Two Treasons
Life in the 'Crystal Palace.' By Alan Harrington. (Cape, 18s.) Two treasons of the clerks: one, to write what is dishonest; two, to be amused by it.
Irwin Ross's brash, troubled book about the activities of public relations experts in America leaves no doubt that this is a dishonest trade, and nastily so. I quote from the notes I made as I read: a Jew employed to do PR gor the Nazis and justifying it—Rockefeller shoots workers, employs PR to create acceptable image—young Ford foolish, employs PR to make him seem sen- sible—'mass production of benevolence'—kills medical insurance by calling it, falsely, socialised medicine—`pluggers' specialise in bribery—hat- ters' PR works hat into Tampax ad.—'which twin has the Toni' described as 'great art'—medical profession prefers dry dressing for burns, but PR persuades Civil Defence to use greasy ones—if writer commissioned for subsidised book, PR has 'opportunity to indirectly guide his writing' and 'privilege of reviewing the final manuscript to go to the printers'—some PR men worry about bribing editors, but don't stop.
The way one ought to respond to these activi- ties—which go on in England too—is to be out- raged and sick to our stomachs. They are not funny and they are profoundly undesirable. A democracy with a widely extended franchise needs an educated electorate, and 'educated' must mean able to know what evidence to seek, where to find it, how to assess it on all important matters concerning private life or the polity. The deft crafts of the public relations man could well be turned, as they were to some extent in war.innel England, to informing the public on what!, need to know to be better and happier citizei; and individuals. Instead, they do their best irt ensure that only tainted evidence is placed he'n us; they are turned to debauching us for 10P0',t, 0 to choking the channels of communication order to make a world safe for business and 1, rotting our communities at their grassOn, Their world, says Mr. Ross, is one 'where 11'; cash nexus lies at the core of existence.' . want, however, to be regarded as profession'o cii, Illt men. They do not know and they have ,.,, their capacity for knowing what distinguish a profession from a trade. Some onus lies, however, on those of us l'btrc criticise them. Moral outrage is not enough. ',,,, have got to know, specifically and clearly. "I'', we consider it wrong and socially destructive l'e mislead people for profit. We have got to be quil,t certain why a snigger at their ingenuity is 11,, an adequate attitude towards the activities of l''' public relations tradesmen. Mr. Ross does°, exactly snigger, and he is certainly worried..13nl he is much too light and rather too obsequi°: Alan Harrington's Life in the 'Crystal Palace attacks the commerce-centred world irl'rl1 another angle. He spent some years working 'nk; large American corporation which was. as ". says, something of a utopia, something of a Pee.. feet Welfare State, and yet totally stultifying. HI,' book is perhaps a little self-pitying and goes
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far too long. But there is some good stuff in ''' What principally sticks in my mind was that the house magazine wasn't allowed to congratulate° the firm on some stroke or other; to have done would have implied the right, on other occasions' not to congratulate.
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