Propaganda in the Hands of Libertarian Anarchists

The shadow government that Edward Bernays describe in his book is not a democracy. Nor is it a dictatorship. So, what exactly is it?

The answer to this can be found in Fernando Pessoa's observation that an aristocrat is an anarchist and visa versa. By extension, we can say that the shadow government is an anarchy. The real rulers of the world are not a coordinated club of conspirators. Rather, it's a loosely held together club of individuals who's interests sometimes align and sometimes don't.

The oligarchy is constantly fighting for position and influence. Families and individuals who fail, drop out of the oligarchy. Shrewd individuals gain access. There are high walls protecting the oligarchy, but its not a fixed club. Its members shift with time. Their only common goal is to defend the Status Quo so as to secure their families' continued influence and status.

Propaganda is used by the various factions of the oligarchy for their own purpose, which is to secure and strengthen the position of their own faction. This goal will largely overlap with the interests of other oligarchs. But there's also competition.

My family in Norway has influence over the department of culture and the department of education. But there are other families with similar influences. There are also individuals with their own special interests fighting for attention from the ministers. There's no guarantee that all of these influencers will succeed into the future. Some will fall out of favor and disappear completely. Others will gain influence, and others still will fade, only to attain renewed influence in the future.

Key to success, as Edward Bernays points out in his book, lies in finding mutually benefitting solutions to problems. Those who can construct a wide network of loosely affiliated organizations and individuals will prosper due to the many avenues of propaganda that such a network provides.

All that's required is that people recognize the opportunities inherent in their networks, and utilize these for the dissemination of propaganda. Edward Bernays advices his readers to do so shamelessly, and with as much style and finesse as possible. The only caveat is that the propaganda must be honest and sincere.

Dishonest and deceitful propaganda is counterproductive, because it hurts the integrity of the propagandists. However, there's nothing dishonest in promoting ideas we believe in, and to lay bare the shoddy and dishonest propaganda put together by our adversaries.

This means that we are now entering a time with great opportunities for those who seek to diminish the power of the Status Quo. Libertarians can form their own shadow government by doing what libertarians do best; namely by promoting their personal views without any other guiding principle than their honest desire for liberty.

My impression is that this is already happening. Cleverly thought out memes have showed up on my Facebook wall, many of them attacking and ridiculing the idiotic and down right evil ways that the Status Quo used the virus scare to gain power and money for themselves.

There's no need for careful coordination of this because libertarians adhere to a coherent idea that requires no further explanation. Individuals can produce their own propaganda without having to check with authority figures for approval.

Social media is ideal for this kind of uncoordinated propaganda because everyone can make their own propaganda. This is in turn very effective, because the many voices, all different, but reflecting a common theme, hold enormous power of persuasion.

It seems to me that now is an excellent time to push forward with our message because the Status Quo has thoroughly discredited itself through sloppy and deceitful propaganda. A whole cadre of experts are so tainted by the virus scare that they will be replaced. The ones who stood firmly against the tide are therefore well positioned to become the new influencers of the world.

All that's required is for libertarians to take full advantage of the power vacuum that has emerged. Everyone with a desire to spread the message of liberty should do whatever they feel is most effective in this respect. This is not the time to hold back or remain silent.

My only advice as to form and style is that we must be careful not to let ego take too much control of the message. Don't make it about you. Don't tell people that you were right. Wrap the message elegantly and cleverly in whatever style suits you best, be it humor, logic or art. 

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