A century ago when America entered World War I, the young nephew of Sigmund Freud, Edwin Bernays was taken on to work with Committee On Public Information (CPI), which was tasked by the US government to build public support for getting involved in the war. The CPI used people from business, media, academia, and the art world to achieve their goal. They developed advertising techniques with new understandings of human psychology, and its efforts represent the first time that a modern government used propaganda on such a large scale. In this way Woodrow Wilson, who ran on a peace platform, was seen as a doing only what was necessary to protect his country in a war that had little effect on the life of an average American at that time. Seeing the power of propaganda at work, and having a penchant for understanding the psychology behind swaying public opinion, Edward Bernays devoted his life to developing the craft of propaganda. It is worth noting that propaganda was not a bad word at that time. Not until it became associated with Nazi Germany did propaganda become seen as a bad thing. This was when American propagandists changed the name of their craft to public relations, an industry that is alive and well today. By combining his uncle’s work of unpacking the desires of the unconscious mind, with the basic understand that humans will be swayed by feelings rather than facts, Bernays became a force in developing advertising techniques used by corporations and government to this day, and earned the title “godfather of public relations.
So how does this relate to the title I have chosen for this article? Fast forward to today, and here we are under the umbrella of a hundred years of “psychological operations” (a term coined by Bernays) being waged on the American public by politicians and policy makers who have developed a team sports mentality that surrounds all discussion of politics in the media. When Democrat or Republican loyalists see their side one-upping the other, they get hits of dopamine in their brains that make them feel good. But the psychological operations (also known as psyop) don’t end there. There will also be insignificant stories pushed into headlines the will trigger people to hate those on the other side of the political spectrum. This not only sets the groundwork for the dopamine to keep working its magic, it also makes the opposing side seem dangerous. In this way, facts become unimportant, and party loyalists will take up any argument that is broadcast within the mainstream media, no matter how far-fetched and devoid of factual evidence, to score one on their political opponent. One current glaring examples of this that I see are the double standards that the liberals and conservatives have around free speech being played out in blockbuster media stories surrounding the NFL national anthem protests and the supposed Russian interference in the 2016 elections.
The National Anthem Protests
What began as an inconsequential gesture by a thoughtful NFL quarterback to protest police brutality has become among the biggest battlegrounds for the political rivals to bash their opposition with people getting majorly triggered on all sides. Conservatives, in herd mentality, argue that anyone who knells for the national anthem is unpatriotic, and it is disrespectful. The argument that the anthem must be respected by standing is inconsistent to say the least. Congress isn’t required to stand for the anthem played before they go into session, spectators aren’t required to stand for the anthem at games, and until 2009, NFL players weren’t required to stand either. The number one point that the republicans and democrats make alike to show pride in their nation is freedom, and requiring people to stand for the anthem has nothing resembling freedom about it. The national anthem does mean a lot more to people who have lost family members in armed conflict. Liberals usually refuses to acknowledge the sensitivity around this, so the triggering effect multiplies. But if the ideal that people fight for in this country is freedom above all else, then a person who believes this story that our troops are fighting for “freedom” should respect each citizen’s right to use this freedom to make a political statement if they so choose. In this situation around Kapernick and the star-spangled banner, those demanding respect to the anthem care little about the free speech. If this were the only blockbuster story in the news, the liberals, who have elevated Colin Kapernick into hero status, would appear to be the party of defending free speech, but if we look at the Russia interference story, we see the roles flip. The liberals suddenly become the fascists as they demand obedience to the American press, and label anyone who believes anything different a Russian propagandist. Ironically, they are demanding obedience to the same establishment that they love Kapernick for protesting.
Russian Interference
Even liberals have been pushing the “unpatriotic” label on this one. Julian Assange, who was once a liberal champion when he was releasing leaks implicating the Bush administration, has had death wished upon him liberal circles, while his unjust imprisonment is cheered. Without committing a crime, Assange has remained imprisoned in the Ecuadorian embassy going on 9 years now. Liberals, in herd mentality, believe that the 2016 election outcome was affected because Russia helped Julian Assange get the compromising leaks from the Hilary Clinton campaign. Similar to the conservatives forced patriotism campaign surround the nation anthem, the liberals demand for censorship in regards to wikileaks is very unstable under the winds of a few logical questions. All that needs to be said for this article is how none of the emails released have been proven false, and if there was any justice in this country, those emails implicate Clinton campaign officials of offenses worth a life sentence. So apparently, the Kapernick-elevating liberals only defend free speech on issues they agree with, and there is nothing free about that. The Robert Mueller investigation has not made any connections to the wikileaks emails in any way, the original case against Russia. The clickbait ads and memes supposedly used by Russia to help Trump are ridiculous, and asserting that clickbait swayed the election is preposterous. But this is what liberals have been defending since the day Trump won the election, and have supported the ensueing censorship on social media. The conservatives, most of whom aren’t smart enough to make this a free speech issue, are just happy to have their man in office. It doesn’t matter that he is doing the opposite of what he promised on the campaign trail, they’re all getting high on the dopamine effect watching every effort the liberals put forward to impeach Trump crash and burn. Trump’s statement on the campaign trail, “I could shoot a gun on 5th avenue and not lose voters,” has only grown more true.
Free Speech Does Not Stop and Start At Your Convenience
Unfortunately this herd mentality from liberals and conservatives alike is giving those in power the opportunity to bring about an end to free speech. This is Bernays' work playing out to perfection. Both sides seem fine with giving away their free speech if it helps their side get a win on their political rivals. It is quite a brilliant strategy, many years in the making. As long as people care more about seeing their side win than actually focusing on the larger trend at work of the elites tightening their control noose around the entire world, the situation will only get worse.