This is so obverse that we should not need to talk about it, but we do. In the United States, propaganda is intertwined with consumerism. Edward Bernays working in the US can be seen as the father of modern propaganda, he believed that humans were driven by instincts and animal desires. His work was used to harness these instincts through advertisements (propaganda) to create inner desires within people, to feed consumerism, which, his god, corporations could then satisfy with their products. This as become known as the “engineering of consent” which at the time he created to #block the growing social change and challenge, this “sweet, sickly mess” was pushed, and still is, to keep society aligned with the #mainstreaming social control.
This strategy you can find in plain language in his books, it clearly shows the path of advertising and propaganda to push corporate and political goals. The objects advertised and sold were used as symbols of government propaganda, for example, the American Department of State funded exhibits at the Museum of Modern Art to showcase American consumerism as a symbol of progress and superiority over communism. This legacy of propaganda is alive and flowing in all our disasters addiction to #dotcons that shape perceptions and dictate behaviour and algorithmically manipulate and control us. This hardened mess, has played a core role in building up the technology which shaped our collective consciousness over the last 20 years. This sticky “sweet and addictive” digital intervention pulled us off the social disruptive “native” path of anarchy, of the #openweb our society were pellmell tumbling down.
So, how do we get outside this mess? When the power of design in propaganda lies in its ability to convey meaning in symbolic, abstract terms that go beyond words. Whether through #dotcons #UX pushing overt displays of authority or subtle bureaucratic defaults, design influences our thoughts and perceptions, hiding brutal truths behind a veil of ordinary, boring bureaucracy. As we navigate the digital world around us, it helps to remain curious and question the narratives our “common sense” paths serve, if we are to push change, challenge we need to recognize the responsibility that comes with the digital power.
https://hamishcampbell.com/tag/dotcons
