We live in a culture where we’ve been conditioned to want ‘stuff and things’ we don’t really need. The marketing language of persuasion is very powerful in the media and throughout society. Edward Bernays is considered to be the father of public relations. His work on the engineering of consent and crystallizing public opinion is widely recognized. He was instrumental in helping to create a culture of desires rather than needs. And we’ve been trained to think we need luxury items beyond the call of human comprehension in order to feel like worthy, happy, superior people. Interestingly, Bernay’s most famous work is entitled Propaganda. It was published in 1928!  Am I a better, superior and more valuable and popular person if I wear “7s” vs. Wranglers? Young people are particularly vulnerable to these types of messages. The selling of innumerable products fuels and permeates our culture on a 24/7 basis. And these values are absorbed by people of all ages.