What does it mean to be brainwashed? When I was growing up in the days of the Cold War and the specter of nuclear disaster, the term brainwashed was associated with Communism. We all knew that anyone who believed in Communism had been “brainwashed” by Stalin and his minions. Brainwashed people could not think for themselves. To be brainwashed, meant to be a mindless zombie. People who are brainwashed have undying fealty to an impossible dream. Communists want a system where everyone shares equally in the production of society. Communists will fight and die for this dream.
“Communism, my friend, is more than Marxism, just as Catholicism is more than the Roman Curia. There is a mystique as well as a politick. Catholics and Communists have committed great crimes, but at least they have not stood aside, like an established society, and been indifferent. I would rather have blood on my hands than water like Pilate.” – Graham Greene
As Americans, we pride ourselves on being the exact opposite of Communists. In America, we have a democracy. To live in a democracy, means that you are “free” to think for yourself. No one living in a democracy can possibly be brainwashed. In America, “the land of the free and the home of the brave” you will only find people who believe in the truth. The truth is that democracy is the holy grail of political systems. It supports everything that is good about life. In a democracy, all men and women are created equal. In a democracy, everyone can succeed if they only have the right desire. Americans will fight and die for this dream.
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” – The Declaration of Independence
It never occurred to me that Americans could be brainwashed until I started teaching MBA students both at St. Thomas College and Metro State University in Minnesota. Enrollment in MBA programs soared during the nineties as more and more students gravitated to business occupations and away from such occupations as teaching and social work. Many of my students had obtained non-business undergraduate degrees and become tired of the lack of money associated with such career fields. With an MBA degree, you could easily make three or four times per year what you could with a Masters degree in Education.
I really enjoyed teaching in the business field because my students were smart, motivated and challenging. Most of them had been working for several years and brought considerable life experience to their classes. Very few of my students had simply finished an undergraduate program right out of high school and then gone on to get an MBA degree.
Since I had spent many years as a management consultant, I brought industry experience to my classes. I had learned along the way that critical thinking and the ability to question the status quo were essential to continuous improvement and systems change. I tried to incorporate these insights into my curriculum and classroom instruction. I soon found that this task was easier said then done.
An eye opener for me was when I tried to use the documentary film called: “The Corporation (2003)” in some of my business ethics classes. The Corporation is a Canadian documentary film critical of the modern-day corporation. It was directed by Mark Achbar and Jennifer Abbott and written by Joel Bakan. The film has numerous examples of corporate behavior that walk a fine line between criminal and immoral behavior. The film shows that many of the behaviors of modern corporations are immoral although not illegal. However, there are numerous examples in the paper every day wherein executives and corporate leaders have crossed the line.
“Again and again we have the problem that whether you obey the law or not is a matter of whether it’s cost effective. If the chance of getting caught and the penalties are less than it costs to comply, people think of it as just a business decision.” – Robert Monks.
Much to my surprise, many of my students did not see anything wrong with such immoral behavior. Their standards were set on what was expedient and legal rather than what was moral and ethical. Repeatedly, I found that modern business students believe in an amoral system of ethics rather than a moral system. In an amoral system, right and wrong is defined by what works and what does not work. If you are within the law, you may conduct your business with little concern for the residual effects on either society or citizens. The first law of business trumps all other concerns. That law is to make a profit.
No amount of persuasion or argument could sway my students from their steadfast believe in the value of capitalism and its sanctity as an economic system. Students were not persuaded by the iniquities in the system, by the inherent racism in the system, by the inherent sexism in the system or by the unequal distribution of wealth in a system that has become increasingly dysfunctional.
“What we should admit to begin with, if we can, is that good socialism is better than bad capitalism. The logic of the statement is really inescapable. It is only when capitalism fails that people and nations resort to alternative forms of political economy.” – Jude Wanniski
How can anyone as bright and experienced as these MBA students not see the obvious flaws in America’s belief system? An excellent book (The Structure of Scientific Revolutions) by Thomas Kuhn talks about the nature of scientific and paradigmatic change. Kuhn found that even scientists could not see the truth behind a new theory because their old paradigms blinded them to the new reality.
In the same way, it has been gospel for many years now that America is an “exceptional” nation. Americans are smarter, tougher, harder workers, more courageous, more creative and more ambitious then workers from any other country in the world. Since it is believed that America is built on Capitalism and Democracy, these two ideologies have become sacred tenets of American life. To cast doubt or aspersions on the value and efficacy of these systems is to suggest that America and hence Americans are not exceptional. Trying to talk students into seeing the flaws in either of these systems is about as effective as asking them to describe a Martian. If you have no foundation for seeing a new reality, you can only describe familiar objects in your current reality.
Business students today are not critical thinkers nor or they creative thinkers when it comes to politics or economics. Most of them have been brainwashed. When I use this term, I mean it to signify someone who cannot think out of a box of concepts that has become their dominant world view. Just as I suppose a die hard Communist would find compelling reasons to defend communism, die hard Americans can always find compelling reasons to defend America. A brainwashed person cannot see another reality or even begin to envision what might be wrong with their weltanschauung.
“This is what economics now does. It tells the young and susceptible (and also the old and vulnerable) that economic life has no content of power and politics because the firm is safely subordinate to the market and the state and for this reason it is safely at the command of the consumer and citizen. Such an economics is not neutral. It is the influential and invaluable ally of those whose exercise of power depends on an acquiescent public.” John K. Galbraith, (Power and the Useful Economist, 1973)
So, what am I getting at? What is my point? To find it, we need to return to the thesis of this article: Are Americans brainwashed? If we define what it means to be brainwashed as: “One who persists in the belief of something despite apparent evidence and facts to the contrary,” then I would suggest that the evidence points beyond a doubt to the fact that Americans are some of the most brainwashed people on the face of the earth. It has little to do with experience in business, innate intelligence or amount of degrees accumulated.
A red herring in our acceptance of my conclusion is the common belief that brainwashing is forced. Too often, we have the picture of an individual strapped to a chair being made to listen to propaganda or watch propaganda films. The fact of the matter is that brainwashing can be covert and subdued. I suggest another picture for brainwashing that is just as effective as “forced” brainwashing. Picture the average American watching four or five hours or television every day.
Television Statistics. According to the A.C. Nielsen Co., the average American watches more than 4 hours of TV each day (or 28 hours/week, or 2 months of nonstop TV-watching per year). In a 65-year life, that person will have spent 9 years glued to the tube.
During the average day, an American will have seen or heard between 300-700 marketing messages per day, including messages from the Internet and video gaming. – (Source: Phil Barden, “Decoded: The Science Behind Why We Buy”, 2013). Much of the research on the role that advertising plays in consumer purchases suggests that it is mostly informative rather than persuasive. In other words, it appears that consumers use the information to choose between products but are not necessarily persuaded by the advertising to buy any particular product.
As a business instructor and former retail store manager, I am skeptical of the consumer research. My firsthand experience in regard to the power of these marketing messages does not agree with the research findings. Students and customers will repeatedly deny that advertising messages play any overt role in their purchasing decisions. However, any observation of the buying habits of Americans will easily demonstrate a disconnect between what people spend their money on and rational economic sense.
Furthermore, when we look for the messages that “brainwash” many Americans we must look beyond Madison Avenue. We have a cornucopia of messages bombarding Americans every day that serve to instill mythical beliefs in American exceptionalism, American patriotism, American heroism and American capitalism. Let us look briefly at some of the beliefs that I noted earlier.
Americans are the hardest working people in the world:
The U.S. ranks 17 out of 38 countries in terms of average hours worked each year, according to the OECD, while Mexico, where labor laws cap the work week at 48 hours, ranks no. 1. Workers in Costa Rica and South Korea work the second and third longest hours, respectively – Sept 2, 2016
Americans are the most creative and innovative people in the world:
In this area Americans do rank exceptionally high. The Martin Prosperity Institute ranks 82 countries on a scale for creativity based on technology, talent and tolerance for new ideas. Overall, America ranks second behind Sweden. Note however that we are not number one in any category.
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UNITED STATES
Technology Rank: 3
Talent Rank: 8
Tolerance Rank: 8
Global Creativity Index: 0.902
Americans are the toughest people in the world:
This is a very ambiguous category and an allegation that is difficult to attack or defend. How do we define tough? Is our military the most powerful in the world? The answer would be yes. Are our athletes the best in the world? An all-time medal table for all Olympic Games from 1896 to 2016, including Summer Olympic Games, Winter Olympic Games, and a combined total of both shows that America has clearly dominated the Olympic games. The top three countries in medal totals are:
America: Total Medals: 2,804
Russia: Total Medals – 1,204
Great Britain: Total Medals – 875
But if we define tough as a measure of resilience to strife and turmoil, we find that Americans are not in first place. The FM Global Resilience Index ranks and scores countries across nine factors, illuminating their supply chain resilience and resilience in general. Across political risk, exposure to natural hazards, and infrastructure quality, the index quantifies a nation’s ability to withstand a disruption and bounce back, so products can get to where they need to go.
“The latest version of the ranking, which comes from a Rhode Island-based insurance company, has Switzerland in first place, followed by Norway, with Ireland, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, the central United States, Canada, Australia, and Denmark counting out the top 10 places.” – Fast Company
Conclusions:
If Americans belief in the above ideas is false but we continue as a nation to keep repeating them ad nausea, does that mean we are brainwashed? Or are we simply delusional? I submit that the causality behind these beliefs is less important than the arrogance and hubris that they demonstrate to the rest of the world. How can we expect to be respected and admired when we waltz around treating the rest of the world as though they are second class citizens?
“This unchallenged faith in American exceptionalism makes it harder for Americans to understand why others are less enthusiastic about U.S. dominance, often alarmed by U.S. policies, and frequently irritated by what they see as U.S. hypocrisy, whether the subject is possession of nuclear weapons, conformity with international law, or America’s tendency to condemn the conduct of others while ignoring its own failings. Ironically, U.S. foreign policy would probably be more effective if Americans were less convinced of their own unique virtues and less eager to proclaim them.” – Foreign Affairs: The Myth of American Exceptionalism, Stephen M. Walt, 2011
Time for Questions:
Do you think many Americans are brainwashed? Why or why not? Do you think there are many beliefs that we as Americans hold that are false? If so, where do you think they come from? What do we need to do to see the truth? How do we overcome mythologies that are constantly reinforced by special interest groups?
Life is just beginning.
“The conservative version of American exceptionalism has become a password of sorts for candidates who want to prove their credentials to a right-wing America.” – Russ Feingold
There have been many theories proposed for the policies held by Trump and his Republican supporters. They include “Greed Theory.” The Republicans are held to be greedier than most people and only want to accumulate as much money as they can. Another is “Hate Theory.” This theory holds that since most Republicans are White European in ancestry, they loath and detest any people who are different then they are. This includes Asians, Blacks, Indians, Latinos and any immigrants not from Europe.
About a week later, I was substitute teaching in a Casa Grande High School. I drew an eleventh-grade social studies class. The teacher had left an assignment wherein the students had to find certain terms and concepts associated with the second industrial revolution and write definitions for each of them. Included among such terms as: robber barons, corporations, patents and trusts was the term “Social Darwinism.” One of the students asked me to explain it beyond the simple definition she found on line. I tried to recall my ideas relating to this concept from many years ago. I gave her my explanation and then later I looked up the definition at Wikipedia. I was struck at how well my memory had served me. It was at that point that the proverbial light bulb or blinding light of inspiration hit me. I suddenly realized that the Republican Party was not just trying to create elite systems but they were also trying to build on the theories of Herbert Spencer. The following excerpt explains this theory very well as it applies to many current concepts such as: trickle down theory, privatization, corporate welfare and tax reform.
So, there you have it. Trump and the Republican Party are not greedy, hateful or fearful of others, they simply do not believe that you have a right to anything unless you are also rich and successful and White like they are. Based on the concepts of Social Darwinism, they have the right to whatever you have if they can find a way to take it away from you. If you cannot keep it, that means you are inferior. If you are inferior, you have no right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. According to Social Darwinism, the elite will eventually Trump the poor because they are stronger, smarter and more fit. This will eventually result in a society wherein everyone is fit, and everyone is trying to screw everyone else.
Marching forward in time to the period of the Revolutionary war when George the III was ruler of the American Colonies, what did they think of King George? Here is what is written in the Declaration of Independence:
On Tuesday and Wednesday along with my good friend Vic Ward, I attended the 52nd Nobel Conference which was titled: “In Search of Economic Balance.” It featured many illustrious and highly respected economists such as: Dan Ariely, Orley Ashenfelter, Paul Collier, Deirdre McCloskey, John List and several other well-known economists. After every lecture, there was a panel discussion where the speaker and several of the other economists had a chance to discuss and interact. Following these discussions, my friend and I debated, discussed and summarized what we thought were the most important points of each lecture. I attended eight lectures, six panel discussions and numerous discussions each evening with Vic.
On the way back from St. Peter, we stopped Jim’s Apple Farm when we saw a sign that said “Next exit, Minnesota’s largest candy store.” I bought several treats for Karen and the guys at the library in Frederic. Jim’s lived up to its billing. It may just be the largest candy store in the US. It is certainly the largest candy store I have ever been in.
Karen having spent thirty years of her life in Home Health Care is much better grounded and infinitely more knowledgeable than I am in this area. Many of the ideas in the conference sessions were basic for her but for me the opposite was true. I had my eyes opened and many of my concepts about conditions such as Dementia have now been thrown out the window. I cannot begin to describe how much I learned at this conference and how valuable the ideas were for me.
I ponder at a quote by the author Stephen King in which he notes that Donald Trump will never get elected but “he has certainly exposed the ugly underbelly of conservatives in America today.” I think about this comment because (by recent polls) Trump has a large percentage of voters in his camp who qualify for the “Deplorables” label than Clinton so recently used. Ironic that the King of Insult and Slander now says “anyone who makes such comments about Americans is not fit to be president.” The truth is that anyone who fits into this underbelly or “deplorables” category is not fit to be an American. They share nothing in common with the values that our Founding Fathers had for this country.
Today, we now know (thanks to Trump) that we have at least ten million US citizens who think that Donald Trump could deliver on such promises as noted above. This latter fact simply astounds the rest of us (180,000,000) registered voters who would sooner drown ourselves than see Donald Trump as president. The majority of US voters know that Trump is a buffoon and a bigot playing on the heart strings and delusions of a minority of people who have no clue what the USA stands for or what our Founding Fathers envisioned for this country.
I am not worried about Trump. King is right. He will never be elected. I am worried about the disillusioned and hapless people who are supporting him. These people are the real threat to America not Donald Trump. Cast out by an economic system that rewards the most competitive, the Trump supporters are the least competitive and most hard hit by the recent economic recession. Statistics tell us that Trump’s supporters make up a large segment of the population who are unemployed and unemployable. I should say unemployable at a wage sufficient to support a family. Just like in Germany during the recession, it was this same type of people who were most attracted to Hitler. They were the unemployed, uneducated and people who felt life had been unfair to them. When Hitler came to power, they became his willing disciples and minions. The parallels between the hate and xenophobia espoused by both Hitler and Trump would be uncanny, if not for the fact that it is and always will be predictable. The formula to create such hate and bigotry has been the same for four thousand years.
Leaders throughout history have used the above formula to incite their followers to acts of hatred which have taken such forms as the inquisition, pogroms, mass deportations, genocide and the Holocaust. It has always been the same formula and it has always worked. The hapless, ignorant and hopeless are lured by the sirens of revenge and retribution to take action against a targeted minority group who are portrayed as having stolen their hopes and dreams. The solution is to eradicate the despicable group and thereby restore the future that was stolen from the hapless and ignorant.
One would have thought that most of the Neanderthals who succumb more easily to bigotry and hatred would be on the decline. Instead, in the last few years throughout much of the world, it seems as though the fanatics, racists, and bigots are on the incline. Witness the rise of ISIS and its supporters all over the world. What is happening? Was Darwin wrong? Is the world witnessing a devolution instead of an evolution? Donald Trump and his followers seem to be evidence that not all of the population has been evolving according to Darwin’s Laws. A sizable portion of US citizens seem to be going from intelligent thinking rationale Homo sapiens to stupid unthinking racist bigoted Homo rednecks. Where will this end and what will we do with these Neanderthals?
Most of the US is supportive of the idea of destroying foreign Muslim terrorists. But what of domestic right-wing terrorists? What about the home grown nutcases, terrorists, Nazis and extremists in the USA? If we assume that the KKK, racists and sexists in the USA are of the same ilk and just as dangerous to liberty and freedom as Islamic terrorists, then when do we wage war on our domestic terrorists? When will we enlist the Army, National Guard, police and other liberty protectors to jail and wipe out these home grown extremists? Should we allow American Neo-Nazis the right of free speech and the right to vote, when we lost nearly a half a million citizens in a war to save the world from the Nazis and Japanese warlords only seventy years ago?
Why are we tolerating groups wearing swastikas, Nazi armbands and Hitler slogans? Groups parading around against immigrants. Groups who make a mockery of the values that this country was built on. This tolerance is a disgrace to the Founding Fathers. It is a disgrace to the Union soldiers who fought for the freedom and equality of African Americans. It is a disgrace and affront to the soldiers that lost their lives fighting the Fascists. It is a disgrace to the people in this country who are first and second generation Americans. Finally, it is a disgrace to all people who believe in the idea of “liberty and justice for all” which is a part of the Pledge of Allegiance to our country.
The only way it will change is for good people to speak out. Speak out against racism. Speak out against sexism. Speak out against homophobia. Speak out against intolerance. Speak out against injustice and discrimination. You don’t know what to say? It’s simple. WWJD? A meme that I see on a lot of t-shirts provides one reply that all Christians should endorse. If you are not a Christian, simply practice the Golden Rule or some other rule that shows respect and love for others who are not like you. That’s what Jesus, Gandhi, King and many other great leaders would do.
Recently, I was thinking of starting a bumper sticker business. Bumper stickers can do quite well in terms of bringing in revenue. They are cheap and inexpensive and everyone has something they want to show off to the world. If you go to any trade show or convention or some special events like Roller Girls, Star Trek conventions, Comic Cons, you will find lots of different bumper stickers at the various booths. Someone once told me that bumper stickers (selling for 1 or 2 dollars) were a bread and butter item for them. “Big expensive items hardly sold, but everyone had a dollar or two for a bumper sticker.”
Of course, a great bumper sticker business must start with great ideas that have universal appeal. You must cater to the masses. You must have themes that resonate with the common person. You can’t have bumper stickers that say confusing things like E=MC2 or Circumference= Two x Pi x r. You must have ideas that are simple to understand and that everyone can relate to. For example, one classic one that I have seen on many cars is “My Kid Kicked Your Honor Roll Kids Ass.” This of course expresses the clear concept that it is better to be a bully than be intelligent. This seems to be an idea that among Trump supporters, Tea Party advocates and many right wing extremists resonates very well.
One other example of a great bumper sticker has been around for many years. It is quite popular and goes: “God, Guns and Guts Made America Great.” This bumper sticker shows quite clearly that God loves guns and guts and thus favors Americans who have more guns and guts than any other people in the world. Statistics prove this fact as it is well known that there are enough guns in the USA for everyone to have at least three guns each for every man, woman and child in the US. Even as I write, gun manufacturers are working to improve this statistic. Ruger has a goal of selling two million guns this year and will donate a dollar for every gun sold to the NRA to help promote their goal of selling more guns. In no time at all, we will have 4 guns for every person in the country, thus helping our nation become even greater than it is.
But what the heck, you can still be fat and send drones and guided missiles to bomb the hell out of other people. Guts are overrated! If we can maim and slaughter our enemies, we will still win and that is what counts. Winning is a common bumper sticker theme and one that I have tried to utilize in the following concepts. I present these ideas as possibilities for my bumper sticker company. I am open to other ideas. Please feel free to share any great ideas you have for bumper stickers. When my bumper sticker company becomes rich and famous, I will share some of my profits with you so that you can also be “Great” someday. Thus, without further ado, here are my top ideas for “Great” bumper stickers.
I am working on other ideas but I thought this would be a good start. One caveat that must be admitted is that bumper stickers can offend some people; but as they say “You can’t make an omelet without breaking a few eggs.” Furthermore, the people that buy bumper stickers usually have an innate desire to express themselves in ways that they can’t manage as well verbally. A truly challenging bumper sticker lets people say things that they could not express as succinctly or eruditely if left to their own linguistic devices. For instance, the NRA says that “When guns are outlawed only outlaws will have guns.” Can you imagine the average person making such an eloquent defense of guns and assault rifles with such a short but biting comment? With one very unique phrase, millions of people have come to believe that they must buy a gun or be at the mercy of the millions of outlaws just lurking out there to rape and pillage their farms and homesteads, steal their cattle and ride off into the sunset with their women.
A great bumper sticker is an algorithm for self-expression. Those commie pinko intellectuals who can confuse you with their big words and high sounding concepts don’t stand a chance against a good bumper sticker. Bumper stickers let the average or even below average person duke it out on a level playing field with a Harvard college professor. One of my favorite bumper stickers says: “Just cause you’re so smart and went to school don’t mean you know anything.” Wow, is that profound or what! Take that you college Ph.D.’s that think you are so smart. “My son will kick your graduate son’s ass.”
Over the past few months, the vitriol between Hillary supporters and Bernie supporters has increased in both intensity and animosity. I have had numerous arguments with Bernie supporters. I suspect many of them were once my friends and are now no longer so. This is interesting since you would think that we would have more in common than not. It would not surprise me if you were a Republican or Trump supporter and banished me from your Facebook, Twitter or any other list of friends that you maintained. However, it seems sad that so much rancor has been generated by the Hillary/Bernie battle as to result in lost friendships when we have so much in common. I must take some of the responsibility though since I am not and never will be one to shy away from a fight. If a fight is what you want, I will give it to you and no holds barred. I support my candidate and I will explain my reasons but when you get personal or insulting that is the end of the line. It would seem to be a line that is easily crossed and that reasons and emotions are two very different things.
Aging Capriciously 