social engineering(n):
1. the use of centralized planning in an attempt to manage social change and regulate the future development and behavior of a society.
"the country's unique blend of open economics, authoritarian politics, and social engineering"
2. (in the context of information security) the use of deception to manipulate individuals into divulging confidential or personal information that may be used for fraudulent purposes.
"people with an online account should watch for phishing attacks and other forms of social engineering"
The word itself doesn't really need any further explanation. Social engineering has been utilized to manipulate nations by capital holders. They plan for long-term. They have been successful.
How do they manipulate
They have been using the mainstream media to impose the lifestyle they want us to have, which is basically the consumption habits of products they want to sell us.
We all witnessed!
Started with the cinema of course. Cigarettes in the mouth of the charismatic actors, mothers that serve a cornflex as a healthy breakfast to their children every morning, buying expensive jewelers for showing your love... By the invention of television they no more needed a whole movie to sell their deluded lifestyles. Now they were using advertisements. Cola that brings happiness to starving African children! And of course cartoons. Most dangerous ones, because the manipulation were much more powerful against defenseless young brains. They literally made children love and demand pizza single handedly by Ninja Turtles.
Today?
Today is a complete madness. With the social media, everybody has their potential to reach masses. There are social media experts, study the behavior of the internet users. There are no different than old time lifestyle sellers. Look at the most famous pages, and internet personalities. Or even look at your friends instagram stories ? It is hilarious!!! Nowadays even regular people show their consumption habits that they've been imposed, because they think it's cool! Startbucks coffees, Rolex watches, protein supplements, expensive cars, bags, exotic desserts, night clubs that they only go for getting those photo shots... What a life.. WHAT A LIFE!
Monkey enslaved monkey...
And Edward Bernays, too. Remember what he did with cigarettes and the suffragettes? Freedom torches, I think he called them. Good post.