The Century of the Self | <B>Editor's Choice</B> |Axisoflogic.com

This is the story of the relationship between Sigmund Freud and his American nephew, Edward Bernays.

Bernays is often credited with inventing the public relations profession in the 1920s and was the first person to use Freud's ideas to manipulate the masses. He showed American corporations how they could make people want things they didn't need by systematically linking mass-produced goods to their unconscious desires.

The written works of Bernays (most no longer covered by copyright and, therefore, readily available for download as PDFs) explain in brazen fashion how he perceived that Democracy was only as good as the 'elites' who manipulated the masses. In works such as Propaganda and Crystallizing Public Opinion, Bernays lays bare the ease with which the few control the many - often causing them to act against their own interests.

Bernays was one of the main architects of the modern techniques of mass-consumer persuasion, using every trick in the book, from celebrity endorsements and outrageous PR stunts, to eroticizing the automobile.

Perhaps his most notorious success was breaking the taboo on women smoking by persuading them that cigarettes were a symbol of independence and freedom.

But Bernays was convinced that he was on to more than just a way of selling consumer goods. He saw the use of his uncle's insights as a new political ideal of how to control the masses. By satisfying the inner irrational desires that his uncle had identified, people could be made happy and thus docile.

It was the start of the all-consuming self which has come to dominate today's world.

Originally broadcast as a 4-part series, this video combines the episodes into one. The series was created by Adam Curtis for Britain's BBC in 2002.

The running time is nearly 4 hours - but these are 4 hours well spent.

- prh, ed. & Wikipedia