Last night I watched the first two episodes of Adam Curtis' 'The Century of Self'. It is a fascinating documentary that looks at the influence of Freud's psychoanalysis on the ways of government and society.
Since Freud, humans have been viewed as passive agents who are driven by primitive emotions and feelings. These drivers can be manipulated, for instance, by public relations and marketing strategies or governments. The latter control is deemed necessary by those in power who see the emotions and reactions of the masses as potentially dangerous and also is abused to pursue ideology (e.g. in Nazism and anti-Communism etc.) Edward Bernays (Freud's nephew) had a significant role in the use of PR to promote consumerism and government control.
It struck me watching this documentary that if we consider humans to be passive and primitive and then appeal to this nature, the effect can be to produce a passive and primitive society. It was striking to see how marketing was deliberately designed to appeal to hopes and fears through the influence of Freudian psychoanalysis. I can't help wondering if the consumerist and self-centred society that we live in today, which is so passive to the needs of this world, is the fruit of this marketing.
The question becomes: what is the opiate of the masses today? Surely not religion (which has so little influence). I would venture that the opiate of the masses today (in our individualistic world) is consumerism and celebrity.
PS there was a great quote from MLK on the programme that I could watch a thousand times:
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