Engineering, or manufacturing consent is the systematic manipulation of public opinion to align with the interests of those in power.
This process involves the deliberate shaping of perceptions, desires, and beliefs within mass society. Its roots lie in early 20th-century psychological theories and expanded significantly through the advent of modern public relations and communication strategies.
#### Origins in Mass Psychology and Public Relations
The concept gained prominence with the work of Edward Bernays, whose influence on the 20th century was nearly as great as his uncle's. Sigmund Freud's theories postulated that primitive sexual and aggressive forces lay hidden deep within human minds, and if left uncontrolled, these instincts could lead individuals and societies to chaos and destruction. Bernays was the first to adapt Freud's ideas about human beings to manipulate the masses effectively.
Bernays notably returned from the Paris Peace Conference, where he had skilfully promoted the idea of bringing democracy to Europe alongside President Woodrow Wilson, and pondered how similar mass persuasion techniques could be applied in peacetime.
He established himself as a public relations counsel in New York, a term he introduced as a less pejorative alternative to "[[Propaganda]]" following its negative association with mid-century Germans. In the context of America's burgeoning mass industrial society, with millions clustered in cities, Bernays sought methods to manage and alter how these new crowds thought and felt.
Bernays's approach involved fusing mythic resonances with human dreams and the subconscious, thereby subverting rationality.
A key innovation was the publicity stunt, a model for initiating social change through seemingly spontaneous events. The "Torches of Freedom" campaign, which used social anxiety to encourage women's independence through smoking, serves as a prime example of a complete put-up job orchestrated with American Tobacco.
Bernays pioneered the creation of an emotional connection to a product or service, a strategy that profoundly influenced corporations. His profound understanding of how large numbers of people react to products and ideas enabled him to successfully promote the concept of ordinary people buying shares, with millions following his advice.
Central to Bernays's ideology was the notion of "invisible dictators" who subtly control individuals' choices, such as clothing, cigarettes, or beverage preferences, without their conscious awareness.
This redefinition of democracy turned it into a palliative, providing individuals with feel-good solutions without fundamentally altering the underlying power structures. The ultimate aim was to create a society where the "consuming self" became the primary engine of economic progress, fostering a happy and docile populace and ensuring social stability.
#### The Pervasive Nature of Psychological Operations
The psychological operations developed during the World Wars did not cease; instead, they continued and evolved, forming what is known as "The Boomer Truth Regime". This ongoing campaign constitutes a form of false memory, shaping collective understanding of history and societal norms.
Germany, for instance, served as an early test case for mass psychological warfare, which subsequently expanded its reach to America and Britain. A notable illustration was the post-World War II imposition of Jazz in Germany by occupying forces, making Germans consume American Jazz acts, often featuring performers of colour, demonstrating that cultural trends could be orchestrated from the top.
American advertising methods, honed by figures like Bernays, swept through Britain, making American goods and cultural expressions universally desirable.
The system of control that emerged is inherently totalitarian, as it cannot genuinely entertain alternatives to its established order. Any challenge to the dominant narrative is met with immediate demonisation, akin to invoking historical figures such as Winston Churchill to frame opponents as existential threats like Adolf Hitler.
This "enemy-making" mechanism permeates all areas of life, ensuring that no aspect of the prevailing dogma remains unquestioned.
The role of Journalism has also been transformed. Once perceived as the "fourth estate", a distinct and powerful check on power, journalists now frequently act as quiet cheerleaders of the status quo. They often sanitise and reframe stories, neglecting their traditional investigative role in favour of supporting existing power structures.
While ostensibly offering a platform for dissent, social media merely provides a simulation of having a voice" as it rarely translates into actual policy influence.
#### Evolution of Control Mechanisms
During World War II the foundation of propaganda's power, or true mythmaking, was established. Figures like Winston Churchill became a *"centralised myth"*, a Shakespearean figure whose image served as a "mythic expression of the nation" and a technique for managing public morale.
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), under Lord Reith, operated on the principle that its mission was intrinsically linked to serving the government, effectively making it an organ of state influence. Entertainment programmes were explicitly considered "groundbait," designed to lure audiences into consuming more serious, government-sanctioned content.
Historical instances, such as the Anger Campaign to demonise Germany and justify aerial bombings during wartime, illustrate the deliberate shaping of public sentiment when significant public doubt about the war existed.
Similarly, foreign leaders like Haile Selassie demonstrated how to manipulate war reporting by controlling information flow, feeding journalists heroic communiqués to elicit global sympathy.
Following the September 11th Attacks, the American government and other administrations systematically distorted and exaggerated the threat of terrorism.
This generated an irresistible media fantasy that not only served the interests of various actors but was also leveraged by Islamist groups to amplify their perceived power in the public imagination. The very notion of "Al-Qaeda" as a highly organised global threat was questioned by intelligence specialists and academics, and was largely just a myth amplified by American media.
The control mechanisms further evolved to manage society not through repression, but by feeding individuals' infinite desires. This shift fostered an isolated, vulnerable, and increasingly greedy populace, making them more susceptible to manipulation.
This socially constructed desire inevitably collided with state power, leading to the suppression of populist movements and competing narratives.
Modern theories, such as "machinic desire," reconceptualise desire as a positive, constructive, and manipulable force, allowing political elites to channel it for their own ends.
Even non-Conformity was commodified and managed; for instance, advertising actively identified and appealed to the "new non-conformist".
See Hippie Movement
#### Political and Economic Applications
The techniques of manufacturing consent were widely adopted and refined within the political and economic spheres. Margaret Thatcher, for example, harnessed the memory and legacy of Winston Churchill to bolster her own political image and justify her policies.
Her administration was influenced by a fictionalised history which erroneously presented Britain's foundation as built upon Individualism and liberal economics.
Thatcher's government extensively employed psychological market research and focus groups, borrowing techniques from psychotherapy to delve deeply into public sentiment regarding products. Her vision for regenerating Britain centred on satisfying individual desires through the free market, seen as a powerful economic engine.
The transition of the Labour Party under Tony Blair mirrored these trends. His campaign team, led by Peter Mandelson, meticulously copied American market-tested phrases and strategies, almost verbatim in many cases, abandoning core principles to appeal to swing voters.
The guiding principle for this new political era, particularly in the Blair years, became
"perception is as important as the reality".
The implementation of new public management systems, adopted under both John Major and Tony Blair, aimed to reform public services by focusing on targets and incentives rather than public duty.
This system, often associated with the birth of modern Human Resources, relied on the assumption that public servants were motivated primarily by self-interest, monitoring their performance and rewarding or punishing accordingly.
While intended to enhance efficiency, this approach inadvertently fostered a rise of inequalities and a dramatic collapse in Social Mobility. The inherent flaws of this model include its susceptibility to being gamed and its contribution to a bureaucratic system that becomes increasingly interventionist.
The growth of digital technology and social media has further amplified these control mechanisms. Every online interaction creates data points, which are then used by Artificial Intelligence programs to build comprehensive mental pictures of individuals, raising significant concerns about privacy and pervasive surveillance.
#### Consequences and Critiques
The relentless pursuit of individual feelings and desires as the highest societal priority has led to unforeseen consequences. This approach has fostered a suffocating quality, creating a societal belief that there is no alternative to the system.
Public discourse has been dumbed down, with complex issues replaced by simplistic narratives or trivial entertainment, leading to a state of "oh dearism"—a passive exasperation with the news.
Democracy itself is reduced to a managed psychiatric emergency, as the actual agency of the populace is deemed too dangerous to permit. Political discourse becomes static, sterilised, and depoliticised, lacking genuine controversy or contention.
While experts are presented as interpreters of complexity, their analyses often hinder political will by constantly emphasising the complexity of issues. The system's inherent intolerance for alternative viewpoints means that any suggestion of change is met with immediate demonisation and cancellation.
The embrace of a fatalistic philosophy that views human beings as helpless chunks of hardware controlled by software programs written in their genetic codes serves as a convenient excuse for political failures to address societal problems.
Leaders are absolved of responsibility, by attributing outcomes to predetermined biological or systemic forces. Moreover, the unnatural societal pressure for every individual to become a cognitive elite or "bourgeois" contradicts the innate human inclination towards Conformity and routine, which the majority of people instinctively desire.
In modern warfare, a peculiar and contradictory narrative emerges where traditional patriotic fervour is replaced by an analytic bureaucratic language. This language, devoid of blood and guts, and heroism, and uses terms like "collateral damage" to obscure brutal realities.
Simultaneously, political leaders may espouse contradictory ideologies—supporting ethnonationalist movements in Isreal, while promoting anti-White or transgender narratives domestically—creating a dissonant public sphere.
Ultimately, manufacturing consent, whether through historical propaganda or modern data-driven social management, aims to maintain power by controlling perception and shaping reality. It fosters a controlled environment where dissent is simulated, alternatives are demonised, and individual desires are harnessed to serve the interests of the powerful, rather than genuinely liberating the populace.