Edward Bernays

 

If you don’t know the name of Edward Bernays, then you should. Edward L. Bernays  was the nephew of Sigmund Freud and is generally considered to be the inventor of public relations; the spin industry. Before you dismiss this rather banal claim, Eddie B. was instrumental in the CIA-orchestrated overthrow of the democratically elected Guatemalan government in 1954 and the establishment of a military junta to satisfy the post-colonial greed of the United Fruit Company.

He is more famous (infamous) for convincing the public that women smoking cigarettes was socially acceptable thus increasing the sale of cigarettes and bloating the profits of the tobacco industry. Not bad for an immigrant from Austria. 

Edward Bernays should be known to you so that you might more fully understand the dire and pernicious influence of Fox News (sic), NewsMax, AAN and the Sinclair Network upon the consciousness of the general public. 

We talk about ‘spin’ as if it’s as natural as rain. ‘Spin’ is another word for ‘deception’. What Mr Bernay taught the world was a more crafty, more deceptive way of spreading untruth. Just as the health of all the women adversely effected by cigarette smoking was not a concern for Mr Bernay, Fox News, Rupert Murdoch and Roger Ailes have no concern for the truth. They spread untruths in a more palatable and profitable way. They  learned that from Edward Bernay. 

Every time you hear another left-field claim about Biden canceling hamburgers or canceling the Fourth of July and turning everyone into vegan-yoga slaves or hear a reiteration of the Big Lie, think about Edward Bernay. 

Or Goebbels. Either one.