How modern philosophy is killing you Friday, April 20, 2012 by: Mike Bundrant (NaturalNews) Sigmund Freud's American nephew, Edward Bernays (1891-1995), was the first person to take his uncle's ideas and use them to manipulate the masses. Beginning in the early 20th century, through a new method he called public relations, Bernays ushered in the age of American consumerism by showing the government and large corporations how to convince people to want things they didn't need. This was accomplished by linking mass-produced goods, services and political ideas to people's unconscious and self-centered desires. Out of Bernays' efforts would come a modern method of controlling the masses. By satisfying inner, selfish desires, one made people "happy" and thus docile. It was the beginning of America's all-consuming obsession with self, an obsession that has come to dominate every aspect of Western culture, including the philosophies we now use to improve our lives. Cultural self-centeredness was CREATED on purpose to serve political and financial interests If you keep the masses preoccupied with themselves, happily consuming the goods and services they have been conditioned to believe they need, those in power may profit handsomely and exercise control according to their desires. There are those who believe that if this is true, it is nonetheless harmless. The problem is that the agenda of the power structure is far from harmless. It has altered the very meaning of life for millions of people and weakened the foundation of the communities and countries in which people live. Again, this was done intentionally. We must shift America from a "needs" to a "desires" culture. People must be trained to desire, to want new things, even before the old have been entirely consumed. Man's desires must overshadow his needs. -Paul Mazer of Lehman Brothers circa 1930's Birth of the American consumer (and death of the American citizen) Prior to this massive cultural intervention, there was no American consumer. There were American citizens. There were American workers. There were no consumers. Consumerism was invented by the power structure. The people fell for it hook, line and sinker. Ironically, the typical American consumer is not a happy person. Bernays and company employed never-before-used tactics to associate consumer products and political propaganda to feelings of self-importance, success, wealth and credibility. The unconscious message was clear: use these products, support this cause and you will be successful, important and happy. In fact, the masses were often called "happiness machines." Keep rewarding the happiness machines with more products and services that stoke their _self-centered_ (http://www.naturalnews.com/self-centered.html) desires and, soon enough, that is all the happiness machines will want. Techniques used to convince persuade the masses to believe propaganda and purchase unnecessary products involved: • Inventing the press release to inform news agencies of corporate developments and new products as if they were newsworthy. • Using models, socialites and celebrities to endorse products, conveying to the masses that they can also be popular, important, sexually powerful and successful if they purchase. • Inventing third party endorsements (often from fabricated entities) to lend credibility to a product or political campaign. Of course, these tactics are common today, standards in mainstream marketing and public relations. They are part of a classic approach to manufacturing desire and demand for products and services, all in the name of personal _happiness_ (http://www.naturalnews.com/happiness.html) . In other words happiness and success in life equals the purchasing products and services. Self-improvement philosophy and new age teaching is stained with self-obsession Not surprisingly, self-obsession has infiltrated (or perhaps even created) the field of self-improvement. Teachers and gurus have invented modern philosophies and distorted ancient ones in order to accommodate the all consuming self. For example: If you have ever dreamed of a better life, Unlimited Power will show you how to use the power of the mind to do, have, achieve, and create anything you want. - Describing Tony Robbins' Unlimited Power As you soon as you lock your intention upon that, bang! You've got a Mercedes. And that's how it works. -James Arthur Ray (actual words from a recorded live workshop) The only limits in our life are those we impose on ourselves. Bob Proctor If you can envision it, you can have it! Law of Attraction quote Beyond being painfully untrue and misleading, the above quotes reflect the cultural self-obsession as set in motion by Bernays and company. Every quote above reflects self-centered desires, childish wishes and a lust for "more" that is perfectly aligned with the tenets of modern culture - happiness machines seeking self-centered satisfaction. We want to be unlimited, unstoppable, success-bound, wealthy and popular. And we want it now! Steeped in pop philosophies, we don't want to hear the truth: • You can't have anything you want and you will not achieve everything you intend. You can have many things and achieve many things, if you are willing to work hard and make sacrifices. • You have limitations, physical, mental, emotional and spiritual. Only you can learn where those limitations are. Only you can accept them. When you do, you will free yourself from the expectation that you should be doing more than you are capable of doing. • Wishing for something does not make it so. Wanting something doesn't bring it into reality. Focusing your intention does not manifest anything other than focused attention. • Suffering is unavoidable and a good thing to learn to do well. How modern philosophy is killing you The philosophy that created self-centered happiness machines and destroyed the identity of the individual as "citizen" or "worker" has also killed off more character-driven principles of an earlier time, as reflected in the following quotes: I hope I shall possess firmness and virtue enough to maintain what I consider the most enviable of all titles, the character of an honest man. -George Washington What the statesman is most anxious to produce is a certain moral character in his fellow citizens, namely a disposition to virtue and the performance of virtuous actions. -Aristotle Action is character. -F. Scott Fitzgerald By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return. -Genesis 3:19 If you can help it, don't allow your deeper character to die a slow death, turning you into a shallow, self-centered happiness machine. The choice to become a person of character, one who does not need to make up fancy ideas to avoid reality, is yours. Character development (growing up) is a lot work, however, but it does turn into actual happiness in somewhere along the way. To read about some of the lies the personal development industry has created in order to delude the happiness machines, _see this article_ (http://www.naturalnews.com/034926_personal_growth_gurus_lies.html) . > ------------------------------- Five lies personal growth gurus love to tell Friday, February 10, 2012 by: Mike Bundrant Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/034926_personal_growth_gurus_lies.html#ixzz2n0biUvx6 (NaturalNews) Personal growth gurus tell some impressive lies in order to sell their products. That's right. Lies. These convenient little falsehoods are effective motivators because they play on primal human needs and emotions. Shouldn't people who promote personal growth for a living be uncommonly straightforward in their marketing? Sadly, this is far from true, even among the popular names in the field. The good news is that once you understand these, you are free to grow and develop in realistic ways. Lie #1: You can have anything you want It sounds so good, especially after you have been swept away by a motivational message that ignites your passion for becoming all you can be. You can do anything you put your mind to! There is only one problem. You can't. You cannot have anything you want in life. When it comes down to it, this lie is so blatant that it is downright silly. In high school I was a gifted tennis player with dreams of playing in college and taking my shot at the pros. I lived, breathed and dreamed tennis. I'm not sure I have ever wanted anything more than to play tennis for a living. Then my shoulders went bad. One rotator cuff injury lead to another and before long my dreams slipped away. My body wasn't up for it, so I never even had a chance to defy the one in a million odds of hitting the pro circuit. That's life. That is life. You don't always get what you want and there are many desirable things that lie eternally outside the sphere of possibility. I want to go to the moon. I want to protect my teenagers from every lurking danger in life (as they go about pursuing those very dangers). I'll never play basketball like Michael Jordan or write like Shakespeare. I don't have those gifts. This is actually good news. If you set out to accomplish something totally realistic like starting a new business or getting a promotion or losing 10 pounds or being a better partner, you will be much more likely to achieve it. And there are more wonderful, realistic things to accomplish than you can possibly get around to in a lifetime. Lie #2: Change is easy I'm not suggesting that change is necessarily difficult. It just needs to be looked at from a different perspective, like this one: All change requires sacrifice. That line doesn't make for good sales copy though, does it? Nevertheless, it is true. Sometimes the sacrifice is relatively easy, which makes it less noticeable. At other times the required sacrifice is overwh elming. If I want to lose weight, I need to give up the donuts. If I want to stop arguing, I need to quit indulging my temper. If I want to improve my financial situation, I will need to spend less (sacrificing whatever I was spending more on) or make more money (sacrificing my time and energy doing whatever that takes). Even when change is merely a matter of learning new skills, it still requires sacrifice. If I want the job promotion that requires additional training, I need to get that training and sacrifice the time, money and effort necessary. Is it worth it? Of course! It may be even be fun. Sacrifices are only labeled as such when they are difficult. What do you need to sacrifice in order to get what you want? The more willingly you sacrifice, the greater the chance of success. This approach doesn't sell as many books (as a study of the history of book sales will reveal) but it puts readers in a position to actually succeed. Lie #3: Mastery comes quickly My expertise lies in the realm of interpersonal communication. I have spent 25 years studying how the mind works and how people relate to each other. In that time I've mastered quite a few concepts and put them into practice. I see things about people and situations that untrained eyes are blind to. It is fair to say that I have developed a degree of mastery. It came slowly but surely over years, two steps forward and one step back. I didn't take a crash course. I took dozens of crash courses, several long-term programs and a decade-long mentorship. I tell people who want to become masters of interpersonal communication that they need to be willing to spend at least a year studying and applying some basic yet little known principles and then practice regularly for the rest of their lives. This is what masters do. Why pretend otherwise? Lie #4: The mind can be programmed to succeed You are not a robot. No one can punch your mental buttons and reformat your brain. There are no magical mental codes that will set you free. You set yourself free by the choices you make, the things you learn and the character you develop over time. What to make of all the _personal growth_ (http://www.naturalnews.com/personal_growth.html) strategies, techniques and protocols? They are wonderful. Everyone needs tools. There is no inherent power in them, however. The tools are merely helpful, albeit sometimes very helpful. Yet they are not as powerful as your determination, persistence, honesty, self-awareness and passion. These are the resources that make all of the difference, driving you to overcome obstacles and succeed. Don't put your faith in somebody's protocol. Put faith in yourself. Lie #5: All you need to do is.... We all crave certainty and are willing to pay dearly for it. The insurance industry exists because of this, as well as many of our cultural institutions. So, when the _gurus_ (http://www.naturalnews.com/gurus.html) show up and, with all the confidence and charisma in the world, assure you that your life will change if you just follow their instructions, it is nearly irresistible. Here it is folks, all you need to succeed in one neat little package with a bow on top! Sorry, it doesn't work that way. And why should you limit yourself to one neat little package when there is so much more to learn? Don't limit yourself to somebody else's methods. Learn them all! Seek answers in every book, mini-course, and seminar. Develop your intuition and spiritual power. Seek answers within and without. Don't settle on anything that will stop you from learning more. If there is an all you really need to do is solution, it is this: Leave no stone unturned until your dying breath. Should we stop buying personal growth products from people who are unrealistic in their marketing claims? Probably not. That might eliminate the entire market. I'd suggest making your decision to purchase or not based on something beyond the phony claims. -- -- Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community <[email protected]> Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/RadicalCentrism Radical Centrism website and blog: http://RadicalCentrism.org --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
