[lit-ideas] Re: Edward Bernays and Goebbels

No doubt there were others, but Bernays is I think pretty much credited with 
being the mover and shaker of the industry.  We're the ravenous brainless maws 
that we are today because of Bernays.  Ironically, if you read the review, 
Bernays was the PR force behind Freud's reputation, not to mention the horrific 
conflicts in Central America.   He was quite the dangerous man.  It's strange 
how so few people can have such huge consequences..


--- On Mon, 8/25/08, John McCreery <john.mccreery@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

From: John McCreery <john.mccreery@xxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [lit-ideas] Re: Edward Bernays and Goebbels
To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Monday, August 25, 2008, 2:12 AM



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/

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