Chapter 10 Of Capitalists and Kings
In the darkness of a parking garage the shadowed face shown in a close-up wearily implores, “Forget all the myths the media has created about the White House. They’re not very bright guys and things got out of hand.”
The camera switches to another dimly lit face of a man whose eyes look both inquisitive and anxious, “Hunt’s come in from the cold. Supposedly he’s got a lawyer with $25,000 in a brown paper bag…”
“Follow the money”, the other man advises while the camera stays on the inquisitive face, which ponders the interruption for a brief second before asking some questions.
Claudia remembers how Austin would howl in delight every time they watched that scene together. After a couple of short interchanges the character known only as “Deep Throat” ends the conversation by repeating his directive, “just follow the money”. Claudia turns off the video of All the President’s Men and begins to daydream.
According to Austin that one scene was one of the most important in cinematic history. The simple advice to follow the money was probably the wisest advice one could give. On more than one occasion Claudia has heard Austin proclaim that, “all one has to do to understand the workings of business and government is follow the money”.
The first time Claudia heard Austin make this claim was after their initial viewing of All the President’s Men. When she asked him to support his claim he said, “Most people make the actions of business and government too complicated.”
“Even though people say money makes the world go round, they usually don’t follow through on that thought. If they did, the world would not be so hard to figure out.”
Revving himself up Austin continued, “People don’t follow through on these insights because they are afraid of the truth. Just as people have a fear of the future, they also have a fear of the truth. They have a desire to remain gullible, for life to remain a mystery. People throughout the ages have forsaken the obvious for the hidden truths of magic, astrology, alchemy, religion and the symbolic. Just as people have thresholds for pain, they also have thresholds for reality and the truth. People want to be lied to, they want to stay gullible.”
Energized by his sermon Austin’s verbal pace bordered on the frantic as he added, “The essence of public relations is to recognize people’s thresholds and tell them what they want to hear.”
“Aren’t you just lying to them?” inquired Claudia.
“Telling a person what they want to hear isn’t always lying. Often times it’s just accenting the positive or reassuring them. When a coach or teacher predicts success it isn’t so much lying as a tool used to motivate, inspire or console. Fostering a Positive Mental Attitude isn’t so much lying as it is creating an environment for success.”
Slowing himself down Austin continued, “One of the goals of public relations is to increase feelings of success and contentment on all levels of society. People who are optimistic and content are generally nicer to be around and treat others well. Those who rile people up and raise their level of discontent are only increasing the negative events in society. Discontent people are more likely to be physically and sexually abusive, become addicts and engage in violent acts and crimes.”
“No matter what you say to a suffering person,” Claudia countered, “they’re still going to suffer.”
“Not necessarily,” Austin shot back. “Many studies have shown a positive attitude can diminish and in some cases alleviate even the most excruciating pain. Also, through religious beliefs, some actually make suffering into a positive event. Reality can be interpreted many ways, a publicist just chooses to foster a positive perception. In fact, many have claimed the goal of a good PR man is perception management.”
“So are you saying reality doesn’t matter?”
Austin smiled broadly before responding, “Not exactly. I’m just saying perception is often more important than reality. And that a positive attitude is often necessary to create a climate conducive to improving the real world. Until you’ve earned the public’s trust, you probably will not be given an opportunity to improve the quality of their lives.”
It was at this point, Claudia remembers, Austin revealed his thoughts regarding how power was wielded. Austin saw two general camps, one wielded power by control the other by persuasion.
The control people which included dictators, military leaders and conservatives use law and censorship as their main vehicles of power. Their goal is to avoid change and to horde all riches.
The capitalists are the other group. They enforce power through propaganda and persuasion. Their goal is to enjoy ever increasing wealth and prosperity through the exploitation of the earth and all its resources. Austin saw modern American society as a combination of both forces with the mass media being used as a tool by both camps.
The control freaks use the media as a means to frighten and lecture the public, and through arousing feelings of fear, hatred and guilt convince them to view all change as both sinful and destructive. This group focuses on one’s innate fear of the future and all its related prejudices and hatreds.
Austin talked about how all the Presidents demonstrate many of the techniques used by the “control freak camp”. They try to sustain a military-like hold on the status quo through cultivating fear and hatred in the public. They use their money to suppress information, to prosecute all possible opponents, and to buy support. And in almost every situation, proclaimed Austin, they are more than a tad paranoid.
The capitalists try to control public opinion through using the media. They use the media to foster various positive sentiments such as patriotism, loyalty, contentment, optimism and belief.
According to Austin one of the reasons communism failed was due to its efforts to remove religion and belief. “The world,” he attested, “wasn’t ready for that much reality”. Capitalists, on the other hand, understood the importance of belief and feeling and their roles in persuasive propaganda.
Austin pointed out how both capitalists and despots use different paths to acquire the same priorities. Despots, he noted, eventually realize it takes money to achieve power and control. Conversely, capitalists sooner or later realize money is not safe without power.
Though he divided people into two separate camps, Austin claimed most people fall somewhere on the continuum between despots and capitalists. Even the most liberal of individuals still sought some control and censorship, and even the most ruthless despot still aspired to coax the populace to admire him through propaganda and persuasion.
Austin admitted preferring to work with individuals who leaned more towards the capitalist end of the spectrum. He said he much preferred persuasive motivation over control. True capitalists, he maintained, are always dependent upon improving the lives of others.
“You can only sell so many products to a poor person,” Austin was fond of pointing out. “You can’t increase profit if you never increase disposable income,” was another pet phrase of his.
It was that same evening Austin explained how much he liked being the man behind the scenes. He compared himself to a ventriloquist saying, “though everyone’s attention is on the dummy, I’m the one doing the talking”. Austin pointed out how his career allowed him the best of both worlds, he could maximize his influence on society while never having to sacrifice his privacy.
When Claudia questioned if he ever felt bad about the way he sometimes had to manipulate or deceive people, Austin said he seldom felt bad because, “usually I feel like I’m helping people live better lives. By convincing people they’re happy and life’s good, I’m helping create a society with less dissension, hatred and violence. I’m helping create a stable and loving society”.
Claudia reflected on Austin’s ability to accept the bad with the good. He never expected the world to be perfect, yet he never hid from its seamier side. Despite all his honesty regarding the weaknesses and faults of modern life, he never wavered in his overall optimism and faith in the future.
Austin’s unique ability to be totally honest about the faults of man, yet remain optimistic, was on full display every time they played “follow the money”. Follow the money was a game Austin loved to play with Claudia. In this game they tried to understand current and historical events and changes by following where the money went.
When one asked why so many of the artistic works in the Renaissance were based on religious themes, the answer was easy. Much of the wealth of Western Europe was held by the Church, and the percentage of artists who were commissioned by the Church and Church connected families was extremely high.
When one asked why NASA went through periods of great activity and others of almost total dormancy, one had to look no further than the Pentagon and corporate America. Boon years coincided when the space program was conducting missions which directly or indirectly benefitted military or corporate research. Medical discoveries were highly dependent on research. So when Claudia and Austin looked at the quest to cure various diseases, they were not surprised to find differences in success tied to differences in research monies. A disease afflicting poor people, or poor nations would have a hard time getting sufficient funding for research. Yet, money would flow to those diseases and conditions showing the most profit potential.
The Pentagon, with its huge reserves of tax payer money, proved to be the biggest player in the success of so many inventions and discoveries. In everything from nylons to washing machines, from computers to the internet, the Pentagon’s interest in “dual purpose technology” proved to be a most beneficial influence.
Claudia found the game very informative, even if at times a bit distressing. Yet, one of the major reasons she loved the game was how it afforded her an opportunity to do research with Austin. When Claudia wondered why game shows became so popular, or why the KKK regained popularity, they would spend hours doing research just following the money.
The research they conducted often involved memos and documents very few people other than Austin could obtain. This again had Claudia marvel at the world in which he so nonchalantly moved about.
One day when Claudia was having difficulty dealing with some of the tactics used by our government Austin vigorously defended our actions saying, “The major reason the US is the most powerful nation in the world is because we are the wealthiest. It is for this very reason we must always act in ways which assures our future wealth.”
“In a street fight,” suggested Austin, “it is seldom wise to follow all the rules. If we always did what was morally right, we’d quickly lose our position in the world to those who have no morals. So, where great wealth is involved we must do what best protects our favored position. We can only improve the world from a position of strength, from a position of power.”
“But that article implied our government is involved in the illegal drug trade,” Claudia said sounding horrified.
“Our business and government leaders have to be realistic. If other nations are becoming wealthy through illegal and illicit means our first action should be to try and stop it. Yet, if our efforts fail what are we to do then? Are we to sit back as self-serving and power hungry dictators start to shift power and wealth in their direction?”
“So, you’re saying this article is true?”
“I’m saying if we can’t end illegal drugs, then it would be foolish to ignore such a lucrative business. Where money is, we have to be. It’s logical we’re involved in the drug trade, and it makes sense we fight wars in oil producing regions. Our leaders have to deal in all lucrative businesses and commodities. When we think how much money is made through arms and ammunitions we should not be surprised to learn that the ‘made in the USA’ label can be found on every battlefield in the world, and we supply arms to all armies including our enemies.”
Claudia smiles as she remembers how Austin even turned these harsh realities into something positive. He had a gift, not just of words, but of truly believing in the ultimate possibilities of mankind. He never diverted his eyes from the horrors of the real world, but rather had his vision penetrate through the smoke revealing the devastation of the forest fire, to the promise of regrowth and rebirth that only such tragedy affords.
When they played “follow the money” Austin never shied away from the instances where the thirst for profit actually inhibited or limited progress in a medically or socially worthy project. Yet, for every one of these instances, Austin was to find hundreds of examples where our free enterprise system promoted discovery and invention.
When they followed the money in health, they found great benefits in eye and dental care, in cancer and heart treatment, and in the near elimination of many lethal diseases. Almost every theoretical science benefitted from the investments of free enterprise, astronomy, psychology, physics and chemistry just to name a few.
Austin loved to point out how the everyday life of man had been improved through the quest for profit. Almost every modern convenience and time saving device benefitting the quality of life of the average consumer would not have been invented if not for the wealth it provided its producers.
“They say necessity is the mother of invention,” Claudia remembered Austin saying. “If it wasn’t for the prospect of making money, we wouldn’t have invented even a small fraction of what we have over the last few hundred years.”
She remembered him asking one time, “If you remove the profit motivation why would anyone have massed produced such mundane conveniences as toothpaste, toilet paper or aspirin? Yet, without such simple conveniences the condition of our public health would be highly compromised”.
Austin loved to talk about how you could play the “follow the money” game in almost every age. The priorities of where the money went had a lot to do with the style of government or power. When the Church was most rich and powerful people made money through art, sculpture and architecture. It was through religious symbols and buildings that the Church attracted new devotees. In military civilizations, money was funneled into military inventions and weapons. In seafaring and conquering societies money was garnered through trade and goods. In our capitalistic system money was generated through consumable goods, so the bulk of our inventions and progress are in things like appliances, medicines, machines and foods.
In a nostalgic mood Claudia decided to play a version of “follow the money” by herself. Looking about the room she picked out an object and tried to imagine its monetary origin. Once she completed that process she tried to assess its impact on everyday life and how life would be affected if it hadn’t been invented.
Since most of the objects she chose to consider were electrical, she soon found herself thinking of Thomas Edison and the impact of electricity on modern life. Recognizing the crucial and pervasive role electricity plays in modern life, Claudia was overwhelmed when trying to imagine life without electricity.
Soon her imaginings began to drift towards the diaries of women she had read who lived before electricity. Quickly she transformed herself into a world of candles, hand written letters, and evening visitors which she had read about so often. Though she purposely moved to the city and left the country life, she often wished she had been born in a simpler time. A time when cultured women spent their day playing piano, reading poetry, drinking tea and lemonade, walking through gardens, and discussing the most personal of matters with dear friends.
Absorbed in these thoughts she lost all track of time. When she regained consciousness it was dark and she was tired. In the spirit of the novels and diaries she had been daydreaming on, she found herself feeling a little faint.
Deciding to linger in the mood of the past a bit longer, Claudia went to the kitchen and made herself a small pot of herbal tea. She went to the bookshelf and picked out an old novel and took the book and her tea to the bedroom. Wrapping herself in a large quilt she began to settle in for a pleasurable conclusion of the day sipping tea and reading Jane Austen.