You might want to have a look at SPIN: The history of PR by Steward Ewen, a marvelous account of how ideas developed by social scientists were absorbed and applied by the emerging PR industry. John On Mon, Aug 25, 2008 at 10:50 AM, Andy <mimi.erva@xxxxxxxxx> wrote: > I did a quick search for Ed Bernays Goebbels. Here's a quotation from a > short book review of "The Father of Spin: Edward L. Bernays and The Birth > of PR". Below are excerpts: > > http://www.prwatch.org/prwissues/1999Q2/bernays.html > > "The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and > opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society," > Bernays argued. "Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society > constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our > country. . . . 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." > > [...] > > "During Bernays' lifetime and since, propaganda has usually had dirty > connotations, loaded and identified with the evils of Nazi PR genius Joseph > Goebbels, or the oafish efforts of the Soviet Communists. In his memoirs, > Bernays wrote that he was "shocked" to discover that Goebbels kept copies of > Bernays' writings in his own personal library, and that his theories were > therefore helping to "engineer" the rise of the Third Reich." > > -- John McCreery The Word Works, Ltd., Yokohama, JAPAN Tel. +81-45-314-9324 http://www.wordworks.jp/