Propaganda

"Propaganda has become the primary means by which the wealthy communicate with the rest of society. Whether selling a product, a political candidate, a law, or a war, seldom do the powerful delivery messages to the public before consulting their colleagues in the public relations industry."

Here in the United States, we’re often brought up and told we don't have propaganda. That we have a hard-charging investigative crass, we have this educated, skeptical, even cynical citizenry and that if there were powerful interests trying to manage and manipulate public opinion, they would be exposed.

The reality actually is just the opposite. Academics like Alex Cary and others who’ve spent their lifetimes looking at how propaganda works, finds that it’s actually in western democracies and open societies where you need the most sophisticated sorts of propaganda. Since World War I, thanks to people like Ivy Lee and Eddie Bernays… propaganda has become a business, this business of public relations.