Brainwashing in Corporate America

The concept of brainwashing, in one form or another, has been around for centuries. The existence of mind-control, behaviour modification, or "re-education" is acknowledged by the American Psychiatric Association (APA), although the depth and longevity of results is still being hotly disputed by the experts. What is universally agreed upon is that it most certainly does exist, it most certainly is effective to at least some degree, and it is more widely in use today than at any other time in history.

A while back, I had the distinct "pleasure" of being subject to a brainwashing exercise courtesy of my employer, a very large corporation based in the US, which I will call the Evil Empire. It was a required course for all members of management, and proposed to be titled "Labor Relations." What it turned out to be was a not-even-thinly-disguised anti-union class. As this one day class progressed, I marvelled at the indoctrination techniques being put into play, and their effectiveness on various members of the class.

When the APA first officially recognized the term "brainwashing", they included a list of the steps used by a controller to effect the thought modification. These steps, done in any order, do lead to a certain level of response by just about every person subjected to them. They are:
-sleep deprivation
-partial sensory deprivation
-dehumanizing of individuals
-psychological harassment
-inculcation of guilt
-group social pressure

So how does the Evil Empire "brainwash" their managers, some of whom are strongly pro-union, to their own point of view? To begin with, all classes are scheduled to begin relatively early in the morning, usually at a point distant from any of the participants. Ours began at 8am and was located over an hour away from us. There was not one participant in the class who lived closer. I have since found this is typical for these classes, although I am sure our Evil Empire trainer would insist that "central locations" are chosen for the "convenience of all." Regardless of the reasoning behind it, the result is that most members of the class have woken up very early and driven a good distance to be there, and most were tired. Is it sleep deprivation? Probably not, but it is as close as a one-day class is probably going to get.

Next, we were sent to a small room in the back of the building. The door was closed, a fan was turned on that served to block out all outside noise, the lights were turned off to allow us to watch a video, food and drinks were prohibited, and everyone was instructed to remain quiet. Sensory deprivation?

After the video, the lights were turned back on and our trainer began by asking everyone to participate in some "team spirit" exercises. These were boring and repetitive, but began to merge the lines of individuality. Never in the entire day was a class member called by their name, despite name badges being clearly visible on each. Furthermore, restroom visits, food and drinks, freedom of movement, and communication with anyone outside were all highly restricted.

Next, another video was played that was paused every few seconds for questions and answers. The trainer asked the question, and the class was required to answer. The answers had to be "according to the script" or the responder became the object of subtle derogation, humor, and in some cases, outright defamation. The trainer engaged the rest of the class in participating whenever someone "stepped out of line" or "got it wrong" to help teach them "the right way." Every idea or opinion or question put forward was subject to such ridicule and argument that by lunchtime, most people in the class had stopped taking the risk of speaking up entirely. The trainer kept insisting that "open discussion" is encouraged and then squelching any such thing.

After a very brief lunch break, guilt was introduced. Those who spoke up were "slowing the class down" and were going to prevent everyone from getting home on time. Those who disagreed with the corporate policy on any issue were "not a team player" and "causing harm to their co-workers" with such a "destructive mentality." Those who simply asked questions for clarification or understanding were subject to further humiliation "come on...we've been over all this already....do you need us to go back to the beginning?" and more guilt was employed "I know you all have to go to the bathroom pretty badly by now, but we really need to stay here until Mrs. X understands the point." It did not take much of this for the the rest of the class to stop speaking entirely except to repeat, en masse, the slogans and statements given to them to say.

The net lesson of this entire class was as follows: Unions are evil. They hurt the workers in EVERY situation. They will hurt YOU. They will hurt your friends. They do no good for anyone, ever. Your employer loves you and does everything possible to keep you happy. Your employer is all you ever need. Your employer's policies can resolve every situation no matter what it is, and the resolution will be right and just. Anyone who doesn't realize this just needs to be shown the light. Anyone who disputes this is just a troublemaker. If you don't help stop the troublemakers and show the light, you are a troublemaker yourself.

Numerous exercises were conducted that all had the exact same conclusion: the "good" employee stops the "troublemaker" from spreading lies, tells everyone how good the company is and how bad the troublemaker is, and then runs to upper management. Never was it suggested what the result of these actions might be. Never was it mentioned that it was possible for friends or family to lose their jobs over this. In fact, when I myself tried several times to steer the discussion to what might happen after upper management is contacted, the trainer very firmly stopped the discussion and changed the topic.

This was a one day class. Most training in this company consists of much longer days, at a location far enough away from home to require the employees to stay in a hotel, lasting for weeks. Discussion with other participants of these programs has made it clear to me that the same methods of brainwashing are used in all of them, usually much more aggressively. I made the comment, at the end of my own class, in a bright and cheerful and LOUD voice, that "my brain feels so squeaky clean now! All the bad thoughts have just washed down the drain!"

How do you feel about brainwashing in corporate America?