The Century Of The Self, Part 3: There is a Policeman Inside All Our Heads, He Must Be Destroyed

BBC ^ | 2002 | Adam Curtis

[Jack Hydrazine]

Adam Curtis' acclaimed series examines the rise of the all-consuming self against the backdrop of the Freud dynasty. This series is a MUST SEE for all those who want to know the truth about the use of subliminal manipulation of the subconscious to induce the "buying of products" - be they consumer goods, policies, or politicians. ,,,and ultimately the creation of "false flag" operations to induce the "nightmares" [nexuses of evil, terrorism, etc.] needed to maintain the allegience to these "products" that only a common enemy can achieve...

"The enemy of my enemy is my friend."

Creator, Adam Curtis, has graciously made this BBC series available for download in various formats at Internet Archive here: http://www.archive.org/details/AdamCurtis_TheCenturyOfTheSelf

SERIES DETAIL:

To many in both politics and business, the triumph of the self is the ultimate expression of democracy, where power has finally moved to the people. Certainly the people may feel they are in charge, but are they really? The Century of the Self tells the untold and sometimes controversial story of the growth of the mass-consumer society in Britain and the United States. How was the all-consuming self created, by whom, and in whose interests?

The Freud dynasty is at the heart of this compelling social history. Sigmund Freud, founder of psychoanalysis; Edward Bernays, who invented public relations; Anna Freud, Sigmund's devoted daughter; and present-day PR guru and Sigmund's great grandson, Matthew Freud.

Sigmund Freud's work into the bubbling and murky world of the subconscious changed the world. By introducing a technique to probe the unconscious mind, Freud provided useful tools for understanding the secret desires of the masses. Unwittingly, his work served as the precursor to a world full of political spin doctors, marketing moguls, and society's belief that the pursuit of satisfaction and happiness is man's ultimate goal.

EPISODE DETAIL: There is a Policeman Inside All Our Heads: He Must Be Destroyed

In the 1960s, a radical group of psychotherapists challenged the influence of Freudian ideas in America. They were inspired by the ideas of Wilhelm Reich, a pupil of Freud's, who had turned against him and was hated by the Freud family. He believed that the inner self did not need to be repressed and controlled. It should be encouraged to express itself.

Out of this came a political movement that sought to create new beings free of the psychological conformity that had been implanted in people's minds by business and politics.

This episode shows how this rapidly developed in America through self-help movements like Werber Erhard's Erhard Seminar Training - into the irresistible rise of the expressive self: the Me Generation.

But the American corporations soon realised that this new self was not a threat but their greatest opportunity. It was in their interest to encourage people to feel they were unique individuals and then sell them ways to express that individuality. To do this they turned to techniques developed by Freudian psychoanalysts to read the inner desires of the new self.

[Talisker]

In the 1960s, a radical group of psychotherapists challenged the influence of Freudian ideas in America. They were inspired by the ideas of Wilhelm Reich, a pupil of Freud's, who had turned against him and was hated by the Freud family. He believed that the inner self did not need to be repressed and controlled. It should be encouraged to express itself.

That's not true. Reich wanted to release suppressed and blocked mental and emotional energy for it to be integrated into the personality, rather than repressed unconsciously. This is far, far different from what is being claimed here.

An example is a soldier suffering from combat PTSD being able to re-experience the feelings of horror in such a way that he doesn't develop a life around trying to avoid his memories, which usually involves help like drugs, alcohol or abuse of some kind. The trick - and the reason Reich was such a fantastic genius - is that if this is done wrongly, it can greatly further harm and already harmed person. But if techniques are found which enable physical and emotional connections to these energies (rather than being stuck in analysis), they can be safely channeled, like a hot water tap set at the proper temperature, instread of gushing or exploding out.

Of course, this would result in a deeply stable society, able to shrug off liberal lies and collective pressures, and uphold Constitutional freedoms because the freedoms were wanted by adults, rather than avoided by traumatized adult children.

Can't have that, now can we?