reply to post by stirling
This is, in my opinion, one of the best documentaries "out there" on these subjects. Some of this subject matter, especially in terms of
organizational behavior in work environments, are things that I outright learned in the School of Business that I attended--even right down to using
suggestion boxes to make employees feel like they are, at least, being heard. The one comment that I have is that we do have more of a "participatory
economy" organizational style and that would be what we would call "flat organizations". Google is the number one example of such an organizational
style. However, I feel the need to point out that even these "flat organizations" tend to have traditional forms of hierarchy within them in the form
of executives and boards that still exert some measure of control over the rest of the entity. Even with a more flat organization, group think can
still become a significant issue and the entity itself is no assurance that, although they may treat each other well, they will treat society well in
turn. Us v. them can still very much develop in a flat organization and the purpose of it is to encourage primary creativity and employee investment.
Essentially, it is the "next step" in organizational behavior in terms of advancement. Ironically enough, employees within a flat organization may
work far more hours willingly than those working in a hierarchy. Entities like Google basically know how to get everything they can from their
employees.
I have spent the last couple years researching just what "it" all is for my own personal reasons and actually uncovered the very same things
independently. I have, up until now, avoided looking at others' works on the subjects, because I wanted to draw my own conclusions without external
opinion influence. That said, everything in this documentary are things that I, too, uncovered. The one question mark that I put on any of this is
simply a matter of terminology. When Gatto brings up the Red Scare of 1848, I find that a little puzzling because the first Red Scare, from my
research, occurred in the 1910's. Despite that technicality, Gatto brings up yet another bit of world history that didn't quite seem to make the cut
in the textbooks--
the Revolutions of 1848. The "Red Scare" in the early part of the 20th Century didn't make the cut either, nor were the
events that precipitated and catalyzed that Red Scare.
In terms of motivations, the wealthy industrialists had a whole lot of motivation to find a way to control the workforce. For instance, Carnegie, the
man we were taught to know as the great philanthropist who put his name on libraries and a variety of other buildings that have a social benefit, was
also responsible for some of the atrocities against the workforce in the late 19th century in the form of the
Homestead Strike. John D. Rockefeller, who also is known to be yet another great
philanthropist, was the man at the top of the
Ludlow Massacre. Carnegie and Rockefeller both
financed private military to squash workers as well as calling upon the State for assistance. God bless America. In fact, the public outcry that
erupted after the Ludlow Massacre, in particular, was also the source of how our modern public relations was born.
Organizational behavior, marketing, sociology, public relations--these really are the neutered terms for what really is, quite simply, social control.
To play devil's advocate for a moment, I would agree with Rickymouse that they are not always as effective as one might think but they are still
effective enough to basically sway a significant portion of the public opinion and behavior. When you have an educational system that is primarily
geared to authoritarian rule and rote, both of which discourage questioning, then it's fairly easy to comprehend how that could basically prime the
pump for that portion of the population. So Ricky is right in a way. It's not 100% effective. In fact, it's estimated that about 80% of ads don't
actually encourage consumers to buy a product because, oftentimes, they already are buying it. Still, those same companies will keep dropping $100k+
per 30 second spot to make sure that the public stays locked in.
I could go on at length about so much of what was brought up in that documentary. Instead, I'll just confirm that it is all quite real. I remember
coming across the radiation experiments that were performed on unborn fetuses myself about a year ago through an university database. It was
absolutely flooring. We have done some deeply disturbing things as a society and the most tragic part is that most of us are completely unaware that
these things even occurred. They aren't even a part of the public dialogue. We're charged with the democratic control of our government and yet, we
are wearing blinders.
I don't blame Ricky for wanting to dismiss this documentary. I don't want to believe it either. The problem for me is that this documentary did
actually find the same things that I did along with coming to some of the same conclusions. Perhaps it is bias because, like Scott Noble, I, too, had
a love one who was crushed by EST and psychic driving but if such a commonality had any effect, then it was to force that painful re-examination of
everything we believed or thought we knew to see those things that sere the soul. It's pernicious and some of those "great learned men" that we have
been taught to hold in high esteem from industry to intellectual elite were actually monsters.
On those rare occasions when a boy or girl who has passed the age at which it is usual to determine social status shows such marked ability as to seem
the intellectual equal of the rulers, a difficult situation will arise, requiring serious consideration. If the youth is content to abandon his
previous associates and to throw in his lot whole-heartedly with the rulers, he may, after suitable tests, be promoted, but if he shows any
regrettable solidarity with his previous associates, the rulers will reluctantly conclude that there is nothing to be done with him except to send
him to the lethal chamber before his ill-disciplined intelligence has had time to spread revolt. This will be a painful duty to the rulers, but I
think they will not shrink from performing it. Bertrand Russell, The Scientific Outlook
About 99.5% of the entire population of the planet are as stupid and philistine...as the great masses of the English. The important thing, it seems to
me, is not to attack the 99.5%...but to try to see that the 0.5% survives, keeps its quality up to the highest possible level, and, if possible,
dominates the rest. The imbecility of the 99.5% is appalling--but after all, what else can you expect? Aldous Huxley, private correspondence
History is written by the victors.
edit on 10/1/14 by WhiteAlice because: (no reason given)