work will set you free

As my son and I walked through the gates of the Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp I noticed the sign ‘work will set you free’. It was a cruel joke for the millions that suffered great indignities and impossible working conditions only to die a horrible death.

I’m married to a German who is deeply affected by the inhumanity of her countrymen. She was born in 1961 but feels the guilt of being a German. The truth will never set her free.

Americans and Canadians believe that they are free but they are controlled and manipulated from their birth to their death. The de-mystification of advertisements is a way to gain insight into the process that is used corporations to make individuals into predictable consumers and workers.

The advertising industry is working hard to sell and it doesn’t matter to them what they sell. It could be war or a refrigerator. Slogans like "Just do it", "You deserve a break today", "Breakfast of champions” and “Where's the beef?” sell ideals that also sell products. The slogans used by the military also sell ideals; “Were looking for a few good men!” “The few the proud!” “Get an edge on life!” and “Army of One”.

The really dark side of this manipulation is that it creates a standing army of ‘freedom fighters’ ready to defend the propaganda and lies. Freedom is the battle cry used to rally the troops regardless of the circumstance. It is a cowardly simplification that tries to convince others of the need to fight for a principle when the truth is often less of a motivation.

The American public is controlled through jingoisms that tell them how to feel, think and act as part of a proud community. It is not ‘work will set you free’ but something equally as cruel. It could be “Give me liberty or give me death’ or ‘Home of the Brave, Land of the Free or "Operation Iraqi Freedom".

In Canada, we are a bit more circumspect but equally as vulnerable. The slogan, "Aboriginal Pride", is used to recruit native people into the military. It plays on the fact that most Aboriginals are proud but that they also are struggling to find the dignity that was taken from them by the same government now promising to return it.

The sign was also a cruel joke for their captors who once believed their own propaganda and became a superpower that mindlessly followed their leader into hell. They were blinded by power and greed and inhumanity. They were mostly ordinary people that were afraid to think or act differently than the oppressors in their life.

It is not hard to imagine how German people were manipulated but it is, therefore, difficult to understand why today we allow manipulation and propaganda and lies from our political leaders.

The United States allows industry, especially the powerful oil and gas industry, to protect its special interests even if it is against the well being of it’s citizens. The War in Iraq is the obvious example but their self interest has also hindered the scientific evidence validating the threat of global warming.

The fact that Germany used it’s military prowess with such dire consequences should make us all more aware of the threat of super power. This concentration camp is a stark reminder of a highly effective indoctrination and propaganda campaign.

This American corporate self interest and power of manipulation has created ‘a perfect storm’ for the country with more military strength than any country in history. It is a time for truth to set us free. If we can learn to think and act without slogans or signs in time to stop another catastophe, then this will be a fitting epitaph to those that have died here.