Manufacturing Consent

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.
Edward Bernays

I know this topic is well known among the ATS community, but this is a good abridged documentary about Noam Chomsky's and Edward Herman's ideas on propaganda. This is 50 minutes while the original is several hours.

Chomsky and Herman wrote a classic book called Manufacturing Consent in 1988. They pretty much laid out the control the mainstream media has over contemporary thought, political opinion, and government policy. This video is a good introduction to the ideas of mass control.


Wiki article on the book Manufacturing Consent. Sorry I could not find a full text version. I have uploaded it a few times on Scribd and Issuu, but it gets taken down.

Here is an article from 2008 with Herman discussing the ideas he presented in 1988 in the current context.

Here are two books from the 1920s where they pretty much tell about how the people need a "special class" to guide us because we are unable to decide our own future.
Propaganda by Edward Bernays
Public Opinion by Walter Lippmann

Another good book on the subject is "The Overton Window". It shows how TPTB change our perceptions of "normal" and what is acceptable in our society.

Hello. I have Manufacturing Consent but I haven't started reading it. I have seen the video though. What do you think about the allegations of video fakery on September 11? Are you a Chomsky enthusiast? Chomsky is very intelligent. What do you make of his support for Professor Robert Faurisson? Are you familiar with Webster G. Tarpley? Thank you

reply to post by sonofliberty1776


Hello Is the book you are referring to authored by Glenlivet Beck? I had no idea he had such thoughts? May I ask what your overall opinion of him is? Thank you