you in this respect. I don't believe anarchy was the driving theme in any overt sense, and I would even say that power structures have always used faith to buttress the authority of the state - surely the opposite of anarchy. But these concepts are there nonetheless, right in the heart of any concept of free will, personal responsibility and reward/punishment.
P.S. I recognize that we're discussing mythology and religious traditions, and not historical facts. I don't much care whether Christ was a real person, or a mythical figure. Someone came up with those ideas. I completely agree that all spiritual movements which are concerned with moral conduct are hijacked by power structures. I simply think that it is worthwhile to learn to communicate with those who support authoritarian structures, mainly because I think most folks are more or less well meaning, even if they're misled. I'm not sure what's true, but I do believe in following logic. I also think the intent of law is more important than the letter. While ignorance and stupidity seems to be prevailing at this time I still can't see any better system of governance than democracy. I think stupidity and ignorance is the greatest asset of fascist corruption.
I was under the impression that Christ was indeed a major political force. As you point out, it doesn't matter whether he actually walked the planet our not, the concept itself brought Rome to her knees. I have come to revise this view and I feel it needs further study. It is quite possible that the decline of Rome was inevitable and the exact causes need to be carefully examined. I have performed no such examination. Nonetheless, the assertion that Christianity brought about the end of the Roman empire is a questionable one. It very well may be part of the myth.
I don't pretend to be religious scholar. That said, if I saw a common driving force, it would be the psychology of victim and enabler.
"Turn the other cheek."
"Give unto Caesar what is Caesar's"
I offer to you Matthew 25 which appears to be a spirited call to greed and capitalism. In the final analysis, if one views the scriptures for what they are, a hodgepodge of mythical stories, no one should be surprised by the contradictions and hypocrisy.
"For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat; I was thirsty and you gave me drink; I was a stranger and you invited me in; naked and you clothed me; I was sick and you visited me; I was in prison and you came to me."
Then the righteous will answer him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or naked, and clothe you? And when did we see you sick, or in prison and come to you?'
And the king will answer and say to them, "Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of mine, even to the least of them, you did it to me."
(Matthew 25: 35-40)NAS
As for the rest of the chapter, it uses 'talents' in terms of wealth, given by God for safekeeping. I argued that love was the currency of God, right from the granting of sovereignty to the first creature. In this sense 'talents', whether the metaphor is about love or ingenuity, are wasted by those that seek to hide it away, but are increased in the very act of giving them away. Love is one of those things which, if given away, is increased. I would say the same about respect and compassion. So much for law and the threat of violent punishment. A talent is a terrible thing to waste.
I suppose you could look at this as a manifesto of capitalism, if you don't look very deeply into the metaphor. My statement above, that love for God is manifest in your treatment of your fellow man, stands. This isn't about law. This is about love conquering fear. Fear causes mankind to create his own hell.
P.S. Rome didn't 'fall' so much as changed its footing. Constantine saw the writing on the wall, and played the same game that has been done for thousands of years before. It hijacked the popular spiritual movement and made it a servant of political power by twisting the mythology to support state authority. Thanks to that ingenious move the 'Holy Roman Empire' holds the record for the longest surviving empire in world history (dark ages). We must never forget that the separation of church and state is an idea which is hardly more than two centuries old. And it isn't all that separate in practice, even today. An example would be the hijacking of Christianity in the U.S. to serve cold-war propaganda. And now it serves the 'global war on terror (terra?)' Priests and Kings have always worked 'hand-in-glove' to justify each branch's power. We see it clearly in Wahabism, and Zionism. Power is always playing 'catch-up' with spiritual movements - at least till Bernays came along.
"If I can't put a meter on it, I won't finance it." - J.P. Morgan
I agree with you that technology already exists which would free us from oil, and the violence that results from our dependence on it. I would love to see the patents which have been classified top secret, or which have been bought, stolen, and filed away into a vault, to be forgotten. People like Mr. Morgan hate freedom, because their position and wealth relies upon dependence and indentured servitude. Freeing every person on this planet from dependence is seen by them as bondage. They are no longer free to 'be the king'.
One has the choice to mostly withdraw from the games and live an authentic local alternative lifestyle. Minimizing ones contact with the gaming economy by withdrawing as much as is possible results in a renewed quality of life. There is a learning process involved and it gets better with each step. A rich culture has emerged apart from the corruption and greed. Life gains added meaning with each new day.
As people withdraw from the corrupt culture there are fewer people to feed upon; so, corruption begins to feed upon itself. It is a self defeating lifestyle, a game of lose lose.
I completely disagree.
The race to the top has been the game for 2500 years.
Those willing to cut your throat will be king. And that starts with your local businessman and is latest sales scam.
Love
Zero
Zero, over time one learns who to do business with locally. Looking around you will find alternatives to greedy businessmen. Used or repaired items fill most of my needs today; but, if I must deal with a national corporation I do so carefully and always pay cash. Never borrow money for wants, only needs, and then buy used if possible. I recently purchased an older manual machine for one fifth the cost of new. I put fifty dollars in replacement parts into it, adjusted it, and am now earning money with it at the local farmers and flea markets. The materials that I utilize to make things are all recycled. I offer my products at the low end of the price spectrum for quality items; yet, I make enough money to pay for my original purchase in just one month.
I also pay cash for everything except my mortgage, shop first at the good will store for clothes, I'm just not into gardening so sometimes I get taken.
It's no big deal. Maybe someday things will change. There is no point in getting angry.
"Vex not thyself at the course of things. they heed not thy vexations."
Goodwill is a great store with good used stuff that's affordable; and, it assists people in need. Those are the kind of closed loops I like to participate in. Also, I too do not allow change or hardship to ruin my life. I enjoy each day. I handle chaos by simplifying and being thankful for what I do have.
Hell, they teach that in school, pickout a scapegoat and pick apart any and all differances as wrong. If the poor bastard doesn't sucide their usually just stable enough to be a cop, or a solider.
America is just a big conformist, idol turnament. Unless your born to money, then the sheeple will worship you no matter what you do, or don't accomplish. Just look at the Kennedys..
>^^<
>>One has the choice to mostly withdraw from the games and live an authentic local alternative lifestyle.
A questionable assertion on your part. Truly extricating yourself from this beast is no trivial task.
We have Edward Bernays to thank for pioneering marketing manipulation. The field of psychology has been utilized to maximize profit, such as the "nag factor" kids are encouraged to use against parents. The field of marketing has became predatory with the backing of well-funded institutions. We're being played.
http://theformofmoney.blogharbor.com/blog/_archives/2008/1/29/3494864.html
Thanks for the link to more info. about Bernays.
See The Century of the Self (all 4 parts) by Adam Curtis: http://www.google.com/#q=The+Century+of+the+Self&hl=en&sa=G&prmd=vs&source=univ&tbs=vid:1&tbo=u&ei=d8RuTKnGDYO0lQfIlb2kDQ&oi=video_result_group&ct=title&resnum=1&ved=0CCYQqwQwAA&fp=94a399c4ff5154c4
Yes, a wonderful video. Amazing interview with the old coot, telling us frankly how he taught corporations and politicians how to swindle the masses. I have my students watch Curtis videos--I don't believe everything he says, but it's amazing that Curtis is MSM in the UK, not exactly the most progressive country in the world. What does that tell us about our pathetic video stream?
Thanks for that, Mammon. Edward Bernays, along with Ivy Lee, basically invented the modern 'psychological' marketing game we now take for granted. Ironically, one of Bernays' first accounts was Lucky Strike cigarettes -- he made smoking acceptable for females by hiring young women to walk in a parade in the 1920s openly smoking Luckies, and made sure the newspapers covered it. One of his last clients was ASH (Action on Smoking and Health) where Bernays designed the anti-smoking campaigns that resulted in tobacco-addicts relegated to lighting up in the freezing cold outside office buildings.
Bernays, who had Jewish ancestors and was related to Sigmund Freud, once claimed he was surprised to learn that Hitler's propagandist Joseph Goebbels has used his techniques to sell the Nazi Party to the German people. Today, of course, the late Lee Atwater, Karl Rove, and all of the underhanded political manipulators are well-versed in Bernays' (and Goebbels') techniques for gulling the public and our country is suffering for it.
While watching TV one day in the mid 90's a local reporter asked former Repubican National Committee Chairman Ed Rollings,during an impromptu interview, why the Repubican Party used the same tactics the NAZI'S used at their gatherings.Rollins replied saying 'that if these tactic worked for the NAZI's they will work for us, the Repubican Party, so why wouldn't we, the Repubican Party, use the same tactics the NAZI's used'. This happened in the middle of the week in the middle of the day and the local TV person was dumbfounded, as was I, asking Rollins again if he knew what he said, Rollins then repeated what he said. This whole thing took less than a minute. At the time I didn't have a clue who was Rollins was having just moved back into the country after living abroad the previous 10 years. The only reason I even remember Rollins name being that I associated it with Rollins Truck rental. A Yiddish proverb 'Choose your enemies well because you will become just like them', comes to mind.
bogi666, that's an amazing anecdote. Sometimes the Power Elite do tell the truth, and even repeat it. Wolf Blitzer was appearing on a local radio show in DC before the Iraq invasion and said flatly that Iraq had no WMD. The host was so flabbergasted she asked him to repeat what he had said and he did. But that didn't stop Blitzer from going on CNN the next day and serving his warhawk pals in the Bush White House by continuing to flog the WMD story as if it had merit.
King Junior himself let the cat out of the bag when appearing before an audience of wealthy 'insiders' and exclaming with a smile, "You are my base!" And then there was the famous time when he erupted: "See, in my line of work you got to keep repeating things over and over and over again for the truth to sink in, to kind of catapult the propaganda." Obviously, Bush didn't see any difference between 'the truth' and 'the propaganda.'
RSJ: Do you recall which Arthur Miller play it was that focused on a family dealing with the daily horror of not knowing if their missing son was killed during WW II?
The play's conclusion revealed that the son went down in an airplane due to a malfunction that was the direct result of his father's company. It produced a faulty party that was supplied to the military. The father knew about it, but let the deal go through for personal profit. Following the arc of karmic justice, for this sin of greed, the father lost his first-born son. I see a similar analogy in the way Goebbels made use of the power of the LIE to victimize an ethnic group (the one Bernays belonged to) so mercilessly.
Siouxrose, I've never seen the play live (I had to Google it for details), but I did see the 1948 film "All My Sons" based on Arthur Miller's play. In the play, both the father and son committed suicide: the father, Joe, after finally realizing he had killed 21 sons of other families and alienated his own surviving son, Chris; and Joe's other son, Larry, a USAAF pilot, killed himself in shame after realizing the horrible thing his father had done by knowingly selling defective engine cylinders to the air force. The justification used by Joe for his crime was that he was guaranteeing his family's future financial security.
I don't know that Bernays even tried to justify what he was doing -- it was 'just business.' While Joe in the play at least eventually had some internal conflict over what he had done, I'm not sure the merry marketers like Bernays and his ilk ever experience such pangs of conscience. During my brief stint in the advertising world, whenever PR people or marketers were faced with promoting some awful piece of dreck, I heard various forms of the rationalization, "If I don't do it, someone else will and make the money."
Of course, these people weren't all complete sociopaths of the type churned out by business schools and advertising courses today. Like Bernays, they probably tell themselves it's 'just business' and 'let the buyer beware' while they use every sneaky psychological trick they can to disarm the buyer.
The only slight silver lining is that, with time, reality pokes a gaping hole through even the most carefully constructed shroud of lies, which may save us yet.
You know, if you ponder it for a moment, even the basic theory of the market is based on an immorality. In a truly ethical system the price of an item would be the cost plus some defensible profit margin. That cost does not go up when supply is short, so price would be stable and predictable. This would also eliminate inflation.
Further, given the need nowadays to progress to a steady-state economy, 'marketing' should be seen as a dirty word. It is immoral to persuade someone to buy an item he does not truly need; he should determine his need for himself. That way economic activity can be reduced, which is probably essential for the long run.
The aim should be to meet our needs, not to get rich. We are insufficiently socialized by our educational system and the culture at large.
I'll bet you could write a PhD on the number of wedge issue-related news stories coming out each month, multiplied by their popularity (perhaps number of views or comments if its online). I'm certain that number would peak in the few months before an election. After the election it would fall dramatically. The voters need to be reminded why they vote, after all (they vote for trivia).
Yes, absolutely! If you don't have a decent score it's nearly impossible to get ahead of the game and out of the hole.
Ha! Welcome to Capitalism.
Shill or be shilled...
The best products and services sell themselves. At the other end of the spectrum is American political reality, which is a violent farce, one part soap opera, one part kabuki, one part arena spectacle. But no part is just people and issues and solutions. We gave that up years ago. In a way we have nobody to blame but ourselves.
Example: in 2004, Iowa and New Hampshire primary voters killed Howard Dean's campaign and vaulted the hapless, clueless and spineless John Kerry to the top of the ticket. Sure the mainstream Dem party hated Dean and did everything they could to stop him but the voters didn't have to listen. They could have picked Dean the way that breakaway states went for McCarthy and Kennedy in 1968 vs. party leader Humphrey. But for some odd reason, the primary voters idiotically believed that the "scream" was worse re:"electability", than Kerry's incoherent mush. Seems to me we prefer the comfortable lie to the uncomfortable truth. We really kind of like a parade of buffoons and carny barkers clowning for the camera, while the big boys divide up the take in the back room. We find it somehow soothing. And when it starts to chafe we can always blame the "immigrants, the Muslims, the gangbangers, the blacks, the terrorists" or, of course, "the liberals".
This BS factory wouldn't stay in business long if we stopped falling for the product. But we seem incapable of tearing ourselves away. After all, who is going to win on "American Idol"? We just have to know!
Americans like to be lied to, the world knows it,only the American public doesn't. I've been posed the question in other countries "why do Americans like to be lied to". The American public has been conditioned into mindlessness, the inability and/or not knowing to discern thoughts, including the thoughts of others, from facts or truth's.The USG PROPAGANDA, business ads, and pretend christian churches with false rapture doctrines have institutionalized mindlessness thereby giving it legitimacy with peer pressure to be so. Mindlessness is the purpose of the "no child left behind", to forge a society of mindlessness conformity.Mindlessness can be observed on TV, daily, hourly, by the minute.
jareilly, Howard Dean was knocked out of contention by CNN playing 'the scream' about 750 times in a week, nearly every time Dean's name was mentoned, ignoring their own reporter on the scene who said he was yelling to be heard above the noisy crowd. (In other words, it didn't sound that bad in the room but, on a directional mic with the background noise faded out, it made him sound crazy.) After convincing the nation, including many liberal voters who should have known better, that Dean was out of his freaking mind, CNN later apologized for running that clip of 'the scream' so often. Of course, they apologized after the damage had been done and Dean was safely out of the race. If it's any consolation (and it's not), if it hadn't been 'the scream' it would have been some other bogus smear. There was no way a progressive candidate who supported universal health care, regulating corporate power, and ending our worthless wars was going to get the Dem nomination in 2004 -- he might have easily beaten Junior Bush.
Instead, we got human dishrag John Kerry who promised to 'fight for every vote.' We should have asked for a definition of the word 'fight' -- when he was notified by his Ohio campaign officials that voting irregularities favoring Bush were rampant throughout the state and the election was being stolen, and that the exit polls showed Kerry had won the state, Kerry quickly conceded, apparently because he didn't want the Beltway crowd and the Big Media to think he was a sore loser.
Read more here:
"Harvey Wasserman on New Ohio Voting Report: 'The 2004 Election Was Stolen… Finally We Have Irrefutable Confirmation'"
http://www.democracynow.org/2007/12/17/harvey_wasserman_on_new_ohio_voting
Here's a taste:
"...[T]he servers for the computation of the Ohio vote count were in the same basement in Chattanooga, Tennessee that houses servers for the Republican National Committee. The programmers who did the stuff for Ken Blackwell, the Republican Secretary of State, were Republicans who did websites for the Bush administration. I mean, it’s amazing. ... Basically ... you could have manipulated the 2004 election results with a Blackberry. ..."
"We are guaranteed certain that John Kerry won Ohio in 2004. The election—the exit polls showed him winning. There was a flip of 6.7% in the exit polls from the official vote count. You know, my favorite, in Youngstown and in Franklin County in Columbus, in the inner city, people went in, and they hit touch-screen machines, and they pushed 'Kerry,' and 'Bush' lit up."
(Google Harvey Wasserman, Bob Fitrakis and Mark Crispin Miller for further info on the theft of the 2004 Ohio vote.)
Moral relativism is about the differences in moral or ethical judgements between different people and cultures. The examples in this article are about the persistence of greed.
The article should read, “The curse of greed is that we never stop paying its rediculousy escalating price, which is the erosion of reality.”
Perhaps you could substitute “the curse of dishonesty”, but moral relativism is out of place here.
Bring America Back !!!!
**Ms Jones knows well that the Roman Collisseum has not
changed much, but now the Game is called 'Throwing the
Liberals to the LIons'.
**Sunday night on TV there is supposed to be the modern
installment of this phenom. Several emperor wannabees wearing sneakers , and most without clothes will take part in getting those darn Liberal peons.
**Since Obama has adopted the Neocon wars, economy, healthcare and Big Bailouts he does need to be aware,
as he will learn sunday night, that Neocon Lions do not
make great pets. They bite.
Just as all armies are alike all players are alike. Don't be a player. It's bad for the health of your soul, or conscience, or Self or whatever.
Good article. America is now in the hands of scammers from the WH down. Every boardroom is owned by these faux humans who only care about extracting every last cent form us. This is what is replacing our once vaunted Yankee Industriousness.