The Century of the Self - Part 1: "Happiness Machines"

Sigmund Freud's theories, developed a century ago, posited the existence of primitive sexual and aggressive forces hidden deep within the human mind. If uncontrolled, these forces could lead to chaos and destruction. This series investigates how those in power utilized Freud's ideas to manage the 'dangerous crowd' in an era of mass democracy. His American nephew, Edward Bernays, a lesser-known but highly influential figure, was the first to adapt Freud's concepts to manipulate the masses. Bernays showed American corporations how to create desires for unneeded goods by linking them to unconscious urges, giving birth to the 'consuming self' that characterizes modern society.

A century ago, Freud's ideas were controversial in Vienna, challenging the absolute control of the Habsburg Court. His method of psychoanalysis revealed dangerous instinctual drives, which he believed were remnants of our animal past and repressed due to their dangerous nature. Edward Bernays, working as a press agent, observed the power of mass persuasion during WWI. He decided to apply propaganda techniques to peacetime, coining the term 'public relations.' Bernays used Freud's theories to understand that human decision-making is driven by irrational emotions. His most dramatic experiment involved persuading women to smoke, a social taboo at the time, by linking cigarettes to 'torches of freedom' and empowering women, demonstrating how products could become powerful emotional symbols.

American corporations, facing fears of overproduction after WWI, sought to transform advertising from focusing on need to creating desire. Wall Street banker Paul Mazur articulated this shift, emphasizing the need for people to 'desire to want new things.' Edward Bernays was central to this change, incorporating psychological theory into corporate strategies to appeal to the masses. He pioneered techniques like product placement, using celebrity endorsements, and associating products with emotional well-being rather than just utility. By 1927, 'consumptionism' was recognized as a defining characteristic of American democracy, with citizens primarily viewed as consumers. Bernays also promoted stock market participation for ordinary people, further accelerating the consumer boom.

Bernays' understanding of the crowd's mind soon made him famous. In 1924, he was hired to improve President Coolidge's public image, essentially applying product promotion techniques to politics. This marked the first involvement of public relations in politics, showcasing how individuals could be manipulated through associations. Meanwhile, Freud, facing financial hardship in Vienna, relied on Bernays to publish his works in America. Bernays aggressively promoted Freud's controversial ideas about sex, making him acceptable to the American public. However, Freud himself grew increasingly pessimistic about humanity, viewing mankind as a 'ferocious animal' inherently discontent and needing control, a stark contrast to the ideal of individual freedom.

Freud's theories on dangerous, submerged forces in society resonated with intellectuals, leading some to question the rationality of mass democracy. Walter Lippmann argued for a new elite to manage the 'bewildered herd' through psychological techniques. Bernays capitalized on this, proposing 'the engineering of consent' – managing the masses by stimulating their inner desires and satisfying them with consumer products. President Hoover, elected in 1928, embraced this idea, seeing consumerism as the engine of economic progress. This new concept of democracy relied on creating a 'consuming self' that was happy and docile, maintaining power structures. However, Bernays' influence and the consumer boom were shattered by the Wall Street crash of 1929, leading to an economic disaster and a loss of faith in public relations.

The Wall Street crash exacerbated economic and political crises in Europe, leading to the rise of totalitarian regimes. Freud, suffering from cancer, found solace in the Alps and wrote 'Civilization and Its Discontents,' arguing that civilization's purpose was to control dangerous human instincts, leading to perpetual discontent. His pessimism reflected the era, as politicians like Hitler emerged, promising to end the chaos of democracy by controlling selfish individualism. Nazi Germany, under Joseph Goebbels, implemented a society that channeled masses' feelings and desires for national unity, explicitly drawing inspiration from Bernays' work on crowd psychology and managing irrational forces. In America, the stock market crash also led to public unrest. Franklin D. Roosevelt, elected in 1932, sought to strengthen democracy through his 'New Deal,' rejecting laissez-faire capitalism and implementing state-planned projects, which even garnered admiration from figures like Goebbels.

Unlike the Nazis, Roosevelt believed in the rationality of human beings and their active participation in government. He aimed to explain his policies to ordinary Americans and consider their opinions. George Gallup's new method of scientific opinion polling, which focused on factual questions rather than emotional manipulation, supported this approach. Gallup and Roper's work demonstrated that public opinion was rational and could inform democracy, giving everyone a voice. Roosevelt's triumphant reelection in 1936, despite opposition from big business, signaled a shift. Corporations, feeling threatened, then launched a massive campaign, advised by Bernays, to re-establish the link between democracy and private business, using Bernays' emotional manipulation techniques on a grand scale.

The battle over public opinion intensified, with both the government and big business producing films and campaigns. The government warned against the unscrupulous manipulation of the press by public relations figures, while corporations, advised by Bernays, sought to create emotional attachments between the public and big business. In 1939, Bernays orchestrated the New York World's Fair, centering it on the theme of democracy linked to American business. The fair's central exhibit, a model of America's future by General Motors, showcased a vision of democracy where business fulfilled people's desires, transforming them into 'passive consumers' rather than active citizens. This approach, Bernays believed, was the key to control in a mass democracy. This ideological struggle was soon overshadowed by World War II, which would profoundly change global perspectives on human nature and control, with the Freud family again playing a significant role in shaping the post-war psychological landscape.