--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The Government set the stage economically…" description: "\"“The Government set the stage economically by informing everyone that we were in a depression period, with very pointed allusions to the 1930s. The per..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0a9/david-j-schow-60760_1980s_the-government-set-the-stage-economicall_2490247.jpg" --- # The Government set the stage economically by informing… ![“The Government set the stage economically by informing everyone that we were in a depression period, with very pointed allusions to the 1930s. The period just prior to our last 'good' war. ... Boiled down, our objective was to make killing and military life seem like adventurous fun, so for our…” quote by David J. Schow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0a9/david-j-schow-60760_1980s_the-government-set-the-stage-economicall_2490247.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0a9/david-j-schow-60760_1980s_the-government-set-the-stage-economicall_2490247.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0a9/david-j-schow-60760_1980s_the-government-set-the-stage-economicall_2490247.jpg) > ““The Government set the stage economically by informing everyone that we were in a depression period, with very pointed allusions to the 1930s. The period just prior to our last 'good' war. ... Boiled down, our objective was to make killing and military life seem like adventurous fun, so for our inspiration we went back to the Thirties as well. It was pure serendipity. Inside one of the Scripter offices there was an old copy of Doc Smith's first LENSMAN space opera. It turned out that audiences in the 1970s were more receptive to the sort of things they scoffed at as juvenilia in the 1930s. Our drugs conditioned them to repeat viewings, simultaneously serving the ends of profit and positive reinforcement. The movie we came up with stroked all the correct psychological triggers. The fact that it grossed more money than any film in history at the time proved how on target our approach was.' 'Oh my God... said Jonathan, his mouth stalling the open position. 'Six months afterward we ripped ourselves off and got secondary reinforcement onto television. We pulled a 40 share. The year after that we phased in the video games, experimenting with non-narcotic hypnosis, using electrical pulses, body capacitance, and keying the pleasure centers of the brain with low voltage shocks. Jesus, Jonathan, can you \*see\* what we've accomplished? In something under half a decade we've programmed an entire generation of warm bodies to go to war for us and love it. They buy what we tell them to buy. Music, movies, whole lifestyles. And they hate who we tell them to. ... It's simple to make our audiences slaver for blood; that past hasn't changed since the days of the Colosseum. We've conditioned a whole population to live on the rim of Apocalypse and love it. They want to kill the enemy, tear his heart out, go to war so their gas bills will go down! They're all primed for just that sort of denouemment, ti satisfy their need for linear storytelling in the fictions that have become their lives! The system perpetuates itself. Our own guinea pigs pay us money to keep the mechanisms grinding away. If you don't believe that, just check out last year's big hit movies... then try to tell me the target demographic audience isn't waiting for marching orders. ("Incident On A Rainy Night In Beverly Hills")”” [David J. Schow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-j-schow/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote describes how media and entertainment were deliberately engineered to glorify war and manipulate public sentiment, using psychological triggers and technology to turn audiences into eager participants in conflict. **In simple terms:** Media was designed to make war seem exciting and to control public opinion. Key Takeaway Recognize and question media narratives that glorify violence. Themes propaganda media manipulation psychology war technology consumerism Mood cautious critical concerned Type analytical critical explanatory When to use this quote - film marketing - video game design - advertising campaigns - political speeches - social media algorithms Key Concepts behavioral conditioning mass persuasion cultural engineering Questions to Reflect On - How does media shape your perception of conflict? - What ethical limits should exist for persuasive technologies? A Different Perspective The claim may exaggerate causality and overlook audience agency and diverse interpretations. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [1930S Drugs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/1930s-drugs-957804/) [1930S Period](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/1930s-period-957806/) [1970S Receptive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/1970s-receptive-957807/) [1980s](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/zz-1980s-459/) [80s](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/zz-80s-1090/) [Allusions 1930S](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/allusions-1930s-957805/) [Beverly hills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beverly-hills/) [Blockbusters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blockbusters/) [Cinema](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cinema/) [Conspiracy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conspiracy/) [Entertainment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/entertainment/) [Guinea pig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/guinea-pig/) [Hollywood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hollywood/) [Military life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/military-life/) [Movies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/movies/) [Oh my god](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/oh-my-god/) [Politics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/politics/) [Positive reinforcement](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/positive-reinforcement/) [Rainy night](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rainy-night/) [Six months](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/six-months/) [Star wars](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/star-wars/) [Thirties](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thirties/) [Video games](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/video-games/) [War](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war/) ## Related quotes > [“Our friend Ian, an Episcopal priest, taught us something I’d never heard, something that shaped all of us: on a rainy night, with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shauna-niequist/our-friend-ian-an-episcopal-priest-taught-us-something-i-d-never/) [Shauna Niequist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shauna-niequist/) > [There is something about the name Berlin that evokes an image of men in hats and long coats standing under streetlamps on rainy nights.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-larson/there-is-something-about-the-name-berlin-that-evokes-an-image-of-men/) [Erik Larson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-larson/) > [I have now and again tried to imagine the perfect environment, the ideal conditions for reading: A worn leather armchair on a rainy night?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-dirda/i-have-now-and-again-tried-to-imagine-the-perfect-environment-the/) [Michael Dirda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-dirda/) > [“I want you to get a haircut so you don't look like Ish Kabibble on a rainy night.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-l-doctrow/i-want-you-to-get-a-haircut-so-you-don-t-look-like-ish-kabibble-on-a/) [E. 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That's something to be proud of.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jani-lane/eventually-our-kind-of-music-whether-it-s-us-or-motley-or-poison-of/) [Jani Lane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jani-lane/) > [Back in the 1980s, state-of-the-nation fictions were all set in Manhattan. Now, they're all in Trump country. Early in 'S-Town,' we're introduced to an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hepworth/back-in-the-1980s-state-of-the-nation-fictions-were-all-set-in/) [David Hepworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hepworth/) > [“Reading about Bordertown was the first time I saw people like me in speculative fiction. Messed-up kids, making messsed-up choices. I couldn't be a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/holly-black/reading-about-bordertown-was-the-first-time-i-saw-people-like-me-in/) [Holly Black](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/holly-black/) > [I was kind of freaked out by the art world in the 1980s. Just the money thing. All the competition over artists.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-gordon/i-was-kind-of-freaked-out-by-the-art-world-in-the-1980s-just-the/) [Kim Gordon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-gordon/) > [I remain extraordinarily proud of the Vaughan Williams symphonies I recorded with the LSO, and in the 1980s and '90s, I made an almost…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-previn/i-remain-extraordinarily-proud-of-the-vaughan-williams-symphonies-i/) [Andre Previn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-previn/) [Browse all 91 1980s quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/zz-1980s-459/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“The Government set the stage economically by informing everyone that we were in a depression period, with very pointed allusions to the 1930s. The period just prior to our last 'good' war. ... Boiled down, our objective was to make killing and military life seem like adventurous fun, so for our inspiration we went back to the Thirties as well. It was pure serendipity. Inside one of the Scripter offices there was an old copy of Doc Smith's first LENSMAN space opera. It turned out that audiences in the 1970s were more receptive to the sort of things they scoffed at as juvenilia in the 1930s. Our drugs conditioned them to repeat viewings, simultaneously serving the ends of profit and positive reinforcement. The movie we came up with stroked all the correct psychological triggers. The fact that it grossed more money than any film in history at the time proved how on target our approach was.' 'Oh my God... said Jonathan, his mouth stalling the open position. 'Six months afterward we ripped ourselves off and got secondary reinforcement onto television. We pulled a 40 share. The year after that we phased in the video games, experimenting with non-narcotic hypnosis, using electrical pulses, body capacitance, and keying the pleasure centers of the brain with low voltage shocks. Jesus, Jonathan, can you *see* what we've accomplished? In something under half a decade we've programmed an entire generation of warm bodies to go to war for us and love it. They buy what we tell them to buy. Music, movies, whole lifestyles. And they hate who we tell them to. ... It's simple to make our audiences slaver for blood; that past hasn't changed since the days of the Colosseum. We've conditioned a whole population to live on the rim of Apocalypse and love it. They want to kill the enemy, tear his heart out, go to war so their gas bills will go down! They're all primed for just that sort of denouemment, ti satisfy their need for linear storytelling in the fictions that have become their lives! The system perpetuates itself. Our own guinea pigs pay us money to keep the mechanisms grinding away. If you don't believe that, just check out last year's big hit movies... then try to tell me the target demographic audience isn't waiting for marching orders. (\"Incident On A Rainy Night In Beverly Hills\")”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "David J. 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