the persuaders and the persuaded

Even before seeing the documentary "the Persuaders," I had already unconsciously grouped society, simply, into two parts-the persuaders and the persuaded. I knew of an industry whose breath of life existed only while the consumer had a pair of healthy lungs, breathing in desire and puffing out cash.

The advertisement industry, for me, plays upon my personality polar opposites. On the one hand, I have always been drawn to the power of words. With words, ad agencies create worlds for us that are palatable. We hear a string of words in a certain order and we salivate. The key to selling is to create a want, not a need, and today's advertisers know the exact combination to the locks on consumers' desires and wallets. On the other hand, when misused, the power of words can be lethal. Can ethics take part in "persuading," or is the fundamental core of persuasion only self-serving?

I think perhaps more frustrating than realizing we are manipulated everyday into buying a certain car, voting for a certain candidate, or adopting a certain ideal, is that there is nothing to stop the bombardment, the "clutter." There is no way to break through the clutter, all you can do is add to it, and hope that you're noticed. It's like a wall glued over with hundreds of years of newspapers, plastered one on top of the other; it's impossible to know what lies underneath the paper thin top layer.

But why do those gears grind in that direction? Why is the system set up to bury us? I don't think it was ever intended that we, as Americans, be caught in the metal crunch of the persuader machinery. I do think, however, that as human beings, we all have a tendency to regress into a survival state; it's either them or me. We manipulate others everyday, whether we choose to recognize this human characteristic or not. Of course human nature is going to govern what we do-including our business and political affairs. And unfortunately, part of human nature is to persuade others of what "I" think is right, and what "I" think should be done-my personal zeal transferred onto others. It is only human nature to manipulate for personal gain, so why, as a public community, do our feathers ruffle when light is shed behind the scenes of the advertising industry? The industry is only mirroring the functions of society. If it goes against those social norms set before it, how can it survive?