Part 2 - Is the government mind controlling society?

The early 1900s was an era of both immense progress and profound upheaval. As industrial titans amassed unprecedented wealth, the working class fought back—through strikes, protests, and labor movements that threatened the very foundations of corporate power. But when brute force and suppression failed to silence the growing unrest, a new weapon emerged. One that didn’t require violence or legal maneuvering—only the ability to shape public perception itself.

Enter the pioneers of Public Relations—a profession designed not just to manage conflict, but to rewrite reality.

🔹 Edward Bernays—the nephew of Sigmund Freud—used the principles of psychoanalysis to manipulate public opinion.
🔹 Ivy Ledbetter Lee—personal PR strategist for John D. Rockefeller Jr.—was tasked with reshaping the image of a man hated by the working class.
🔹 George Creel—handpicked by President Woodrow Wilson—led America’s first propaganda agency, turning public sentiment in favor of war.

This episode delves into Bernays’ first social experiment, where he transformed ballet from a "degenerate" art form into an elite American obsession. But what began as a simple publicity stunt revealed something far more dangerous—the power to manipulate not just opinions, but reality itself.

With the working class rising and the Russian Revolution striking fear into the hearts of the elite, public relations became an invisible weapon—one that could convince an entire nation to believe, support, and even forget whatever those in power wanted.

And when John D. Rockefeller Jr. faced the greatest crisis of his life—one that could have landed him in prison for treason—he turned to Ivy Lee to reshape his image and save his empire.

💥 How did these men create the modern blueprint for mass persuasion? And how did their techniques become the foundation for corporate and government propaganda?

📌 Subscribe for Part 3 as we continue uncovering the dark origins of Public Relations and the hidden forces that shape our world.