He Who Controls the Narrative Controls the People

Who controls the past, controls the future: who controls the present controls the past. — Geo. Orwell, 1984

Photo by Robinson Recalde on Unsplash

When future historians write about the 20th Century, it would not surprise me to find it had been nicknamed The Century of Spin. Today more than ever we see that the battle for the minds of the people revolves around the manner in which events get interpreted, not necessarily the events themselves.

Social observers have long noted this trafficking in interpretations. Who decides what is good and what is bad? Who decides who the good guys and bad guys are in this battle for control of the narrative?

We live in a mediated world. Before entering World War One, very few Americans knew much about Germany, its history and its aims. But as the drums of war began to sound, there were plenty of messages being piped into our brains through the news media, striving to form a national will to take up arms against Kaiser Bill and those German brutes.

But who were these brutes, really? Stories of German aggression were circulated as if Otto Bismarck and later Kaiser Wilhelm were out to take over the world. In point of fact, history didn’t bear this out at all. It was the British Empire that had had a 300 year hold on the world, famously declaring with pride, “The sun never sets on the British Empire.”

If one were to look at the century previous to that first Great War to see what countries were the most aggressive, one might be surprised at what the facts revealed. Great Britain had been in 10 wars, Russia 7, France 5. Among the least warlike of the European powers had been Austria 3 and Germany only 3. What’s more, under Bismarck and the Kaiser Germany never engaged in a single armed conflict.

When a German U-Boat blew up the Lusitania, it was not a surprise attack on innocent victims. According to Encyclopedia Brittanica the ship was carrying, in addition to passengers, a cargo of 173 tons of rifle ammunition and shells. For this reason “the Germans, who had circulated warnings that the ship would be sunk, felt themselves fully justified in attacking a vessel that was furthering the war aims of their enemy.”

The spin was in, and America had the justification it was looking for to enter the war. Thus was born the Committee on Public Information (CPI), whose aim was to influence U.S. public opinion to support the war effort. Wilson’s Executive Order 2594 set in motion an ever broadening series of events.

This anti-German sentiment had serious consequences. Hatred was aroused toward German-American citizens and “being anti-German became a way of showing patriotism for the American war effort.”(1) Even though there were more immigrants from Germany than from any other country, many libraries pulled books off the shelves that might be considered pro-German. Laws were passed specifically hostile to German-Americans.

The climate became so hateful that by 1918, South Dakota prohibited the use of German over the telephone, and in public assemblies of three or more persons. “By the early 1920s, 34 states had passed English-only requirements in their schools. These laws were argued before the Supreme Court in the case of Meyer v. Nebraska.” (2)

Years ago I remember reading about German Americans having their dachshunds murdered by hostile neighbors. These actions were generated by the propaganda machinery of our government, hand-in-glove with the powerful newspaper media network. This anti-German sentiment came directly from the Wilson White House. (He’d formerly been president of Princeton, an idealist and educated fool, which he’d soon have ample opportunity to prove before the end of his second term.)

In the late 1920s Edward Bernays wrote a book about the essential role that propaganda plays in helping shape the attitudes of the body politic. “The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country.” — Propaganda, c. 1928

Propaganda was considered a good thing, when the good guys were using it. When Bernays’ book was written, the liberal elite liked the idea of controlling the masses without having to resort to guns. Public education was utilized for the same purpose. (At that time social engineering was having a field day with other techniques for re-shaping the masses, including forced sterilizations. Lobbyists for the eugenics movement succeeded in legalizing forced sterilizations in more than 30 states.(3))

Bernays went on to say, “We are governed, our minds molded, our tastes formed, our ideas suggested, largely by men we have never heard of… It is they who pull the wires which control the public mind, who harness old social forces and contrive new ways to bind and guide the world.”

Walter Lippman, in his book Public Opinion, which deals with these same matters, wrote, “We are told about the world before we see it. We imagine most things before we experience them. And those preconceptions, unless education has made us acutely aware, govern deeply the whole process of perception.”

It was the propaganda machinery of Goebbels and the Nazis that gave propaganda a bad name. As Hitler’s Minister of Propaganda who famously asserted, “If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it.”

After the war, a kinder gentler term would be adopted: Public Relations.

Every politician has a PR team actively shaping their messages and feeding their sound bytes to the media directly and through thinly veiled “independently” written letters to the editor.

Edward Bernays used his book as a stepping stone to advance his own career as a publicist. He ultimately achieved the stature he desired, becoming a mouthpiece for Big Tobacco for a spell, as well as for General Electric in what amounted to helping it achieve a “stranglehold on America’s electric power” in “the largest propaganda drive in peacetime history.” (M.C.Miller)

His crowning achievement was the work he did in Latin America during the 1950s on behalf of the United Fruit Company (UFC) whereby he paved the way for the CIA overthrow of the democratically elected government of Jacobo Arbenz. To our shame as a nation, we did not dig into the motivations of UFC or the underlying truths behind what was really going on there in Guatemala, or Costa Rica. The resulting damage to U.S. credibility in the region lingered for decades.

In 1962 French thinker/theologian and social critic Jacques Ellul wrote a book titled, Propaganda: The Formation of Men’s Attitudes. In it he writes, “Propaganda does not aim to elevate man, but to make him serve.”

Ellul’s books addressed the issues of modern life. Our relationship to the State was one of his recurring themes, which is why it became important for him to write a book about propaganda. It is a central feature of contemporary life.

In 1973, Italian novelist/philosopher Umberto Eco wrote, “Not long ago, if you wanted to seize political power in a country you had merely to control the army and the police. Today it is only in the most backward countries that fascist generals, in carrying out a coup d’état, still use tanks. If a country has reached a high degree of industrialization the whole scene changes. The day after the fall of Krushchev, the editors of Pravda, Izvestiia, the heads of the radio and television were replaced; the army wasn’t called out. Today a country belongs to the person who controls communications.”

On this topic much more can be said. The aim here is not to say all, but to open the door a crack that we might see how our current national malaise fits into the broader history that preceded it. All around us we have warring cultural forces at odds with one another. If one day there comes a time to choose sides, it’s better to have worked at becoming informed than to later make excuses for having buried one's heads in the sand.

Related Links

(1) See: Anti-German Sentiment
(2) See: The Anti-German Sentiment of World War I
Jacques Ellul’s Propaganda: The Formation of Men’s Attitudes
(3) Eugenics related:
Bad Ideas: The Eugenics Movement In America
Eugenics, Revisited

Originally published on Medium, 8 April 2020.

Almost Wordless Wednesday: On the Road with Nevada Bob

 

Nevada Bob with the owner of Commander's Palace,
one of the top 20 restaurants in New Orleans.

To purchase Nevada Bob Gordon's Country Music Is My Life

send me and email and I will forward to the fulfillment team.

ennyman3 AT gmail DOT com

To purchase Nevada Bob's 50 Years with the Wrong Woman,

click on the book cover in the right hand sidebar.

Fotos courtesy Gary Firstenberg

https://firstinphoto.smugmug.com/BEST-of-COLLECTION/i-rMwRHG8

Cultural Literacy and Its Importance in Society, Plus John Donne's Meditation #17

Cultural literacy is the ability to understand and participate in a particular culture. It includes knowledge of the arts, literature, history, and customs of that culture. Cultural literacy is important for communication and understanding between people from different cultures.

The term "cultural literacy" was coined by American educator E. D. Hirsch in his 1987 book Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know. Hirsch argued that cultural literacy is essential for civic participation and for understanding the world around us. He identified a list of several thousand terms and concepts that he believed all Americans should know.

The reason this topic is important because as our culture becomes more splintered, our various past experiences overlap less and less. As a result, when someone refers to Job's tears, it has no meaning to those who hear or read it if they are unfamiliar with the book of Job in the Old Testament.

Having an understanding of history, literature, philosophy and the arts enables us to communicate without having to explain what the Alamo was, who Romeo and Juliet were as star-crossed lovers, or how Puerto Rico became part of the U.S. but is not a state.

In 2008 I wrote the following, which references this loss of a cohesive understanding of who we are and the breakdown of our sense of community.

23 July 2008

As the world's knowledge exponentially compounds, we find ourselves increasingly removed from the knowledge that has gone before us. When we encounter a passage from literature today, few there are who recall its source, who can identify its root.

At various points in history many great libraries were burned. Today, such book burning is no longer necessary. Whether history, theology, philosophy, literature, biography, science or travel, the classics are all but forgotten. (People with dyslexia get a pass from my rant here.) 

In a nation where reading is mandatory, it is literally amazing how few there are that read today. Maybe it's our educational system that presents classic lit in a manner that turns young people away from the rich bounty contained in books. Or maybe it's due to the easy seduction of so many other distractions. 

I'd mentioned Hemingway a few weeks back. Here is the source for the title of his Spanish Civil War classic For Whom the Bell Tolls, beginning with another oft quoted phrase worth taking to heart.

No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friend's or of thine own were: any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.

Here is the context for this passage, a worthy meditation.

Meditation #17
By John Donne

From Devotions upon Emergent Occasions (1623), XVII: Nunc Lento Sonitu Dicunt, Morieris (Now, this bell tolling softly for another, says to me, Thou must die.)

Perchance, he for whom this bell tolls may be so ill, as that he knows not it tolls for him; and perchance I may think myself so much better than I am, as that they who are about me, and see my state, may have caused it to toll for me, and I know not that. The church is Catholic, universal, so are all her actions; all that she does belongs to all. When she baptizes a child, that action concerns me; for that child is thereby connected to that body which is my head too, and ingrafted into that body whereof I am a member. And when she buries a man, that action concerns me: all mankind is of one author, and is one volume; when one man dies, one chapter is not torn out of the book, but translated into a better language; and every chapter must be so translated; God employs several translators; some pieces are translated by age, some by sickness, some by war, some by justice; but God's hand is in every translation, and his hand shall bind up all our scattered leaves again for that library where every book shall lie open to one another. As therefore the bell that rings to a sermon calls not upon the preacher only, but upon the congregation to come, so this bell calls us all; but how much more me, who am brought so near the door by this sickness.

Read the complete essay here

Cancel Culture Is Nothing New: Examples Ancient and Past

12 Among the crowds there was widespread whispering about him. Some said, “He is a good man.” Others replied, “No, he deceives the people.” 13 But no one would say anything publicly about him for fear of the leaders. 
--John 7:12-13 (NIV)

While reading from the Gospel of John recently I was struck by the statement highlighted above. They were talking about Jesus, of course. Their response--fear of expressing their thoughts publicly--seemed to encapsulate our moment in history these past three years. People are afraid to speak publicly about many issues out of fear. Jobs have been lost for expressing the wrong point of view on a hot topic. Many are ridiculed simply for having honest doubts.

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When I was growing up my mother used to say, "A man convinced against his will is of the same opinion still." Nowadays people are bullied and bludgeoned for questioning the current pop creed. This is not the way people are "won over" to a new idea that goes contrary to their beliefs or experience.

Then again, this is nothing new. Read the story about the man born blind whom Jesus healed. It's found in the Gospel of John, chapter 9. The religious leaders tried to corner his parents, but the parents knew it so they played it coy and gave evasive replies. 

20 “We know he is our son,” the parents answered, “and we know he was born blind. 21 But how he can see now, or who opened his eyes, we don’t know. Ask him. He is of age; he will speak for himself.” 22 His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders, who already had decided that anyone who acknowledged that Jesus was the Messiah would be put out of the synagogue. 23 That was why his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.” --John 7:12-13

One of the things I like about these stories from the Bible is that the behavior of these characters corresponds with the behavior we see in people today. Insecurity, alertness, political pressure, sorrow, confusion, fear of those in authority... It's nothing new.

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Throughout history there have been numerous instances where freedom of speech has been abridged by both governmental actions and cultural norms. Here are some historic examples:

Sedition Acts (1798): The United States passed the Alien and Sedition Acts in 1798, which included laws aimed at curbing criticism of the government. The Sedition Act criminalized false, scandalous, and malicious statements against the government, leading to the prosecution of individuals critical of President John Adams and his administration.

McCarthyism (1950s): During our Cold War with the Soviet Union, the government's fear of communist infiltration led to witch hunts that cost people their jobs simply by being accused. When you can't express honest doubts or ask honest questions due to fear of repercussions, it's an abridgement of our feedom of speech.

Espionage Act (1917) and Sedition Act (1918): In the context of World War I, the United States passed these acts to suppress dissent and opposition to the war effort. They were used to prosecute individuals who spoke out against the war. Hundreds, and maybe a couple thousand, were imprisoned for expressing anti-war sentiments. At the same time, the government was allocating money to create propaganda in support of the war effort. 

* * * 

To be fair, censorship of free speech has not been limited to the United States. Nevertheless, the degree to which social media and government agencies justified the repression of contrary voices during the Covid lockdowns (and other ethical concerns) has been quite alarming.  

 

Related Link

He Who Controls the Narrative Controls the People

Lessons from Joseph Conrad's Nostromo Are Still Relevant.

"It is to be remarked that a good many people are born curiously unfitted for the fate awaiting them on this earth."
--Joseph Conrad

When I first set out to pursue a writing career I had a strong desire to write fiction, but also wrote articles. I'd decided that writing a novel was too big of an undertaking for a beginning writer who was also working full time, so I focused on writing short stories. 

To learn the storytelling craft I read and listened to short stories in the following manner.  I would use short story anthologies to identify short story writers. I would select a writer and immerse myself in his or her work, much like binging. Hemingway, Jack London, Chekov and many others were studied in this way. Joseph Conrad was among the first.

I remember taking an album out of the Hennepin County Library with several Conrad stories on it. The first that I listened to was called "The Lagoon." The descriptive prose and heartbreaking story moved me profoundly. What especially made an impression on me was that Conrad wrote in English, which was not his native tongue. In fact, English was Conrad's third language.  

Conrad wrote Nostromo in 1904, a story set in the fictional South American republic of Constaguana during a violent revolution. The title character is an Italian longshoreman who has been entrusted to safeguard a priceless silver mine that was owned by Charles Gould.

Primary themes in the novel include the corrupting influence of power and greed while also examining the impact of colonialism and imperialism on Latin America. How interesting that these themes continue to remain relevant 100 years later in a post-colonial era.

 

In the story, Nostromo is initially a respected and trustworthy figure, but he is gradually bent by the power and wealth that he gains from safeguarding the silver mine. Over time he is increasingly ruthless and dishonest, eventually becoming responsible for the deaths of many people. 

Here's a description of the novel from Amazon.com. What I found most illuminating is how much history preceded the Latin American conflicts that we've been more aware of because they happened in our lifetimes (if you're a Baby Boomer).

One of the greatest political novels in any language, Nostromo reenacts the establishment of modern capitalism in a remote South American province locked between the Andes and the Pacific. In the harbor town of Sulaco, a vivid cast of characters is caught up in a civil war to decide whether its fabulously wealthy silver mine, funded by American money but owned by a third-generation English immigrant, can be preserved from the hands of venal politicians. Greed and corruption seep into the lives of everyone, and Nostromo, the principled foreman of the mine, is tested to the limit.

Another main point that Nostromo makes is that colonialism and imperialism can have a devastating impact on the people of the colonized countries. This was a theme in Orwell's early writings in which he attempted to convey the consequences of British imperialism in India. In this novel Conrad shows how the silver mine in Costaguana is exploited by the British and other foreign interests, and how the profits from the mine benefit a small elite while the majority of the people live in poverty and squalor. This exploitation took place thoughout the New World. When we lived in Mexico we visited two cities where silver mines had been stripped bare by the Spanish, for the benefit of Spain.

Here are four takeaways from Nostromo:

1) The importance of individual responsibility and the dangers of blindly following authority.

2) The fragility of social order and the difficulty of creating lasting change.

3) The power of nature and the limitations of human control.

4) The ambiguity of good and evil and the difficulty of making moral choices in a complex world.  

"Having had to encounter single-handed during his period of eclipse many physical dangers, he was well aware of the most dangerous element common to them all: of the crushing, paralyzing sense of human littleness, which is what really defeats a man struggling with natural forces, alone, far from the eyes of his fellows."
--Joseph Conrad, Nostromo

Related
Nostromo Summary
The Mission's Pointed Questions

Uncomfortable Situations: The Wasp in the Changing Room

AI-generated illustration collaboration.

My senior year in high school I was a bus boy at Fiddler's Elbow, a prestigious private country club in Bedminster, NJ. Bedminster has historical significance dating back to the Revolutionary War. It has maintained distinction by being a high end community with private homes owned by some rich and famous (Jackie O, for example). On Burnt Mills Road there was a polo field for the equestrian-minded. By means of zoning, the township kept its rolling hills populated with only the best of the breed. 

Doug Paretti is the one who recruited me to be a bus boy there. His aim, I suspect, was to bump up staffing in preparation for Mother's Day, an always busy weekend at this ritzy, high end facility. I served a little over a year there, from Mother's Day to a month after that the following year. It was, for me, a significant experience on many levels and I learned a lot about the bigger world beyond my neighborhood and my school.

When Doug left that summer I was selected by Annie, the head waitress, to be lead bus boy, perhaps due to my attitude and my work ethic. 

Membership at Fiddler's Elbow gave you the right to host a major event at the club one day a year. Weddings were frequent. As Christmas neared there were parties almost nightly from December through January. 

From Spring to Fall most of these parties would be held outside under a tent which served as a canopy for the swimming pool. The large in-the-ground pool was never used for swimming though. A wide dance floor had been built across the middle of it. Tables ran along the sides. On the far end, away from the Revolutionary War era mansion, there would be microphones, mixers and speakers brought in for the entertainment. 

On one occasion that entertainment consisted of a famous group of Polynesian or Hawaiian dancers. I can't recall the name of the troupe but there was a "Big Mama" headliner and six to ten attractive dancers whose purpose was to mesmerize.

To prepare for their performance we bus boys set up some folding panels to create a private changing area for this contingent of young exotic performers. 

During one of the costume changes Annie, the head waitress, came running over to me and asked me to take care of "a situation." I asked for more details, and was told that there was a wasp in the dancers' changing room.

Well, I was 17 and not prepared for what came next. 

I entered the changing area where all of these women were in mid-costume-change. That is, they were topless. They were in an agitated state because of this pesky wasp flying over them and through them and above them again. 

My eyes were focused on one thing only: the wasp. I watched as it circled, gliding this way and that till it finally descended. To my horror, it landed directly on the tip of the nipple of the young woman standing next to me.

After briefly sizing up the situation--I don't know if the women were staring at the wasp or at me--I lifted my arm, opened my hand and with a perfectly aimed downward motion, I swiped the wasp from her nipple and as fast a a game of hot potato I was flinging the wasp out into the night.

Surrounded by smiles and thank yous, I made a hasty retreat. I still can't believe I didn't get stung!

Character Matters. The Johnny Manziel Fiasco

In college Johnny Manziel was a superstar.

Cleveland baseball and football fans have had a pretty rough go of it during the past sixty years. The city's bad luck in baseball was so legendary that a book was written about it: Terry Pluto's The Curse of Rocky Colavito. Cleveland Browns fans haven't fared much better. In fact, the last bit of really good news for Browns fans was when owner Art Modell moved the team to Baltimore but allowed Cleveland to retain the Browns name and uniforms. 

Bill Bellicek was head coach at that time, with an outstanding record in the works when, mid-season, Modell announced the move. Things quickly unravelled and have never been the same.

One good thing about a losing record in the NFL is that you get top draft picks. The worst teams become first in line for the annual crop of college stars on the auction block.

In 2014 the Browns selected Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel to lead them back to becoming a contender. The kid had talent, they said. The moment he was drafted, however, it became apparent he was missing something. Flaunting his mega-millions contract, it seemed plain that this was not going to be the hero who would carry this team. It's truly a shame because the opportunity was right there in front of him. Instead, he derailed his career with a combination of poor decisions and personal issues. 

Here's a short list of reasons Johnny boy failed in Cleveland and was unable to get a gig with any other NFL team afterwards.

His off-field behavior was a constant issue. He faced legal troubles, including allegations of domestic violence, bar fights, and reckless driving. These incidents tarnished his reputation and led to disciplinary actions from the NFL and his team.

Substance abuse was another issue, primarily alcohol and partying, which negatively impacted his performance and behavior. His partying lifestyle was well-documented in the media, and it raised concerns about his commitment to football.

His lack of preparation was similarly indicative of his lack of commitment to Cleveland success. Leaders lead by example. Tom Brady's preparation for games was legendary. There were reports that Manziel did not put in the necessary effort to prepare for games and improve his skills as a quarterback. This lack of dedication and focus on his career hindered his development as a professional player.

By his inconsistent performance on the field it became apparent to all that he was in over his head at the pro level. Combined with the distractions of his personal life, legal issues and public disputes, it's easy to see why Manziel stumbled. Add to this his unwillingness to assume responsibility for his own behavior and you have the kind of player who becomes odious to fans. He disrespected his team mates as well as the Browns organization that had recruited him. After two years his NFL career was over. 

Such a shame.

Moral of the Story: Pride goes before a fall. 

Character counts. It doesn't matter how smart or talented you are, if you lack character you will very likely undermine your dreams of future success. 

Manziel photo is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0