Walter Lippmannwas one of the most influential American journalists in history . His ideas about politics and club forge the world we live in today . In this episode of Stuff They Do n’t require You To Know , hosts Ben Bowlin and Matt Frederick ponder their very first podcast aboutEdward Bernays , the father of propaganda . Bernays was not only Lippmann ’s coeval , but he was also responsible for sell the public on everything from bacon for breakfast to corporate - ride warfare in South and Central America , all for " democracy . "
While Bernays ' PR stunt to deal the U.S. multitude ’s mindset on majority rule would put Don Draper to shame , Lippmann worried that the misinformation and " manufacture consent " would lead to an uninformed electorate . And that ’s what the guys explore in this episode : Walter Lippmann , the Bernays - esque figure who arguedagainstdemocracy and for governing the elite group in : Is majority rule Impossible ?
Lippmann fine-tune from Harvard in 1910 , co - set up The New Republic magazine in 1913 , save for The New York Times , help draft President Woodrow Wilson ’s famed Fourteen Points speech , and wasgenerally reveredas a brilliant thinker in political , journalistic and philosophical roach . He compose several books about public opinion and the room people think , coining terms like " stereotypes . "
And even though the absolute majority of Americans at the clock time were isolationists , Lippmann was an interventionist , arguing that it was noetic and advantageous for the U.S. to enter World War I. Along with Bernays , he match to serve on Wilson’sCommittee on Public Information , which was the first American wartime propaganda machine . Members worked to help sway public opinion toward intervening in World War I , as well as suppress and discredit anti - war data . Lippmann helped sway President Wilson ’s thinking , which eventually contribute to Wilson writing the Fourteen level oral communication in 1914 .
Once a staunch advocate of commonwealth , Lippmann came to believe that it no longer work the way Americans came to realize it . Further , he felt that in an increasingly complicated human race , there was no guaranty that the average citizen could even start to grasp what kind of problem the country face , even callingvotersmyopic and ill - inform .
While Lippmann did serve on the Committee on Public Information , it ’s readable thathe come to subsequently disapprove of itin his writings . He maintain that journalists replace the truth withpropagandato enforce conformity , further muddling the true meaning of commonwealth .
For a time , Lippman reason America should be run by an elect cabal of intellectuals , people with the knowledge and documentary fact to make the good decisions for everyone else , take any say aside from voter . He veered away from this estimation , though , realise that an elect class would be no better at making decisions for regular people .
What ’s chilling is , not only did Lippmann think democracy was impossible in its current form , but many people today also agree with him . Can true democracy exist with these obstacles ? And what role do extra interestingness , the Dunbar figure , online news and social media play today ? It ’s a lot to moot . You ’ll have to listen to the intact podcast to get wind Ben and Matt contemplate all the hard questions .
