PERCEPTION MANAGEMENT

So at the age of 33, I have finally learnt that everything my parents have been telling me is actually true. Not that I ever doubted what they said, being the feeble child that listens and accepts what mommy and daddy say, no questions asked (or paradoxically, rebel, no questions asked). I ask myself ‘am I the only one to feel this way? I guess this is why I’m writing this. Are there other’s out there? I don’t know what to believe anymore. I feel tricked, but not in the emotional kind of way. Maybe that’s because I’m still in the shock phase but all I feel at the moment is like a friend of a friend of a friend of mine, that I never met, got hit by a car and died.
Ok, first things first. I guess that would mean starting with definitions. I’m not going into any details since that is what we have the internet for, but I guess from a dummy point of view, or perception management for dummies, the expression in broad terms would be a euphemism for brainwashing. It sounds old and cliché I know, but what I’m talking about when I say I found out this whole brainwashing thing is real is that there are major businesses out there that make money out of this so-called cliché. As is it’s something we can actually feel and touch. And yes it’s been going on since way back in the early nineteen seventies. Let’s use an example; Say for example Mr. X Citizen would like to promote his product Y and has no clue about it because he is just a genius in creating product Y stuff. So instead of doing it himself, he goes to a company called P and asks them to promote it for him, at whatever cost. Make them believe that without it, they are not part of normal society. They ask him if he has a conscience and he convinces himself that what they are doing is not wrong. I wouldn’t know what exactly they would do since, if I did, I would probably join in and get my own piece of that pie.
But if this is the case, PM could be used in almost anything, from starting a war, all the way down to celebrities, business, sports, fashion, etc, etc. I mean we have a financial crisis and the movie and soccer industry is earning more money than ever. Come on; don’t tell me you haven’t thought there is something not quite right with that picture? Or even the fashion industry. How could people still possibly afford to by $4000 handbag with a credit that’s the length of my great grandmother’s sagging breasts!
But anyways, all the ‘we knew that since ages ago’ put aside, if we all know this, then why are we still letting it get to us? Why are we still thinking that if we don’t have Gucci products, we are not good enough or rich enough or whatever the hell it is they are promoting for that stupid brand name. Why are they still getting richer? Why do we still pay hundreds to watch David Beckham play soccer or see Madonna in concert or watch a Julia Roberts movie?
I don’t want to talk about the government and secret service agencies and how they use this method to brainwash us into believing stuff they want us to believe since I am really not keen on pissing off people in high up positions, but if you want to, go ahead.