Dialectic Materialism and it's Facilitator Edward Bernays

In my previous article Finding Meaning in Life (link is embedded in the title) I discussed the futility in seeking life's purpose through work and the earning for money. This article aims to identify where the need of money and material stuff was derived from. It is well established that it is human instinct to survive, however, our biological nature does not specify the means through which we are ought to survive.

This article does not set out to convince the reader that the following information is in fact the charter outlining their life's purpose, however, I expect the reader to relate to the following material in correlation with their day to day routine. The mechanisms which govern our society are indeed facilitative for everyone to achieve economic prosperity but does the motivation for economic prosperity come from within? No.

If not derived from human nature, then where is the goal of economic prosperity derived from? It is derived from man, humanity has been a slave to the thoughts and ideas of certain individuals. Each and every single human being has a unique mindset, that uniqueness is automatically suppressed when a person relies on the ideas of another.

Dialectic Materialism

Dialectic Materialism is a theory developed by Karl Marx and Fredrik Engels and is the theoretical foundation of their most notable work The Communist Manifesto. I have previously discussed Marx's and Engels's work in a separate article, a link to the article is embedded here. Dialectic Materialism is a form of methodology that aims to convey the process in which ideas from man's consciousness intertwines with natural material to produce material goods. Dialectic Materialism is the combination of two concepts: Dialectics and Historical Materialism.

Dialectics

Dialectics refers to the formation cycle of matter, in essence how forces come together to create matter. For example, people will perceive light as it is to be, light, however, a scientist will see heat and energetic waves. The latter observation is the dialectic explanation of the formation of light.

Fredrik Engels in his work called Dialectics of Nature (1883) describes the concept of dialectics as "a cycle in which every finite mode of existence of matter, whether it be sun or nebular vapour, single animal or genus of animals, chemical combination or dissociation, is equally transient, and wherein nothing is eternal but eternally changing, eternally moving matter and the laws according to which it moves and changes."

Historical Materialism

The other component coupled with Dialectics to form Dialectic Materialism is Historical Materialism. Marx in his work called The German Ideology (1845) stated that human history is based on the ability of man to produce necessities such as food and water, inhabitation and clothing among other things. Further going on to say that the first historical act was the production of means to satisfy these needs, the production of material life itself. Ultimately, Marx here intends to convey the nexus between the prosperity of mankind and mankind's ability to produce. This can be supported by Marx stating in The German Ideology that the multitude of productive forces accessible to men determines the nature of society, in other words, the economy is indicative of the nature of society.

Dialectics and Historical Materialism Combined

The combination of Dialectics and Historical Materialism together manifest the Marxist theory. The Dialectic Materialism methodology describes the process in which people associate with one another for the purposes of trade. The significance of this methodology to Marx is evident in his views that survival of mankind hinges on the performance of trade.

This methodology aims to identify the processes in people interacting with each other when trading for material products. Marx in his Communist Manifesto presents economic and political mechanisms based on trades that were conducted in the past. These mechanisms presented by Marx were developed for the purposes of creating a fair and equal economic system that would help mankind evolve.

Rationale Behind Dialectic Materialism

Marx in his work called The German Ideology (1845) stated that he was in the view that consciousness of man and its necessity only arises for the purposes of interacting with another man. Marx further goes on to say that mankind is no less different to a sheep-like herd if consciousness of man is not used for the further development of mankind and extension through increased productivity, the increase of needs and increase of population.

Marx further believed that mankind will remain stagnant in its transformation driven by further development if morality and religion are continually adhered to. According to Marx, morality and religion are not alive as is man's consciousness which has the ability to develop ideas. He further believed that morality and religion along with other forms of metaphysics are dead and historic thus have no role to play in the development of conscious ideas and mankind in general

Edward Bernays & Propaganda

Consider the word propaganda. To those who haven't yet realised, the word propaganda is the combination of the words prop and agenda - Prop-agenda - Propaganda.

Edward Bernays in his work titled Propaganda (1928) put forward the following question: If we understand the mechanism and motives of the group mind, is it not possible to control and regiment the masses according to our will without their knowing it? Propaganda outlines strategies of propaganda designed to input desirable views in the mind's of the masses in relation to systems of social importance such as politics, finance, manufacture, agriculture, charity and education.

Edward Bernays engineered the idea of public relations, the fundamental basis of this idea is to motivate and shape the response of social groups and or particular audiences towards political policies. Bernays's most controversial project was requested by the United States War Department post World War I. The U.S War department hired Bernays services in an attempt to convince the American people of the necessity of fighting in World War II. Why would the American Government need to persuade the American masses that it is necessary to go to war? If fighting in the war would be in the best interest of the American people then why was there the need to convince them such?

Nevertheless, for the purposes of this article I will only delve into the political and business aspect of propaganda in relation to Dialectic Materialism.

Business Propaganda

In Propaganda, Bernays admits that a business will not flourish if it is only confined to the manufacturing and selling of a product, a business must also sell itself and all of the things for which it stands in the public mind. Bernays further goes on to say that a business may not succeed unless it creates its own consumers. A business is bound to fail if it begins to produce a product without the presence of a consumer base that is guaranteed to buy the product.

Before a business makes a final decision on the product it wishes to commit its resources on, the business must identify concurrent public demands. Once identified, the business must develop marketing strategies suggesting a recommendation that would facilitate public demands, the recommendation would be their product.

An effective method of propaganda implemented by businesses today is utilising the popularity of celebrities through means of sponsorship. For example, the apparel industry invests in endorsements carried out on social media platforms. Celebrities being the influential people they are would have a large following on their social media accounts, donning branded apparel would then naturally bring publicity to the brand of the apparel, prestige if you will or considered a trend. The benefiting effect of this method of endorsement is the infatuation of the celebrity by their followers would roll over to the apparel they're wearing.

Further examples include celebrities appearing on tv or poster advertisements, product or brand appearances in movies, celebrities appearing on product packaging, celebrities becoming ambassadors for corporations etc.

Add One Egg To Cake Mix

Betty Crocker, a cooking instruction and recipe developing business, sought the services of Edward Bernays to help improve the sales performance of their Instant Cake Mix Recipe. Edward Bernays was of the view that women were not buying the Instant Cake Mix due to the guilt of not participating or putting effort into the baking of the cake. To alleviate the feeling of guilt, Bernays suggested including the step of adding an Egg into the cake mix to give women a greater sense of participation. Sure enough, the sales of Betty Crocker's Instant Cake Mix soared and the brand is well-known worldwide today.

Business propaganda is warfare between business competitors and the mind of the consumer is their battleground.

Political Propaganda

The political apathy of the average voter, of which we hear so much, is undoubtedly due to the fact that the politician does not know how to meet the condition of the public mind. He cannot dramatise himself and his platform in terms which have real meaning to the public. Acting on the fallacy that a leader must slavishly follow, he deprives his campaign of all dramatic interest. An automaton cannot arouse the public interest. A leader, a fighter, a dictator can. But given, our present political conditions under which every office seeker must cater to the vote of the masses, the only means by which the born leader can lead is the expert use of propaganda. -Edward Bernays, Propaganda (1928)

A leader is elected not for their level of competence but instead elected for their ability to put on a show. Let me be honest here for a second, the content people see on the news or online articles do not in any way, shape or form reflect the undertaking of a government. The news is just one big façade to keep you interested in mindless rubbish that is made out to be 'News Story'.

As Bernays said above, the masses do not have an interest in economics, health, agriculture, foreign policy amongst other facets of government unless there is the presence of drama. The news is the messenger that notifies the masses of the drama linked to the government. Drama does not ignite from a debate about economic reform. Men are not going to look up to skinny pencil necks with low immune systems and women are not going to be obsessing over them either.

It was until the late 1970's when most people in the United States were able to afford a television. It was until then a television was in almost every single household. Ronald Reagan was the first president to effectively use the platform of mass media in an election winning campaign. Before becoming the 40th President of the United States in 1981, Ronald Reagan was an actor. Can a nerdy political genius put on a charismatic performance on TV more convincingly than a professional actor?

My Opinion

Political Propaganda

In one of my previous articles Marxism Disguised as Democracy, I discussed the certain economic and political mechanisms implemented by democracies around the world today that in fact were made popular by Karl Marx. The fact that the fundamental mechanisms of a democratic government are derived from the Communist Manifesto is rarely known. Of course, its rare knowledge, it is never mentioned on the news. 

The concept of democracy is propaganda disguising the presence of a Marxist economic and political system. For example, masses around the world are bombarded with news coverages pertaining to human right and equality movements. Such published coverages indirectly imply to the viewer that the libertarian movement was caused by an infringement or violation of a human right.

Let us consider the Black Lives Matter movement as an example. For months on end libertarians around the world took to the streets to protest against the unfair treatment and brutality towards black people in particular the unfortunate death of George Floyd. Did the police brutality unleashed on George Floyd alone bring the integrity of the American Police Force into disrepute? Would the world have voiced its disgust towards the police brutality if the Floyd incident was not given 24/7 air time on mainstream media news outlets? No and No.

Business and Economic Propaganda

Dialectic Materialism literally reflects your purpose in life. The resemblance between Dialectic Materialism and your daily routine is uncanny. Marx did not predict or foresee the inevitability of the world economy transforming into what it is today, he envisioned it and presented it in his Communist Manifesto.

Business Propaganda re-affirms the legitimacy of Dialectic Materialism by instilling in the minds of masses the need of products. Although Bernays contradicts Marx in the sense that man would not buy a product or interact with another man for trade unless propaganda is implemented. He nevertheless facilitates the Marxist economic system based on Dialectic Materialism. The Marxist economic system fails if people were to stop working and buying things they don't need. But thanks to propaganda, there is a vicious cycle of material products being portrayed as a need thus fuelling the mechanics of our Marxist economic system.

What do you think would happen if people stopped working in exchange for money? Not only will the economy collapse but the masses would be liable to pay back the monies their government borrowed from central banks plus interest. Some of the debt is paid off each year from the total tax revenue collected by the government. What happens if the government can't collect income taxes in order to pay off the nation's debts owed to central banks? Your bank accounts freeze. Evidence of this was seen in Lebanon earlier this year.

Article by Adham Tebbie

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