Bank staff push ethics

Industrial Action

The Age, October 29, 2007, In Brief

"Westpac staff want the right to refuse to push financial products such as insurance, credit cards and hefty personal loans on customers who cannot meet their repayments. The staff are demanding their new enterprise agreement severs the link between performance pay and the sale of loan and credit, especially given the record level of household debt in Australia.

But they are heading for a clash with Westpac, which, like all banks, increasingly requires staff to be more entrepreneurial. The employees are also up against industrial relations laws that prevent unions from negotiating "conscience clauses" or engaging in action that disrupts the right to run a business."

Your future is our future

(Westpac's latest slogan)

Westpac's latest advertising (propaganda) campaign shows a number of Australians from diverse backgrounds whom Westpac is declaring that the fate of their future is the fate of Westpac's future, and even includes images of penguins struggling on icebergs with upbeat and hip music.

Considering the disaster in America with sub-prime mortgage loans and the global impact during their demise, one would think that Australian financial institutions would be more realistic in their sales targets. Rather we see banks like Westpac push their employees for a 20% increase per annum in selling credit and loans in exchange for 5% salary bonuses.

Is it a case of those who can't teach, do; and those who wont do, advertise?

The war is won with the propaganda

Psychological Warfare: The use of propaganda or other psychological means to influence or confuse the thinking, undermine the morale, of an enemy or opponent.

Mind control is referred to as coercive persuasion, effectively; restraining, impairing, or compelling through the gradual application of PSYCHOLOGICAL FORCES. I thought it relevant to discuss mind control and propaganda after discussing with a colleague of mine about the protest on Sept 26. He informed me that he disagreed with protesting the workchoice laws as he believed it to be appropriate to dismiss someone if they were not a cultural fit. At this point I reminded him that his wife, had lost 3 jobs in 6 months with no redundancy package nor any notice, the psychological impact, the stress and loss of confidence in having these things happen to her, and how these workchoices laws were the cause. This didn't seem to make any difference, he still agreed with the laws.

In one foul swoop my colleague had dismissed his wife's suffering, his concomitant suffering, and yet still wholeheartedly told me that the laws were still a good idea.

What astounds me here was my colleagues inability to connect the politics of the Australian Government and the experience endured by himself and his wife, rather to treat it all as abstract. John Howard's minister for propaganda deserves an oscar. Wars are not won on the battlefield, they are won in the minds of the people.

TACTIC 1. The individual is prepared for thought reform through increased suggestibility and/or "softening up,". Mind control through repetition; my favourite example is through advertising. When watching T.V, we're in a relaxed and open state, ready for subliminal messaging.

TACTIC 2. Using rewards and punishments, efforts are made to establish considerable control over a person's social environment, time, and sources of social support. See previous post on "Culture of the organisation".

TACTIC 3. Disconfirming information and nonsupporting opinions are prohibited in group communication. See previous post on "The individual or the Organisational Culture". This tactic is reinforced through non-physical punishments. Whatever you do, don't talk about politics and religion, keep it to infotainment and weather.

TACTIC 4. Frequent and intense attempts are made to cause a person to re-evaluate the most central aspects of his or her experience of self and prior conduct in negative ways. Cults do this all the time, it is the use of guilt to control and manipulate. Mothers do it best.

TACTIC 5. Intense and frequent attempts are made to undermine a person's confidence in himself and his judgment, creating a sense of powerlessness. The Government does this with their two party system, so don't bother voting for a minor party, it makes no difference. In fact, go and jump off a bridge because you have no real impact in the world because you're not a celebrity. Oh, and the only thing you should really be preoccupied with is sex, your appearance and what Britney is up to.

Still not convinced that there's a targeted campaign to control your brain? Couldn't happen to you eh? Here's a quick test: Are you satisfied with the current state of the world? No? Doing anything about it? No? Well, that's mind control in action,- APATHY! Makes you feel hopeless, there's no point in trying, so why not just live YOUR life, don't worry about anyone else, just do what's good for you.

For anyone who is game enough to go on and watch the next video, it's actually very disturbing. Some of the mind control experiments conducted on animals are rather unpleasant. You've been warned.

So, what's the point of all of these things? Don't take my word for it, from the mouth of George Bush Snr himself:

We have before us the opportunity to forge for ourselves and future generations a new world order. A world where the rule of law, not the law of the jungle governs the conduct of nations. When we are successful, and we will be, we have a real chance at this new world order, an order in which a credible united nations can use it's peacekeeping role to fufill the promise and vision of the
U.N's founders.

References:
My stupid colleague
http://www.factnet.org/rancho1.htm