By reviewing the history of government bailouts of the banks, Zaman examines the use of deceptive propaganda to manage the consent of the Ninety-Nine Percent. Although his point is well taken, I think he overstates the use of only one weapon that our ruling masters use against us while pursuing their interests. They have many weapons.
There is widespread agreement on the proposition that people act according to their self-interest. Marx went further to suggest that people subscribe to ideologies conforming to their class interests. For example, agricultural laborers would believe in land reforms, while big landlords would believe that small farms are inefficient. Gradually the weight of strong empirical evidence has led me to understanding that this proposition is false. Large segments of the population can be brought to believe in, and act according to, ideologies extremely harmful to their self interest.