Reply #108: there's something Clintonian about Bernays

[nashville_brook]

Bernays' vision was of a utopian society in which the dangerous libidinal energies that lurked just below the surface of every individual could be harnessed and channeled by a corporate elite for economic benefit. Through the use of mass production, big business could fulfill constant craving of the inherently irrational and desire driven masses, simultaneously securing the niche of a mass production economy (even in peacetime), as well as sating the dangerous animal urges that threatened to tear society apart if left unquelled.

i was doing the paper during the first clinton campaign and a few years into the administration, and often wrote about "clintonian optimism," which, this passage from Wikipedia seems to sum up quite well -- that utopic vision of a "peace dividend," a "rising tide floating all boats," and the "bridge to the 21st Century." NAFTA was the capping achievement whereby the US would have to only "consume." that our role was to make web pages and buy stuff and all would be well in the world.

i had not heard of Bernays and read the Wiki article with interest. wide-eyed optimism in the belly of the beast is something i'm quite familiar with.