Propaganda
Edward Bernays
Summary
A book from the father of propaganda who invented it in the early 20th century. So many good insights and helps you better understand how we're all being manipulated
Rating: 5/5
Notes
Governments en masse deployed propaganda in 1915 to make their citizens believe the world had to go to war
The Americans felt the German use of propaganda was bad and dangerous but that the message in itself was propaganda
The world inferred by ‘public relations’ will be but a ‘smoothly functioning society’ where all of us are guided imperceptibly throughout our lives by a beginning elite of rational manipulators
The propagandist rules. The propagandized do whatever he would have them do, exactly as he tells them to without knowing it
Bernays in 1953 on behalf of the United Fruit Company spread the myth that Guatemala was at risk of communist subversion and make Eisenhower and the CIA overthrow a democratically elected government and started Guatemala’s history of a quasi-fascist oligarchy
From the 20s till world war 2, the world was not just lied to but betrayed, especially by the British and American governments
We are governed, our minds modeled, our tastes formed, our ideas suggested, largely by men we have never heard of
In almost ever act of our daily lives, we are dominated by a relatively small number of people who understand the mental processes and social patterns of the masses
Propaganda is the executive arm of the invisible government
The power of invisible wire pullers is flagrant - everyone at the top of major organizations and governments is controlled by and gets their ideas from a small set of individuals
There are invisible men who control the destiny of millions
Different men rule us in various departments of our lives
The group mind does not think. In place of thoughts it has impulses, habits and emotions
The first impulse being to follow the example of a trusted leader
Men are largely dictated by motives which they conceal from themselves
Old salesmanship told you to buy something. New salesmanship influences you to want something (piano and piano room)
THe ideas of new propaganda are predicated on social psychology based on enlightened self interest
Inter-industrial competition is new competition b/w unrelated industries which affect each other or between such industries that compete for a dollar (tech vs. social media & attention)
The use of propaganda is essential to political life and being elected as a leader
The public is not cognizant of the real value of education and doesn’t realize education as a social force is not receiving the kind of attention it should in a democracy
You need to bring art to the people to get them interested
New technologies of distraction are all technologies of propaganda
Radio was one of the most important tools of propaganda, same with movies
***
Buy the book here
Free E-book download here
Make Something Wonderful
Steve Jobs
Summary
The life of Steve Jobs in his own words
Rating: 5/5
Notes
Make something wonderful and put it out there
‘You appear, have a chance to blaze in the sky, then you disappear’
When you’re a stranger in a place, you notice thing you don’t otherwise (Jobs after India trip)
Whenever you start with nothing, always shoot for the moon. You have nothing to lose.
You never achieve what you want without falling on your face a few times
Never be afraid to fail. You never achieve what you want without falling flat on your face a few times
We are never taught to listen to our intuitions, to develop and nurture them. But if you do pay attention to these subtle insights, you can make them come true
Creativity equals connecting previously unrelated experiences and insights others don’t see
Believe that some of what you follow with your heart will come back and make your life richer. And it will. And you will gain even firmer trust on your instincts and intuitions
Make your avocation your vocation. Make what you love your work.
The journey is the reward. The reward isn’t in the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, it’s in crossing the rainbow
To find A+ talent, if experienced, look at their track record and results
The world we know is a human creation and we can push it forward
The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do (read whole ad ‘here’s to the crazy ones)
We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then is not an act but a habit - Aristotle
Hire people better than you are
You can’t plan to meet the people who will change your life
It’s impossible to connect the dots looking forward, but they make sense looking backwards so you have to trust the dots will somehow connect in your future
Everything around you that you call life was made up by people no smarter than you
***
Buy the book here
Free E-book download here
