Category Archives: Capitalism

The Political Economy of Scapegoating

 

 

 

ussr-vs-isis1Scapegoating is as old a tactic as political power itself, and a vital tool in the perpetuation of political, economic and social privilege. James Madison, the Father of the US Constitution, expressed a great truism about state power when he described its fundamental role as being to defend ‘the minority of the opulent from the majority.’ What Madison neglected to mention was that the defense of the minority of the opulent against the majority tended to entrench and exacerbate social and economic inequality. This in turn precipitated social chaos as inequality and disorder exacerbated social and class conflict, threatening the stability of the system as a whole.

 

Faced with this situation, the minority of the opulent required some mechanism or other to neutralize social conflict and ensure stability without having to address its root causes in the defense of their economic and social privileges from economic democracy and social justice. They needed to be able to establish and maintain a state of peace without justice, a state long understood to be synonymous with tyranny. Whether the tyranny concerned was that of an individual autocrat, or a class of them, the same problem remained; what the minority of the opulent needed in effect was an ideological safety valve to take the pressure away of actually existing social conflicts and tensions and divert them onto a scapegoat, onto one or another ideological punching bag for the shortcomings of a society devoted to maintaining the minority of the opulent in the lifestyle to which they had become accustomed. Continue reading →

Conscious and Intelligent Manipulation

Edward Bernays

“The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate the unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country. We are governed, our minds are molded, our tastes formed, our ideas suggested, largely by men we have never heard of. This is a logical result of the way in which our democratic society is organized. Vast numbers of human beings must cooperate in this manner if they are to live together as a smoothly functioning society. In almost every act of our 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 that control the public mind . . . If we understand the mechanism and motives of the group mind, it is now possible to control and regiment the masses according to our will without them knowing it.”

– Edward Bernays, ‘The Father of Public Relations,’ in his influential book Propaganda (1928), explaining that the ability of democratic societies to control minds and regiment masses is what gives Islamic terrorists such a terminal case of the old green eyed monster.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Bernays
http://www.prwatch.org/prwissues/1999Q2/bernays.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcYBSXgtmKQ

Predatory Money Power

Abraham Lincoln

‘The money power preys upon the nation in times of peace and conspires against it in times of adversity. It is more despotic than monarchy, more insolent than autocracy, more selfish than bureaucracy.’

– Abraham Lincoln, 16th President of the United States, explaining that the interests of the 20 percent of the world’s population that controls 85 percent of its wealth are identical with the collective interests of the planet as a whole and that anyone who says otherwise is a dirty commie who should fuck off back to Cuba.

Democratic Dogmatisms

Harold Lasswell

‘We must put aside democratic dogmatism about men being the best judges of their own interest since men are often very poor judges of their own interest.’

– Harold Lasswell, one of the most respected US social scientists and communication theorists of the 20th century, explaining that democracy means people in high places determining what our best interests are.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_Lasswell
http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Chomsky/Necessary_Illusions.html