Corporate Pseudo-Science, Edward Bernays and the 2017 March for Science
“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. We are governed, our minds are molded, our tastes formed, and our ideas suggested, largely by men we have never heard of…It is they who pull the wires that control the public mind.” — Edward L. Bernays, the Father of Propaganda in America and Sigmund Freud’s nephew, from his seminal book Propaganda (1928).
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Edward Bernays, the Father of American Propaganda
Edward Bernays is considered the Father of American Propaganda. His writings on propaganda inspired Nazi Party leader Joseph Goebbels, Hitler’s Minister of Propaganda and Public Enlightenment to be really good at his job. One of Bernays’ most influential corporate “accomplishments” occurred in the mid- to late-1940s, when he was hired by ALCOA (the Aluminum Company of America) to orchestrate a public relations campaign to convince political leaders and the public that it would be good if ALCOA’s highly toxic by-product (fluoride salts) were added to the nation’s drinking water supplies under the guise of preventing tooth decay in children. (Google “Edward Bernays, the Father of American Propaganda” and “A Chronology of Forced Fluoridation in America” for more.)
Bernays’ propaganda campaign worked like a charm, with many state legislatures (including my state of Minnesota) passing laws that compelled reluctant municipalities to fluoridate their water supplies with the waste product that had up until then been responsible for so much poisoned air, water, soil, food, vegetation, livestock and other living things surrounding ALCOA’s aluminum smelting plants.
The aluminum industry, with the help of the American Dental Association (which is still in denial about the serious neurotoxicity of the mercury in its dental “amalgam” fillings), was enabled to sell its otherwise unmarketable and poisonous by-product – and they made a profit to boot! Win-win-lose.
Bernays’ and ALCOA’s fluoride caper was just another example of how cunning mercenary lobbyists that work for sociopathic corporations can convince non-scientist legislators to do their bidding, especially if the politicians also accept campaign contributions from those often criminal enterprises! (It should be noted, by the way, that, in recent years, most of the highly caustic fluoride powder that is purchased by American municipalities like Duluth comes from the toxic smokestacks of the phosphate fertilizer industry [rather than from the aluminum industry] and that the handlers of the fluoride powder need to wear hazmat suits.) . . .
The Most Revolutionary Act 
Grrrr >:–(
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You can say that again, Kenneth. Here in New Zealand, we are fighting national legislation that would force all local communities to fluoridate their water – even many who have voted to stop fluoridation.
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Reblogged this on necltr and commented:
Snake oil salesman (sos) to the who-knows-what power. The ordinary SOS merely marketed a useless product for monetary gain. This product brought income, saved aluminum producers of some of the problem of disposing of a waste product, reduced populations, and dumbed down those left alive.
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I’m with you there, marblencltr. The history of water fluoridation is a classic example of the corporation of government. Thanks for reblogging.
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Edward Bernays is also partially responsible for hundreds of thousands of women getting lung cancer from smoking tobacco:
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No question about it. Bernays was a classic sociopath. He made life much worse for millions of Americans – and became and extremely rich off of it. No moral scruples at all. Thanks for the link. Good article.
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Nice post.
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Thank you, Dan. Thanks for stopping by.
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You’re welcome!
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