I recently came across this...
'The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions 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. We are governed, our minds are molded, our tastes formed, our ideas suggested, largely by men we have never heard of. This is a logical result of the way in which our democratic society is organized. Vast numbers of human beings must cooperate in this manner if they are to live together as a smoothly functioning society.' - Bernays
But also remember this...
'The smart way to keep people passive and obedient is to strictly limit the spectrum of acceptable opinion but allow very lively debate within that spectrum - even encourage the more critical and dissident views.' - Chomsky
Unless...
Encouraging the division of a population into groups prone to clash makes rational debate and agreement between these extremely unlikely. Not only does the population thus become further divided and weakened as a whole but it is also diverted away from the actions behind the scenes...
Oh well, work tomorrow, time for bed.
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