cideas

Yet another quote from the text that outlines its general thesis: “Strategically placed, and compelled often to choose even at the best between the equally cogent through conflicting ideals of safety for the institution, and candor to his public, the official finds himself deciding more and more consciously what facts, in what setting, in what guise he shall permit the public to know. – That the manufacture of consent is capable of great refinements no one, I think, denies. The process by which public opinions arise is certainly no less intricate than it has appeared in these pages, and the opportunities for manipulation open to anyone who understands the process are plain enough. The creation of consent is not a new art. It is a very old one which was supposed to have died out with the appearance of democracy. But it has not died out. It has , in fact, improved enormously in technic, because it is based on analysis rather than on rule of thumb. – Within the life of the generation now in control of affairs, persuasion has become a self-conscious art and a regular organ of popular government. – Under the impact of propaganda, not necessarily in the sinister meaning of the word alone, the old constraints of our thinking have become variables” (247-48).

2022-10-21 05:28