The biggest act of civil disobedience in Canadian history.
Ellen Brown: Banks can be a force for good, nourishing the community and local economy.
(Image: Jared Rodriguez / Truthout; Adapted: Brian Hillegas, Reigh LeBlanc, abrinsky)The manufacturing of consent is endemic within modern societies. Throughout history, the need to "persuade and influence" has always been manipulated by those people in power as a means to maintain authority and legitimacy. In more recent years, the overall manipulation of the mass public mind has become less about making speeches and more about becoming a pervasive presence within the lives of each individual.
Edward Bernays has often been called "the father of public relations," as it was his teachings and research that spurred the postwar years of propaganda. Bernays, a nephew of Sigmund Freud, utilized psychological and psychoanalytical ideas to construct an informational system - propaganda - capable of manipulating public opinion.
Recently, I was speaking to a former prisoner on the effect of prison on his life. He told me that when you are in prison and then out of prison, you have two lives, or two personas. Outside of prison, you have your family and close friends and an investment in the rest of society. Inside prison, you have your fellow inmates in groups or gangs and the prison guards. He said that the more that you can keep contact with the outside world, the better chance you have to keep straight and not identify with and return to the prison world.
As usual in an election year, the labor movement has a lot of fair-weather friends. Late last month, when hard up for cash for its national convention, the Democratic Party turned to unions for funds. Labor refused to bankroll the convention, in part because unions are upset that it will be taking place in North Carolina, a so-called "right to work" state.
But the party's request was just one part of what will be an extended process of solicitation. As much as ever, Democratic politicians rely on labor's financial contributions and, even more important, its person-to-person field operation to put them in office.
