Open Thread - 11 April 2016

pl

Comments

[turcopolier]

Babak

the Sunnis still have what they call "Kalam" (speculative theology) but as you say it has been a wounded religious science since the defeat of the Mu'tazila and the subjugation and submission of the Sunni Sufis. pl

[rjj]

open thread ... noted in passing ....

recently have been regretting that I lost my old copy of Eric Hoffer's True Believer years ago. Checked Amazon. The book is still in print and is peaking as a best seller!! Is he being pushed on CorpsMedia or in classrooms, or is this [pseudo?]synchronicity? synchronicity is interesting. 52.4K mentions on google search. they discontinued their search timeline so no way to see when trend started.

[YT]

The occident west is... over-reacting to her stretching legs and arms.

[YT]

I loved his songs...

But now I'm sad.

How the west has fallen (from grace)...

[YT]

Good sir,

I [seriously] doubt most Americans read anything besides the 'sports' section...

[Trey N]

Iceland is no "friend of the US" -- they threw their big banksters in jail, setting a precedent for other countries that absolutely horrifies and terrifies the big bankster bastards that run the US.

The fact that Iceland has had the best performing economy in Europe since they did that only adds to the distress of the BBBs.

As for Pakistan, my best guess would be that the CIA/Pentagram are still all butt-hurt about the Paks allowing the Afghan Taliban to freely come and go across their border over the last decade+. Could be for other reasons, too....

[Trey N]

I remember this saying from my college days: "those students who are too stupid to do anything else go into journalism."

The state of the MSM today only confirms the accuracy of that statement to me.

I don't believe the ICIJ has to be a CIA front; I do believe that said group of journalists can be manipulated by skilled intelligence operatives. After all, such work is part of the job description.

[SmoothieX12]

I would be very cautious taking this Business Insider sewer seriously. It is akin to more pop-version of STRATFOR.

[Trey N]

If you like books about English revolts, check out Juliet Barker's "England, arise" about the Great Revolt of 1381. I'm just several chapters into it, but the social/economic conditions it describes that led up to the revolt are chillingly familiar.

The rebels did manage to kill (by beheading) several of the "1%ers" of their day, among them Simon Sudbury (chancellor of England) and Sir Robert Hales (treasurer of England).

I can think of a mighty long list of such people today whose heads I would like to see similarly decorating the tops of pikes....

[Valissa]

I first heard of it and then bought it in 2008. After that I recommended it many times. Guessing that others have done the same and eventually this has increased the books popularity. I found it particularly helpful in understanding the "netroots" and how many of the leaders of that eventually sold out to the Democratic Party in order to have access and higher paying blogging or other political careers. So much for the so-called "progressive revolution." Lost any lingering romantic notions about political revolutions while reading this book http://www.amazon.com/The-True-Believer-Movements-Perennial/dp/0060505915 Hoffer was the ultimate political realist.

I first read Bernays book around the same time.

Both books were pivotal in my becoming a non-partisan political non-believer (anti-ideology, anti-utopian).

[Bill Herschel]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Mockingbird

[charly]

The journalist group is 25% paid for by USAID so it is obviously not CIA but another alphabet agency. If it was CIA the PP would have included Americans and not so obviously being paid out of the US treasury

[Linda Lau]

Love the cardinals - I have just two in my yard.

[turcopolier]

Linda Lau

In Italy? pl

[no one]

Sir, Maybe Linda is in the Vatican

[LondonBob]

http://russia-insider.com/en/politics/exclusive-french-spec-ops-capt-reveals-how-litvinenko-killed-russian-govt-framed/ri13851

Interesting allegations regarding the Litvinenko case, should be of interest to David Habakkuk?

[cynic]

Sage,
That's true of most people everywhere. It's the function of the actual or putative upper classes to make such changes, as necessary arousing the emotions of the populace to support them and supply the muscle required.

[cynic]

Thank you. She also wrote a reasonable book on Agincourt I think. Peasant revolts seldom achieve anything beyond the deaths of a lot of peasants and a few of their rulers. That's why I find it amusing that some people expect popular outbreaks to achieve much other than a stricter tyranny.

[cynic]

There was an article recently which pointed out that not only was there no criticism of American or Israeli interests, but that creating and maintaining that data base would have required huge IT resources.

[cynic]

A nun rather than a cardinal?

[rjj]

great psychologist, too (Hoffer). Didn't read Bernays. Not sure why anybody with a mom would need to consult Bernays on the art of mindfuck.

Uh oh, perhaps that should be qualified: a mom of a certain generation.

[rjj]

forgot to add .. thanks for the response to my question!!!

[Valissa]

LOL... Bernays discusses the science of manipulating collective beliefs (the "group mind") so his book is really more sociological than psychological in the modern sense IMO, as it involves group, herd or crowd psychology (he wasn't much concerned about the individual). He genuinely believed that the elites should use this science of propaganda to control and improve society by manipulating the beliefs of the masses where they could for the betterment of all.

-------
Bernays also pioneered the public relations industry's use of psychology and other social sciences to design its public persuasion campaigns: "If we understand the mechanism and motives of the group mind, is it not possible to control and regiment the masses according to our will without their knowing about it? The recent practice of propaganda has proved that it is possible, at least up to a certain point and within certain limits." He called this scientific technique of opinion-molding the engineering of consent.

... Bernays defined the profession of "counsel on public relations" as a "practicing social scientist" whose "competence is like that of the industrial engineer, the management engineer, or the investment counselor in their respective fields". To assist clients, PR counselors used "understanding of the behavioral sciences and applying them – sociology, social psychology, anthropology, history, etc." In Propaganda, his most important book, Bernays argued that the scientific manipulation of public opinion was necessary to overcome chaos and conflict in society. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Bernays
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Of course, the desire of leaders to manipulate the beliefs of the masses is timeless and of ancient origin. Bernays gift was in systematizing that practice and promoting his system at which he was very successful. Not surprisingly Bernays was in demand by various leaders of his day.

Interestingly (to me anyway), while everyone I know recognizes how their parents tried to control and manipulate them (for their "own good"), very few of them recognize how much propaganda is thrown at them by various forms of media and how great an influence that has on their own opinions, esp in politics. The subject of propaganda seems to make most people very uncomfortable. One of the reasons I appreciate this blog is that people here are aware of the power and effects of propaganda and are willing to discuss it, whether they have read Bernays or not.

Hoffer was well aware of the power of propaganda as that is a major component of all mass movements. Though lacking a traditional academic background, Hoffer was a very astute observe of his fellow human beings, esp how they behave in groups.

[William R. Cumming]

They are both formidable persons. Persons that may have staying power in governance circles IMO!

[William R. Cumming]

I have posted a short book review of March Ambinder's DEEP STATE [2013] on Amazon.com!