Page 138 - Šolsko polje, XXVIII, 2017, no. 3-4: Education and the American Dream, ed. Mitja Sardoč
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šolsko polje, letnik xxviii, številka 3–4
litical theory and practice. Moreover, it is quite revealing that all techno-
cratic ideas of this type entering the political realm were self-decorated
exploiting the word »democracy«: »The conscious and intelligent ma-
nipulation of organized habits and opinion of the masses is an important
element in democratic society« (Bernays, 1928: p. 9). When activities and
interests, characteristic of the private sphere, were established as a matter
of public concern, traditional delimitations between realms of different
human activities broke down. Once the specific human activities of work
and production ceased to be restrained in the private sphere and started
to determine the general relations between people, it became possible that
the whole human organisation can be dealt with and subdued to a contin-
uous technical perfectioning of its own process’s efficiency. On the other,
the centre of gravity in interpersonal relations profoundly shifted toward
associations where people gathered solely with the purpose to satisfy the
necessities of life. Gigantic collectives of labourers and jobholders became
the type of association that occupied the public realm and transformed it
by unleashing an unprecedented multiplication of productive forces into
a boundless realm of sustaining life. »The sameness prevailing in a socie-
ty resting on labour and consumption and expressed in its conformity is
intimately connected with the somatic experience of labouring together,
where the biological rhythm of labour unites the group of labourers to the
point that each may feel that he is no longer an individual but actually one
with all others« (Arendt, 1996: p. 227).
The rationale Lippmann (1960) is following in the background of
his legitimisation of psychological techniques for mass manipulation5 is in
fact the same as that advocated by Progressive social scientists in the case
of social integration. For them the ever-increasing complexity in diversi-
ty of people automatically demands a greater unity and simplicity of com-
mon ideas6. The issue was not just how to invent a new cohesive force in
conditions where immigrants7 started to compose large proportions of the
population, but how to make them efficient primarily as a workforce and
5 The founding legitimisations of modern propaganda, public relations and other tech-
niques of control in the 1920s were already leaning on psychological and sociological theo-
rems and discussions on how to create a harmonic, integrated and effective society. In fact
they consciously shared the exact same purpose.
6 According to Aristotle (2010), demanding or striving for too much unity in the city-state
would result that it would resemble more a big household than a state of plural and differ-
ent citizens.
7 The third immigration wave called also the “New immigration wave” brought to the Unit-
ed States more than 23 million immigrants from 1880 to 1923. In this period immigrants
from mostly southern and eastern Europe with religious, cultural and ethnical back-
ground different form the Anglo-Saxon protestant majority started to arrive for the first
time in large numbers.
136
litical theory and practice. Moreover, it is quite revealing that all techno-
cratic ideas of this type entering the political realm were self-decorated
exploiting the word »democracy«: »The conscious and intelligent ma-
nipulation of organized habits and opinion of the masses is an important
element in democratic society« (Bernays, 1928: p. 9). When activities and
interests, characteristic of the private sphere, were established as a matter
of public concern, traditional delimitations between realms of different
human activities broke down. Once the specific human activities of work
and production ceased to be restrained in the private sphere and started
to determine the general relations between people, it became possible that
the whole human organisation can be dealt with and subdued to a contin-
uous technical perfectioning of its own process’s efficiency. On the other,
the centre of gravity in interpersonal relations profoundly shifted toward
associations where people gathered solely with the purpose to satisfy the
necessities of life. Gigantic collectives of labourers and jobholders became
the type of association that occupied the public realm and transformed it
by unleashing an unprecedented multiplication of productive forces into
a boundless realm of sustaining life. »The sameness prevailing in a socie-
ty resting on labour and consumption and expressed in its conformity is
intimately connected with the somatic experience of labouring together,
where the biological rhythm of labour unites the group of labourers to the
point that each may feel that he is no longer an individual but actually one
with all others« (Arendt, 1996: p. 227).
The rationale Lippmann (1960) is following in the background of
his legitimisation of psychological techniques for mass manipulation5 is in
fact the same as that advocated by Progressive social scientists in the case
of social integration. For them the ever-increasing complexity in diversi-
ty of people automatically demands a greater unity and simplicity of com-
mon ideas6. The issue was not just how to invent a new cohesive force in
conditions where immigrants7 started to compose large proportions of the
population, but how to make them efficient primarily as a workforce and
5 The founding legitimisations of modern propaganda, public relations and other tech-
niques of control in the 1920s were already leaning on psychological and sociological theo-
rems and discussions on how to create a harmonic, integrated and effective society. In fact
they consciously shared the exact same purpose.
6 According to Aristotle (2010), demanding or striving for too much unity in the city-state
would result that it would resemble more a big household than a state of plural and differ-
ent citizens.
7 The third immigration wave called also the “New immigration wave” brought to the Unit-
ed States more than 23 million immigrants from 1880 to 1923. In this period immigrants
from mostly southern and eastern Europe with religious, cultural and ethnical back-
ground different form the Anglo-Saxon protestant majority started to arrive for the first
time in large numbers.
136
