Rating: 
Summary: How "they" short-circuit our better judgment
Review: Douglas Rushkoff used to be a lot more hopeful that the rise of the Internet would free us from the "arms race" of manipulation and counter-manipulation to which we're subjected through the major media. He's changed his mind, in part because he found that his earlier work (notably the famous _Media Virus!_) was being taught in marketing classes to people who wanted to _create_ media viruses.But he hasn't turned into a pessimist; he still thinks we can break the cycle, and this book is supposed to help us do it. And given his subject, he writes with a refreshing lack of paranoia: he's well aware that all of these techniques are (a) based on common features of "human nature" that ordinarily serve us just fine, and (b) used all the time, to some degree, by all of us. "We are all coercers," he says," and we are all coerced." As you read the book, it will help to be aware of something Rushkoff doesn't actually get around to explaining until his closing chapter: by "coercion" he means the sort of "persuasion" that is intended to make it difficult or impossible for us to exercise our better judgment -- as distinguished from genuine, no-scare-quotes persuasion, which engages our reason rather than trying to short-circuit it. Bear that in mind if you think -- as I initially did -- that he's confusing coercion and persuasion. What he's actually talking about is what people of approximately my generation would at one time have called a "mind-cop." (That term, by the way, has very nearly the same literal meaning as "geneivat da'at," or "stealing the mind" -- a term used in Jewish law for certain sorts of deception.) I assume no reader of this page will need me to explain that there's something ethically wrong with such practices, even though they fall short of physical force or the threat thereof. Indeed, by my lights, the sort of thing Rushkoff writes about, being a violation of the integrity of the mind, seems somehow _more_ wrong than the "initiation of force." At any rate the subject should be of interest to a wide range of readers. I'll single out two kinds: (1) readers interested in the psychology of judgment and decision-making (and see Scott Plous's excellent book of that title for a good introduction), and (2) law students. (Yes, law students. It's relevant to all sorts of questions that arise in the study of the law: How are juries persuaded? When may a contract be rescinded? Why does the law protect stuff like "brand identities" and "public images"?) Rushkoff's discussion covers a pretty wide range of methods, from advertising to PR, from "atmospherics" to pyramid schemes. One of his greatest strengths is his ability to draw parallels between, for example, CIA interrogation techniques and Nazi rallies, on the one hand, and sales techniques on the other, _without_ making you feel as though he's pushing a wild-eyed conspiracy theory. The narrative is also peppered with on-point personal anecdotes, and his passages on "cults" are downright spine-tingling. (And if you've ever felt a little funny about the popularity of Dale Carnegie's famous book, you'll like what Rushkoff has to say about it.) Above all, don't make the mistake of dismissing Rushkoff as a "leftist" (as he says has happened to him). The political division between "right" and "left" is so malleable as to be almost meaningless. The relevant political division is between authoritarians/corporatists/statists and libertarians/populists, and Rushkoff is firmly in the anti-"authoritarian" camp. He's under no illusion that the government is going to Protect Us From All This; indeed some of his own examples demonstrate just the opposite. He's out to free us, not find a new way to enslave us. Rushkoff's musings on the nature of "coercion" should also lead us to reflect on the nature of the "free market." According to libertarians (including me), the "free market" is simply the society that results when people respect each other's rights/integrity and engage one another only in voluntary relationships. But can a relationship based on "coercion," based on getting the other person to exercise something less than his or her best judgment, indeed based on anything less than full disclosure and fully informed consent, really be called voluntary? If not, then the old Roman-law-based "caveat emptor" standard doesn't belong in the _real_ free market, and a very great deal of what we've been _told_ is the "free market" is really something else. A genuinely free market, in which all "exchanges" were truly informed and voluntary, would be communitarian rather than corporate-statist -- less, that is, like the military-industrial complex and more like a Grateful Dead concert ;-). Anyway, Rushkoff's book is very nicely done, and bound to appeal to those of us who think we're skilled in the art of "crap detecting" -- a phrase I first encountered nearly thirty years ago in the brilliant _Teaching as a Subversive Activity_, by Neil Postman and Charles Weingartner. If you've read that book, or even if you just like the title, you'll like Rushkoff as well.
Rating: 
Summary: A look at salemenship for a consumer
Review: Douglass Rushkoff , to put it simply, here tells us about the psychology of a purchase, whether we are sold on a product, service, idiology, or way of life. He explains the strategies and techniques used to get us from a "no" to a "yes", using case studies, interviews, and analysis of several different kinds of sales. Some of the techniques he explains are relatively benign, but Mr. Rushkoff spends most of his time exposing some of the more subversive and invasive techniques of marketing. He sees salesmenship and marketing as an exercise in mind control, which, to a large degree, it is. In doing so, he is raising questions about our consumer society, giving us a critique of ourselves, our way of life, and capitalism itself (Though I doubt he's a socialist). He is simply being honest. I guess the question he seams to be raising with this book is "To what degree have we allready been "coerced" into our current way of life?". Of course, the real answer to that question is: Completely. The quickest way to explain this book is that it is a book on salesmenship, marketing, and propaganda, not for a salesman or marketing specialist, but for a consumer.
Rating: 
Summary: coercive tactics presenting coercive tactics
Review: i first read this book last year and it blew my mind. since then i have read alot of political authors including but not limited to noam chomsky, morris berman, howard zinn, al frankin, micheal moore etc. and i recently reread this book. i was rather dissapointed the second time.
coercion is a rather elementary look at manipulation compared to other cultural and media analysts but it cant be denied that rushkoff presents the basic facts that millions still dont even recognize or even seem to care about their manipulation. His basic argument "why we listen to what they say" is a beuatiful yet huanting line which is relevant in our everday lives, and yet the majority of us dont even question it. it is imperative that we understand all different forms of maniplulation and or take action to subverse the medias teaching. i reccomend, if you would like to get more in depth, read any of the authors listed above.
Rating:
Summary: Why we buy?
Review: I was wondering why I bought this tape. Well, it was because Walgreen's had a bunch of bargain tapes prominently featured in their store, and the music playing had a subliminal message that said buy me. Seriously, Rushkoff does a good job of detailing how people are influenced to buy a product, subscribe to a belief, or follow a messianic leader.
I think Rushkoff is suspious of all people or companies trying to sell a product. However, in most cases, he details how Western style societies have been influenced by consumerism, and how companies have refined their selling habits to sell their services and products. Rushkoff does not just stop at the selling of products. He talks about why people join and stay in cults, why people follow political leaders, the effects of the worldwide web and internet on people, and pyramid schemes. In modern marketing, as well as these, people are coerced in subscribing to alien beliefs or products. This is why people need to understand these principles in order to avoid the damage of coercion on their person.
The book is relatively interesting. A good book for those interested in the decision making process of the Western consumer.
Rating:
Summary: Why we buy?
Review: I was wondering why I bought this tape. Well, it was because Walgreen's had a bunch of bargain tapes prominently featured in their store, and the music playing had a subliminal message that said buy me. Seriously, Rushkoff does a good job of detailing how people are influenced to buy a product, subscribe to a belief, or follow a messianic leader.
I think Rushkoff is suspious of all people or companies trying to sell a product. However, in most cases, he details how Western style societies have been influenced by consumerism, and how companies have refined their selling habits to sell their services and products. Rushkoff does not just stop at the selling of products. He talks about why people join and stay in cults, why people follow political leaders, the effects of the worldwide web and internet on people, and pyramid schemes. In modern marketing, as well as these, people are coerced in subscribing to alien beliefs or products. This is why people need to understand these principles in order to avoid the damage of coercion on their person.
The book is relatively interesting. A good book for those interested in the decision making process of the Western consumer.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Introduction To Coercive Mindwars
Review: Rushkoff's most solid and well-written book to date, an excellent introductory overview of the coercive tactics and techniques used by Internet e-commerce merchants, multi-level marketing personnel, car dealers, and the U.S. military (the 'appeal to a general and broad readership audience' hot-button). Rushkoff offers insights from his own consulting career, revealing that issues aren't as simplistic or ideologically pure as is sometimes portrayed (the 'response to critics' and 'juicy inside gossip' hot-buttons). The index and bibliography are well worth pursuing, including Philip Kotler's seminal 'atmospherics in shopping malls/casinos' work, Noam Chomsky's de-construction of thought control in 'democratic' societies, Peter Watson and Christopher Simpson's review of psychological warfare techniques used on domestic populations (car salespeople using CIA interrogation manuals to increase sales), or Robert Dilt's study of the neurological basis of NLP (the 'appeal to authority', 'appeal to power', and 'appeal to specialist, esoteric areas' hot-buttons). In an escalating arms race, it's no longer just persuasion (Vance Packard) or influence (Robert B. Cialdini), but coercion. Buy a copy for yourself and one for your friends! (the 'if all else fails, make the buyer feel fearful' hot-button). Have I coerced you into pressing 'buy' yet?
Rating:
Summary: A difficult read.
Review: This book is a little long which, for me, translates to it having missed the mark. Although I've a long standing belief that people are coerced into acting, buying and believing a variety of things as a result of the manipulation of truths and half truths and had hoped to find evidence for support, I'm sorry to say I did not. The opening chapter's examples amounted to childish story telling and it wasn't until much later in the book that Mr. Rushkoff opened the door, ever so slightly and much too late, to reveal a place where untold millions are spent to fool and deceive. Too little too late, for me.
Rating:
Summary: Highly recommended!
Review: This is a very interesting book written by a very accessible author. The book deconstructs the various methods of control that big business exerts over consumers. Persuasion is the use of logic to steer someone's mind but coercion is a subtle and behind-the-scenes attempt to fool a person into thinking or buying something. It is trickery of the mind. This book is not only a great read for those interested in psychology, marketing, advertising, politics and culture, but it is usefully enlightening to the average citizen who is the target of these disturbing practices.
Rating:
Summary: mediocre and annoying
Review: This is a very mediocre book, and somewhat annoying to read. It is annoying because Rushkoff attempts to coerce the reader into accepting his subjective views with a breathless, repetitive use of the same adjectives and opinions throughout. It is mediocre because it is short on substantive research - either psychological or market research; possibly, a lot of the good market research is proprietary. Its strong points are Rushkoff's anecdotes, and some good summaries of what is going on in marketing, including advertising, sales environment, and salesmanship. Incidentally, I am fairly liberal, so it is not my ideology speaking.
Rating:
Summary: Effective mix of empirical and anecdotatal evidence...
Review: This is an enlightening read--a broad overview of subtle coercion and a definitive explanation of the ubiquitous "they" who have so much influence over most of us. From Rushkoff's explication of atmospherics (how businesses use subtle changes in shopping environments to make people stay longer and spend more) to a detailed exploration of how cults get and retain members (a chilling analysis), this book shines a light on some otherwise dark corners of persuasion. But most importantly, it acts as an antidote. Most forms of subtle persuasion don't work when its targets realize the existence of the persuasive technique. This book arms its readers with an arsenal of knowledge, debunking the power of "they." I strongly recommend. I couldn't put it down.
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