Disagreement Among the Invisible

My, oh my, there are times when those that lead us are not in complete agreement. How interesting. Many see that groups or associations are in tandem. This is simply not true. At the end of the day, I found that many of us are far more self-serving than we are willing to admit. This does not imply that we are inherently selfish nor self-serving by nature. It is true, though, that we do desire to benefit from our interactions with one another. The idea of giving without the expectancy of getting something in return is largely non-existent.

Keeping in line with showing some of the most important within our society and with Edward L. Bernays’ observance:

“THE conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country.

We are governed, our minds are molded, our tastes formed, our ideas suggested, largely by men we have never heard of. This is a logical result of the way in which our democratic society is organized. Vast numbers of human beings must cooperate in this manner if they are to live together as a smoothly functioning society.
Our invisible governors are, in many cases, unaware of the identity of their fellow members in the

inner cabinet.” (Bernays, 1928, p. 9)

Those that many of us have never heard of or at least largely are rarely focused upon and discussed. For a very good example, let us pier into again Jardine, Matheson and Co. and the Sassoon family, focusing upon the character list from the book titled The Last Kings of Shanghai: The Rival Jewish Dynasties That Helped Create Modern China.

“Jardine, Matheson & Co. (1832– ). A great British trading house created to trade opium with China. Its leaders persuaded Great Britain to invade China and open Shanghai to foreigners. Outmaneuvered by the better business tactics and technology of the Sassoon’s, the company abandoned the opium trade in the 1870s and resented the Sassoon’s for the next half century.” (Kaufman, 2020, p. x)

And further,

 

“In the 1870s, the Sassoons managed to corner the opium market in India – to such an extent that Jardine Matheson found it uneconomical to compete and decided to withdraw from the trade entirely.” (Janin, 1999, p. 67)

 

While herd mentality does exist there are still groups and associations that do not always agree. Did Jardine, Matheson & Company work together at some point and agree on things with the Sassoon family. Maybe? We will explore that at another time. They clearly did not agree on everything.

 

More on this all later …

References

Bernays, E. L. (1928). Propaganda. New York: Liveright Publishing Corporation.

Janin, H. (1999). The India-China Opium Trade in the Nineteenth Century. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc. Publishers.

Kaufman, J. (2020). The Last Kings of Shanghai: The Rival Jewish Dynasties That Helped Create Modern China. New York: Viking.