Century of the Self

Just beyond the icy gates of winter, lies the open hearth of Christmas cheer ...

Freud and the Subconscious Mind

In the 1920s, Sigmund Freud discovered the subconscious mind. According to Freud it was the seat of man's drives -- essentially, his animal instincts. If men and women were to live together in collective peace, these drives had to be kept heartily in check. The intellectual elite, such as himself, I suppose, would have to devise ways to suppress these dangerous and anti-social drives. A rival of Freud, who died in a jail at the age of 60, Wilhelm Reich, believed in the subconscious; but, unlike Freud, believed that it was the seat of positive emotions, i.e. the essence of what makes us human (love, peace, forgiveness, generousity, etc.). Reich believed that the good instincts of humankind were supressed because the system, the social infrastructure, if you will, itself was very oppresive. Freud and Reich diverged to such an extent that, though Reich was originally a student of Freud's in university (in Austria) they eventually parted ways because of their differences in philosophy.

Bernays and Propaganda

Enter Edward Bernays. Bernays was a nephew of Sigmund Freud who often visited him at his university in Austria. Bernays was keen to understand the psyche of man because he was involved in the propaganda industry. The term propaganda had such a bad name, even in the 1920s that Bernays, in attempting to give the field some legitimacy, renamed it "public relations." Nowadays most governments, including our own, have public relations offices. This is the legacy of Edward Bernays, who, it is said, is "the father of public relations".

Bernays is one of the unsung heroes, or villains, depending on your perspective, of the last century. Not only did Bernays found the public relations office for governments -- used by both good and bad governments -- but he helped the advertising industry gain the stronghold that it has today over our young generations minds. It was he who borrowed his uncle's knowledge of the human psyche -- its subconscious desires -- and used them to manipulate, not individuals, but large groups of people, i.e. the masses.

His most famous coup was the breaking of the taboo of women smoking cigarettes. In the early 20th century many tobacco companies were happy that World War I brought them at least one thing: men returned home from the frontlines addicted to cigarettes -- as these were doled out freely to them in the frontlines. The problem for the tobacco industry was that only half the population was now hooked; what about the women? It was one of Bernays first assignments to get women smoking just like the men. Bernays knew just what to do, he consulted his uncle. But, when Freud was unavailable, he went to several of the most famous psycho-analysts in New York, where he lived. He asked them: "Why don't women smoke cigarettes?" Bernays was told that women don't smoke because it was a social taboo; attack the taboo, and you can get them smoking.

Bernays went to work. He wielded seemingly incredible power, or perhaps he just had unlimited funding from his tobacco employers, that he hired the most famous 'debutants' in New York, and gathered all the major media outlets for publicity stunt at a special parade that was being held in New York. It was important that the parade be about freedom and Bernays called cigarettes, "torches of freedom". Here, he was tapping into the subconscious desire for women to have freedom. It does not need to be stated that women, especially in the early 20th century were and incredibly suppressed demographic. The propaganda stunt worked, and women have been paying for with their lungs ever since; especially teenage women, and especially in countries like Canada.

Convincing, or persuading people, to buy things they don't need was at the heart of Bernays work. It is the hallmark of the consumer society we live in. The consumerist crescendo reaches its peak, appropriately at the end of the year. There is more to learn about the legacy of Bernays in his manipulation of the masses. Check out google video: “The Century of the Self”, but Adam Curtis of BBC Television.