Capitalism in the head

Capitalism in the head
An entire industry is working to manipulate our minds.

Has no one ever wondered where all of a sudden the many “consultants” came from? An almost unmanageable market of consulting and educational offers has developed in recent decades. One thing stands out: the same sentences, the same demands and the same mechanisms of conformity are used everywhere. A large part of the areas addressed to entrepreneurs and employees in particular arose from the idea of “positive thinking”. After World War II, there was extensive collaboration between some preachers, well-known psychologists, the representatives of the new propaganda techniques and the developers of the ideology of neoliberalism, who were all very successful in the United States.

by Ulrike Orso

[This article posted on 3/29/2018 is translated from the German on the Internet, https://www.manova.news/artikel/kapitalismus-im-kopf.]

The penetration of all levels of society on the basis of low-threshold messages, transmitted by unsuspicious intellectuals from the fields of education and counseling, enabled the widespread dissemination of such messages. Their success developed slowly but steadily. To this end, a variety of problem-solving strategies were developed in the form of tools that we all know today. In the beginning, there was so-called neurolinguistic programming (NLP).

Numerous sources note the fusion of business, public relations, and psychology with neoliberal ideology. Nevertheless, one has to expect fierce opposition if one makes such claims today. For this reason, it was important to me to refer to as many sources as possible and to ask the question. Could neoliberal ideology have developed just as successfully if the representatives of educational and counseling professions had not been trained in the same spirit for decades and had introduced it to countless people in an apparently unsuspicious way?

The chosen and the damned

According to the teachings of John Calvin of Geneva, God had already divided people into the chosen and the eternally damned before the creation of the world. This predetermined fate, according to Calvin, could not be changed by anyone, neither through good deeds nor through faith. On the other hand, no individual can ever know for sure which group they belong to. Therefore, they are dependent on signs – and the clearest sign of belonging to the chosen few, according to Calvin, is economic success. The division of humanity into the chosen and the damned, as proclaimed in the Book of Revelation, was projected onto economic events, divine order and market logic became one (1).

English emigrants brought the Puritan-Calvinist view of the world and humanity to the new American colonies, from where it quickly spread. The church legitimization of the dichotomy of people seemed logical, was readily accepted and was the origin of American capitalism. This was also gladly taken up in the course of the third “hyper-globalization wave” and with it an almost religious confession of the autocracy of the market as a kind of “entity”, which reacts offended when the rules are not followed (2).

Positive thinking originated in the 18th century as a countermovement to strict Calvinist Protestantism, in which the lives of the “chosen” were permeated by discipline and order. However, the concept only really took off during the period of major industrial upheaval.

Preachers – the first management consultants

In the American tradition, it was preachers who once again took up the idea of positive thinking and saw it first and foremost as a way to help their followers. Entrepreneurs also soon developed an interest in this idea, because the more successful a company was, the more important it became to manage employees in such a way that they could perform to the best of their abilities.

At around the same time that the first “consultancy” services for companies were being developed, the theory of neoliberalism was taking shape under Milton Friedman and Friedrich von Hayek. Among other things, it states that there is no alternative to the interests of the market, that people have to bow to the forces of the market and should achieve “freedom through submission”. According to Hayek, people are always consistent, rational, self-interested maximizers.

Instead of individual well-being, the well-being of companies increasingly became the focus of public discourse. “If the economy is doing well, we are all doing well”.

“We have to tighten our belts”. ‘Valuable members of society can no longer rest in the social hammock’. The collective ‘we’ made it possible for social achievements to be eroded due to seemingly unavoidable constraints. Without this ‘we’, it would hardly have been possible in the socially minded European states to enforce this development, which was particularly disadvantageous for Europe.

Leftists are singing from the same hymn sheet

Although neoliberal ideology is capitalist, some of its aspects also appeal to humanists. Above all, freedom and personal responsibility. In humanism, freedom means the individual freedom of each person, without state restrictions , while in neoliberalism, freedom means freedom of capital and freedom of the market without any state regulation or control.

In humanism, personal responsibility means exercising personal freedom and developing as an individual according to one's own needs and interests. In neoliberalism, on the other hand, it means privatization of capital, socialization of debts and the dismantling of social services, i.e. a reduction in solidarity. The big difference is whether personal responsibility is voluntarily chosen or forced. While the one includes a fundamental right to free self-determination, the other is a forced, anti-social measure that only feigns individual freedom: freedom through submission.

Self-efficacy, self-determination, but above all shared responsibility are qualities that each of us should strive for.

Encouraging someone in their need for personal responsibility is fundamentally good; imposing responsibility on them for something that cannot be sustained on their own, on the other hand, is anti-social.

In order to take personal responsibility, the necessary conditions must be in place. Far too lightly and due to perceived constraints, we have exchanged stabilizing conditions and security for supposed freedoms. As a result, the options for action for people have multiplied, and psychological instability and excessive demands have increased.

“Positive thinking” inspires the economy

Are you surrounded by negative people? Get rid of them, they are only victims of their negativity (3)!

Do you have dissatisfied employees? You have to motivate them better!

Fear of the future? Norman Vincent Peale writes:

“Who decides whether you are happy or unhappy? The answer is: you!”(4)

You can't do something, you're burnt out? Trust in the power of positive thinking!

Motivation is everything. Those who don't motivate themselves will be motivated. Only employees who are encouraged in their drive will perform at their best. The motivation industry has been set in motion because, according to Hayek, people need to be constantly driven. It has long been proven that (almost) everyone likes to be meaningfully occupied. However, what is considered meaningful by individuals is as diverse as the people themselves. The real problem is the fixation on the economic usability of what is considered work (5).

Instead of being threatened, people were now encouraged, strengthened and lured with the fiction of free will. “The triumph of collective self-deception began” (6). From that point on, anything that sounded like criticism or complaining and expressed dissatisfaction had to be banned from language.

“It is now frowned upon to draw attention to negative developments (...) and problems. There is (...) an incredible pressure (...) to prettify reality in today's society” (7).

The great promise that we project onto positive thoughts cannot be fulfilled by them. A short-term improvement in well-being is possible, yes, but the unbearable usually remains unbearable, and as soon as someone becomes aware of this fact, bitter disappointment sets in. Language can partially change thinking; but a feeling can never be “flipped” just because the language is different. On the contrary, a way of speaking that is too adapted and calculated inhibits expression, reduces individual authenticity and causes a conforming in thinking and acting.

According to Abraham Maslow, one of the founders of humanistic psychology, failure, breakdown and “wrong” decisions have an inner cause, and this must be found.

"This is precisely where the narrative of self-help and that of suffering connect, because if we secretly desire our misery, then the self must be held directly responsible for eliminating it. (…) The narrative of self-help is thus not only closely interwoven with the narrative of psychological failure and misery, it is ultimately driven by it. In this area, psychology and liberalism were closely interwoven from the very beginning” (8).

The concept of individual counseling was previously unknown, so people first had to be introduced to it. This was supposed to help them free themselves from their inner inhibitions and become successful in their lives. Countless media formats were “invented” for this purpose, non-fiction books printed, helplines offered, and films and talk shows with psychotherapists in central roles were broadcast.

“Personal responsibility” was drummed into media users like a creed. ‘If everyone thinks of themselves, everyone is thought of,’ it said. Or: ‘Help yourself, and God will help you!’ In this way, empty phrases became signposts to the isolation of what are actually social beings.

Consulting, advisory services and the resulting self-optimization are an (almost) perfect market (9). “The neoliberal ideology of self-optimization develops religious, even fanatical traits. It represents a new form of subjectivization. The endless work on the ego resembles the Protestant self-observation and self-examination, which in turn represents a technique of subjectivization and domination (...)” (10).

Exerting influence through language

The better our knowledge of psychological processes, the more important it became to research the possible ways of exerting influence. Psychologists were the new masters of language and became increasingly important for business, politics and the advertising industry. As sociologist Steve Brint writes: “The power of the specialized professions is greatest (...) when the professional experts work in a depoliticized environment that does not further question their premises. (…)“ (11).

”Positive thinking not only makes itself the henchman of the economy by justifying its excesses (...), its dissemination has itself become a line of business that has produced an endless stream of books, DVDs and other products, but also thousands of consultants, business coaches and motivational trainers, all of whom work to achieve a positive result as quickly as possible and in a solution-focused manner." (12)

It seemed as if companies were being run in a more “personal” way, and in some companies the working atmosphere did improve. However, this had less to do with social needs than with the messages that needed to be conveyed, which were easier to communicate in friendly conversations: wage reductions, flexibilization, outsourcing of production – some unpleasant facts were sold so positively that they were not perceived as a deterioration for a long time.

"Positive thinking is a good justification for the brutal features of the market economy. If the key to economic success is optimism, if you can acquire an optimistic attitude, there is no excuse for failure. The flip side of positivity is therefore a stubborn insistence on personal responsibility. (…) it must be because you haven't tried hard enough, because you haven't believed hard enough in your success. (…) The more unemployed people the economic system produces (...), the more the representatives of positive thinking emphasize their negative verdict” (13).

Anyone who still dared to rebel was branded as a perpetual grumbler who was unwilling to accept the constraints of the system and adapt. “Complaint-free zones” were set up.

Ultimately, even the greatest efforts often did not help. Those who were laid off were given a new chance to take on new challenges. Employment offices no longer provide jobs, but manage unemployment on a large scale and put unemployed and job seekers alike through job application training. Because anyone who is constantly concerned with seeing and selling themselves as a brand, who has to constantly work on their unique selling point, no longer has time to deal with other things.

"Soon there was a growing need for ‘occupational programs’ for angry laid-offs and depressed unemployed. To keep hostilities, such as lawsuits for wrongful dismissal (...), in check, employers turned to so-called outplacement firms, which offered the laid-offs not only job application training but also motivational workshops to boost their morale. Losing your job is a step forward in life (...), a gain in experience, a return to yourself, a necessary break (14).

Collegial interaction and jointly formulated goals are supposed to spur the workforce that has been spared from layoffs to new heights of performance; the new magic word for this was “teamwork”. The greater the pressure at work, the more team spirit was demanded. In fact, almost everyone is capable of working in a team; it depends on the type of activity and the environment, but not on some imaginary quality that we only realize exists when it is (apparently) missing.

Fast-track consulting services

In his book, sociologist Ben Agger presents the characteristics of “fast capitalism”:

"Capitalist technology, which no longer enables free time, but compresses time in order to be able to achieve even more in the same time (...). By getting individuals to voluntarily sacrifice so much of their free time for social services, social media, companies and consumption, socially and culturally developed boundaries are torn down and individuals are denied private spaces and leisure time. These two characteristics are closely linked in capitalism, because technology turns time into a commodity (...) and at the same time provides surveillance media to save even more time" (15).

NLP, neurolinguistic programming, was originally not developed for the benefit of humanity either; it was only when it was successfully used by the military and in advertising that psychologists recognized the potential it offered and developed a concept from it that could also benefit private individuals by quickly getting rid of negative beliefs.

Along the way, a mostly self-determined life had to be steered towards acceptance of the unchangeable and uncritical acceptance. From then on, everything was considered a “question of attitude.” However, in order to actually extricate oneself from a problematic situation, one needs the ability to act, self-empowerment and self-efficacy, which are the most important prerequisites for personal well-being and self-realization. But this would simultaneously thwart the demands of the free market.

Advice and solutions

Good advice has proven itself. Since time immemorial, people seeking advice have turned to those with a sense of what is important and a certain inner wisdom. Today, people turn to a consultant who shifts away his responsibility with the argument that everyone knows best for themselves what is good for them.

Consultants preach again and again, but to finally take personal responsibility instead of constantly dealing with their own problems. It is better to look optimistically into the future and formulate a nice goal – regardless of the fact that for many people the individual scope for action is becoming smaller and smaller.

The task of counseling would therefore also be to strengthen individual self-empowerment, to address fears and concerns and to reflect with clients on the economic and ecological challenges that affect each and every one of us, as well as to develop visions of what our lives should look like in the future.

However, if consultants have to focus primarily on unique selling points and marketing, their training and further education also becomes correspondingly one-sided, which makes it impossible to do justice to the diverse problems of individuals.

Plans, goals and visions

Goals have existed since the beginning of time, but the fact that they have to be explicitly formulated in a positive and well-formed way is new. No one before our time would ever have achieved a goal if the way it was formulated had been important.

Visions and undifferentiated plans for the future are not economically viable. That is why neoliberal consultants attach great importance to ensuring that real utopias of a better world do not even arise. The formulation of “smarter” and more expedient goals is intended to conceal this complete loss of utopia. The attitude of “anything is possible if you believe in it hard enough” is to be instilled in both the self-employed and employees. If you still fail, it's because you didn't believe hard enough.

Positive formulations – positive people?

According to “positive thinking”, our brain is not able to understand negative formulations, which is nonsense, of course. Our brain understands everything it can think.

If negative things are not clearly named but linguistically blurred, people are unable to actively deal with a problem. Those who call a spade a spade, even when it comes to the downsides and unpleasant things, have a better chance of actually finding a solution.

“Get away from negative people,” writes Jeffry Gitomer ( ). ”They waste time and pull you down. If you can't get rid of them (...), then reduce the time you spend with them.”

Today, there is no excuse for anyone who remains mired in negativity. You get what you deserve if you just try hard enough. Set your sights on positive goals and off you go (16)! Negative people are therefore merely victims of themselves; killjoys and grumblers who are best not listened to, so as not to become like them. With a pretense of positivity, the illusion is stubbornly held that a positive demeanor will necessarily lead to success.

Live your strengths

“Live your strengths!”, ‘Be yourself!’, ‘Be happy!’, ‘Live your life!’, ‘Be...’! Yes, what on earth are we supposed to be? “Feel-good literature” is full of advice that touches on precisely those sore points that, as experience shows, trouble those seeking advice. Robin Leidner writes: ”I challenge you to develop a winning personality.” As this slogan makes clear, participants in seminars, for example, were encouraged to view their personality as something that “needs to be worked on and shaped in such a way that it is conducive to success” (17).

Be who you are, but have zero tolerance for your human shortcomings. This often comes across as a paradoxical message: “Be yourself – but not really!” In the face of all the improving, marketing, developing, working on yourself, etc., the actual, innermost self has long since disappeared from view. The self is not cultivated, but marketed. And it is precisely this that we are not supposed to access, otherwise we might no longer be able to play the perfect employee – always smiling and confident on the outside.

Comfort zones

The call for us to finally leave our “comfort zone” almost automatically leads to a guilty conscience. Yet we hear and read again and again that our time is too hectic, that we have too little leisure to find ourselves again. Our comfort zone would be ideal for that. This refers to nothing more than an area in which we feel comfortable, safe and secure. This area ends where fears begin. Sometimes it is necessary to make an effort, to overcome oneself or to jump over one's own shadow to improve a situation – but not always!

In conclusion

What has become of the “perfect market” that counseling was once considered to be? More and more people followed their inner calling to help others in difficult situations, willing to complete more and more training to meet vague quality standards. For many counselors, their business has now become a financial struggle for survival. Hardly anyone can make a living from it.

If professional expertise is equated with the ability to assert oneself “on the market”, then those who cannot afford large marketing expenses will hardly stand a chance. Colin Crouch notes that those who cannot assert themselves will be forced out of the market. This has less to do with advisory skills and more to do with the ability to present oneself in an unmanageable market. “Concern for survival forces us to constantly strive to improve our position.”

From an economic point of view, it is about keeping us in the “self-fulfillment process”. As compliant consumers and obedient employees, we have nothing else to think about but how we make our living and what we want to consume next. The needs of individuals do not play a role, which leads to a sense of great futility in many cases. This, however, damages self-esteem, leads to despondency and ultimately to less and less sympathy. A vicious circle of incomprehension and disinterest. “People's understanding of democracy has been weakened because real democracy has been less and less practiced; instead, autocratism has been established” (18).

Positive thinking was critically questioned early on. On the one hand, it is used to deny unpleasant situations and thus prevent personal insight; on the other hand, it puts pressure on personalities whose nature is not confident and optimistic, but rather melancholy. These “negative people” are often misunderstood and not given enough attention.

Calm, thoughtful, social traits are increasingly falling behind in the face of narcissistic, superficial thinking and behavior, which will have a negative impact, especially in today's times of upheaval.

There is not a hidden, deep meaning in everything and not everything is good somehow.

Sources and notes:

(1) Scheidler, F.: (2016): Das Ende der Megamaschine. Geschichte einer gescheiterten Zivilisation, Vienna, p. 101f.

(2) Schulmeister, S.: 10 years after the financial crisis, panel discussion, 29.01.2018

(3) Väth, M.: According to SPIEGEL, burnout sufferers are pathogens (https://www.markusvaeth.com/kolumne/burnout-betroffene-sind-laut-spiegel-krankheitserreger (currently 6.12.17)

(4) Peale, N. V., American pastor and author. He became famous for his teachings on the power of “positive thinking”. Scheich, G.; Waller, K.: Positives Denken macht krank. Vom Schwindel mit gefährlichen Erfolgsversprechen, Frankfurt

(5) Väth, M.: Unemployment does not exist (https://www.xing.com/news/klartext/arbeitslosigkeit-gibt-es-nicht-1915; (currently: 23.03.18))

(6) Ehrenreich, B.: (2010): Smile or Die. How the ideology of positive thinking is making the world stupid, Munich 2010

(7) Liessman, K. P.: A Song of Praise for Negative Thinking “The biggest mistake is to believe that you have everything under control”, Deutschlandfunk Kultur (http://www.deutschlandfunkkultur.de/ein-loblied-auf-das-negative-denken-der-groesste-fehler-ist.1008.de.html?dram%3Aarticle_id=408019) (currently 22.01.2018)

(8) Illouz, E.: Gefühle in Zeiten des Kapitalismus, Berlin

(9) Ehrenreich B.: Smile or Die. Wie die Ideologie des Positiven Denkens die Welt verdummt, München 2010

(10) Han, Bjung-Chul: Psychopolitik Neoliberalismus und die neuen Machttechniken, Berlin

(11) Illouz, E.: Gefühle in Zeiten des Kapitalismus, Berlin

(12) Ehrenreich B.: Smile or Die. Wie die Ideologie des Positiven Denkens die Welt verdummt, Munich 2010

(13) Ibid.

(14) Ibid.

(15) Ibid.

(16) Ibid.

(17) Ibid.

(18) Michalitsch, G.: 10 years after the financial crisis, panel discussion, 29.01.2018

Ulrike Orso, born in 1962, is a mediator and psychosocial counselor. She is currently studying philosophy in Salzburg. In 2013, she published a non-fiction book for clients, those affected and those interested in mediation and the most diverse forms of conflict: “Conflict - Threat or Opportunity”. She sees the young, contemporary philosophers as a beacon of hope.