How Are You Controlled? Century of the Self Part I

The video I share today is part one of an interesting BBC documentary that tells of the process by which we are controlled-The Century of the Self.  I first posted this over three years ago. Since I listened to it again, I thought that reposting this was important. This may be the most important documentary ever filmed. 

The first step in leaving Babylon the Great is learning about how we are being controlled. Only then can you avoid manipulation. I know that asking you to watch a 4 hour documentary is a lot to ask. But it is important. I will post one part each Tuesday until all have been posted. 

Here is part I.

Are You Addicted?

The way the masses were kept quiet in Roman times was the proverbial bread and circuses. While TV is a part of this is our era, there may be a more modern "contender" for that spot in Babylon the Great's arsenal. 

Intellectual Inbreeding

How does one avoid the propaganda? Ultimately you can't.

Let me give you a personal example.

I do not celebrate Christmas for religious reasons. But even though I do not, it so permeates the culture that one cannot avoid it. My daughter does not celebrate it either, but yet, many years ago, she was convinced Santa Claus existed. Where did she get this? Not from me but from the culture around her.

While Babylon cannot be avoided entirely, you can reduce your exposure to it. One way is to seek out opinions with which you disagree. In other words if you are a conservative, watch MSNBC; if you are a liberal watch Fox News. You need to hear things that annoy you. An echo chamber only leads to intellectual inbreeding. You need to understand that the techniques of propaganda are used by both the right and left heads of Babylon the Great. Yes, I am saying that both are ultimately the same, both servants of the same master. Watch nothing without a critical eye and a lifted eyebrow.

If you want a more detailed look at Edward Bernays, be sure to look at this multi-part series by Pam Dewey, the beloved Editor of the Prophecy Podcast blog. 

Selling Anything

While the main focus of this video is selling war, and we are in that mode right now with regard to Russia, the beginning about what we eat was on target for me starting up again my series on eating and diet. 

Why is the traditional American breakfast bacon and eggs? The answer is propaganda. 

Today it is not the bacon companies, it is the cereal companies that want you to eat a "healthy" breakfast. I am not saying that you can skip breakfast, nor am I saying you can't eat cereal. Experiment on yourself and see how you eat on days you skip breakfast, or have a smoothie, or bacon and eggs, or have cereal. What do you eat after each of these experimental breakfasts? Do you pass up or eat the office donuts? Do you go to the drive through at Starbucks for a Carmel Macchiatta? Know thyself. 

The important thing to remember is that each of us is different, and that you are being played by the advertisements you watch. Why would food companies spend billions on ads each year? The obvious answer is that the ads work. 

As we proceed on this topic, I will be offering some suggestions on how to leave the business, religious and military system I, and the Bible, calls Babylon the Great. 

When In Doubt, Quote Socrates

Why do you buy the products you buy? Or even more scary, why do you think the thoughts you think? Socrates' famous proverb that the unexamined life is not worth living is just as true today as it was when he said it millennia ago. 

We are products of our culture in ways we do not even realize. That culture is a construct of each of us, but yet we are also constructs of our culture. The "powers that be" use various techniques to influence society. Maybe I am amused easily, but I find it funny that these same "powers" are just as much a victim of their own propaganda as everyone else. That is the power of culture and of propaganda and its sister advertising. 

As the quote from Socrates shows this has always been a problem. But with modern media the problem for modern society is more acute. 

This YouTube video examines these issues by talking about the father of modern PR, Edward Bernays, the nephew of Sigmund Freud. I will post other parts over the next few days.