Illustrators' take on the exploitation of African resources

How to build consumers out of citizens

The Century Of Self: Happiness Machines (Episode1)

The Century of the Self is documentary series focused on how the work of Sigmund Freud and his nephew Edward Bernays influenced the way corporations and governments have analyzed,‭ dealt with, and controlled ‬people. It asks deeper questions about the roots and methods of modern consumerism and representative democracy. It also questions the modern way we see ourselves, the attitudes to fashion and superficiality. (quoted from website)

Some points considered:

* Warning of the government against corporations misusing media and public relations’ people as a threat to democracy (~50:00)

* Ann Bernays (Edward’s daughter) saying: “To my father, the world’s fair (Futurama) was a way to keep the status quo, that is capitalism in a democracy, that marriage, that link. He did that by manipulating people and getting them to think that you couldn’t have real democracy in anything but a capitalist society [...] you would infer that democracy and capitalism went together.” (~51:00)

* Citizens as passive consumers controlled by manufactured desires (~53:00)

Aid comedy

It was a question of time until somebody started making fun of the whole international development business. Who better than the recipients of all that help?

Here a clip of one of the first episodes of a Kenyan TV comedy series poking fun at the realities of develompent and international aid:

The series, created by a Kenya-based production company, “chronicles the work of Aid for Aid – an NGO that, in the words of its creator, ‘does nothing’.”

Read an interview with the creator here.

You can find out more about the series or watch more episodes at aidforaid.org