Post: #1

If you've ever wondered why our culture is so intent on programming us into shallow, hedonistic, short sighted and self destructive beings there's a 4 hour documentary series worth watching, The Century of the Self.

In 1929, in the Middle of the Easter Day Parade in New York, something scandalous happened.
Group of beautiful young debutantes, dressed to the nines and with jewelry glimmering in sun, strolled together in the parade with aloof expressions on their faces. Every step of the parade they were accosted by catcalls, whistles and male attention from the spectators.
These girls bore a strange cargo, which they revealed as the jubilation of the parade reached a crescendo; all of them lit up cigarettes. The photographer's, eager to capture this politically incorrect moment, focused their lenses to record the suffragettes inhaling from their 'Torches of Freedom'.

This moment was master minded by a man named Edward Bernays, a Machiavellian guru of marketing, wisely hired by the American Tobacco Corporation, the cigarette company. Edward Bernays was the cousin of Sigmund Freud, who learned about mass psychology, witnessing first hand the rise of the Nazi party in Germany.

He built a massively successful corporate consulting business on a philosophy that was radical at the time but proved to transform our world
You can sell people what they did not want or need.

The weeks following the parade newspapers around the country reprinted the image of the fashionable débutantes; overflowing with youth and fertility, adored by a mob of men while partaking of something culturally forbidden to their sex. It was a new era.

A lot of Rooshv or ROK articles rail against corrupt western culture, feminism, destruction of the family unit that has produced masculine women, new age wimpy men, countless organization handicapped by political correctness, unethical hedonsts, a generation of technology addicted zombies and killed the nice guy.

You may occasionally wonder why... What's the evolutionary benefit to extreme narcissism and entitlement? Why do we individually and culturally fail so chronically to empathize with our future selves? Why do we continually elect leaders that betray us? Why do we chose to love those who will hurt us? Who do women treat their bodies like sexual roller coasters and revolving doors?
It really comes back to the philosophy that made Edward Bernays a fabulously wealthy man:
You can sell people what they did not want or need.

Here's the four episodes, you can also find them on Youtube but it seems to me that Vimeo is of higher quality
Happiness Machines




The Engineering of Consent




There is a Policeman Inside All of Our Heads, He Must Be Destroyed




Eight People Sipping Wine In Kettering




Below, let me know anything interesting you learned from these documentaries that you think you can implement in your own life or in the organizations to which you contribute.

Post: #2

I shared these documentaries because, like a lot of people who read Rooshv or ROK, the more I read the more I felt a growing disappointment with the fairer sex. It's important to remember that women's behavior is not in their nature, it's actually largely the fault of men (Thanks Edward!) who sold them what they did not want or need...

Post: #3

I watched the entire series a few months ago, definitely worth the watch. It was really interesting to see the way that concepts that initially may seem very disparate are actually quite intertwined and have influenced our culture greatly.

It was also cool to see how the interpretation of the concept of 'self' changed over the decades and was largely influenced by marketing and convincing the population that consumer goods could be used to express their individuality as a way to entice people to buy.

For anyone interested in psychoanalysis, Freud, psychology, propaganda, marketing, persuasion this is recommended.

Post: #4

I saw this series for the first time in 2011. I've watched them all at least 3 times.

Post: #5

Thank you for this ! It is always something I have wondered, who does this cultural decline really benefit.

Post: #6

(06-19-2014 10:37 PM)jroseland Wrote:  I shared these documentaries because, like a lot of people who read Rooshv or ROK, the more I read the more I felt a growing disappointment with the fairer sex. It's important to remember that women's behavior is not in their nature, it's actually largely the fault of men (Thanks Edward!) who sold them what they did not want or need...

While I haven't viewed the documentary yet (although I plan on doing so, thanks for the share), I disagree with this.

Most people, men AND women, can be sold on things they don't truly want or need, that's certainly true. However, women's biological nature makes them more susceptible to groupthink and herd behavior, and thus more easily swayed by propaganda.

I don't blame them for this, any more than I blame men for becoming aroused at the sight of a tight ass or pert tits. It's simply the way humans work.

Post: #7

Personally, I do blame certain women for not thinking.
Even being shown the truth, they will run to what is comfortable or popular.

We can and absolutely must be able to judge people based on their capability to reason.

Post: #8

(06-20-2014 05:27 AM)Constitution45 Wrote:  Thank you for this ! It is always something I have wondered, who does this cultural decline really benefit.

All the more reason to study business, titans of industry and build an empire...

Post: #9

(06-20-2014 08:20 AM)Isaac Jordan Wrote:  However, women's biological nature makes them more susceptible to groupthink and herd behavior, and thus more easily swayed by propaganda.

Data? Study?

Post: #10

(06-20-2014 10:58 AM)Slick Shimmer Wrote:  Personally, I do blame certain women for not thinking.
Even being shown the truth, they will run to what is comfortable or popular.

We can and absolutely must be able to judge people based on their capability to reason.

Individually. Yes, I totally agree.

Post: #11

This documentary changed my life when I watched it about 10 years ago, it was brilliant. As are almost all of Adam Curtis' documentaries

Post: #12

The main lesson of this documentary is: if you find yourself wanting to purchase something you ought to think hard about why you want it. Does it serve a real purpose in your life, or have you fallen prey to the consumerism machine?

Post: #13

Are these available anywhere else, youtube is blocked in China.

Post: #14

Iso and Pira FTW

Post: #15

When you see something great like this consider using catchvideo.net to get your personal copy before it gets deleted.

Post: #16

It is a brilliant series. One of the best documentaries I've seen, interestingly, shown originally on the BBC, which is no stranger to propaganda (although that said, BBC3 and BBC4 seem less affected by this than BBC1 and BBC2).
For anyone on Facebook, this is one I would recommend you to share this series with your friends, especially if many of them have SJW tendencies (which is, let's be honest, the majority these days amongst active FB users!).
I would add also, Harald Eia's superb 'Hjernevask (Brainwash)' series.
If these two series get even a handful of all our friends/colleagues to stop and think and start to wake up and smell the coffee re the malign influence of Western feminism and populist propaganda, then we will have achieved something positive.

Post: #17

Last night I finished watching this documentary after watching the first half almost a year ago.

I would reiterate the poster above who described it as a good tool to share with friends and family who haven't "taken the red pill". One of the problems for those of us who see the world beyond the approved ideological filters is trying to tell friends and family how propagandized the world has become, and to do it without sounding like you're wearing a tinfoil hat.

For anyone who questions how deeply not just commercials but all media content (and not only media content) are specifically designed to sell you products (and not just products but whole ideologies), watch the first hour. And then think about it. Think about what Bernays was able to accomplish with the crude technology of nearly one hundred years ago, and then ponder how much mass communication technology has developed since then.

I watched the documentary with a family member and she was definitely blown away.

Post: #18

Adam Curtis provides a good introduction to the red pill, but in many ways, his material is what qualifies as limited hangover, providing a large amount of powerful "truth bombs" (like Al-Qaeda being a deep state scare product), and leveraging the trust he builds from this with the viewer to lead him away from the real big picture, or to sow outright disinfo.

James Corbett deconstructs Curtis, making the case that he's "an establishment contrarian" (critique starts at the 26 min mark):

Post: #19

Kanye just tweeted this documentary. Gotta take the time to see it. Got too when the Forum cosigns it as well as Yeezy.

Post: #20

It's a great documentary but if you only watch one section of it, make sure it's part 1.
It will open your eyes.

Post: #21

Post: #22

I am reminded of a passage from:
The Imperial Cruise: A Secret History of Empire and War
https://www.amazon.com/Imperial-Cruise-S...eat+cruise

One part of the book writes about an incident, around 1905, at the Park Plaza hotel in Boston, where Alice Roosevelt, daughter of then President Teddy Roosevelt, was 'asked to leave the lobby' because she was smoking.

Today, sometimes when a woman lights up a cigarette I may bring up that story.

Post: #23

One of the most important documentary series around.