The power of suggestion
and its effect on all Americans

By Henri D. Kahn

Voodoo, curanderos, the media, organized religion; all masters of the power of suggestion.
If you are Haitian, a headless bloody chicken nailed to your front door is a surefire suggestion that you are in trouble. The fear and stress of the message conveyed by the bloody chicken will invade your mind and may drive you insane or kill you.
Curanderos, spiritual witch doctors found throughout Mexican American communities, cure many people of a variety of psychosomatic symptoms.
Treatment involves eerie chants to emphasize exorcism, lighted candles, pungent incense, statues and pictures of Jesus Christ, the Blessed Virgin, and various other icons prominently displayed in a dimly lit room. All of these "props" with the hum of eerie chants and mumbo jumbo substantiate the curandero's suggestion that if you recite an assigned prayer, light a candle at midnight each day for a week, you will be cured. If your problem is more critical the period of candle lighting is extended even further.
This power of suggestion employed by the curandero has an amazing percentage of success.
If you want a quick at-hand example of the power of suggestion, go to downtown Laredo and you will find various stores selling cans of spray that suggest a women will find the man of her dreams, propel a man's virility to studhood, or cure a variety of other personal problems. All of this with a whiff of an aerosol spray.
Organized religious sects thrive on the power of suggestion.
It is impossible to refute the suggestions that there is a land of milk and honey waiting for us in the "hereafter" as long as we conform to a sect's rules and regulations.
Spiritual life after death cannot be proven or disproved, but its reality can definitely be suggested.
The media sways, directs, and controls the opinion and beliefs or people throughout the world using the power of suggestion. They use innuendoes in virtually any scenario to create readership, attract viewers, and mesmerize listeners.
I witnessed a perfect example of the power of suggestion via innuendo, perpetrated by a TV reporter in San Antonio, Texas. Her name is Angela Vierville and the event occurred in the early 1970s.
Blue Cross and Blue Shield was experiencing some administrative problems caused by a botched change to a more sophisticated computer system designed to improve customer service. Claims were being overpaid, underpaid, and unpaid, causing quite a stir among the customers of the largest health insurer in the state of Texas.
Angela and her TV camera crew approached the beleaguered insurance company's San Antonio office. She and her motley crew were met at the entrance by the local manager who told her, "We have a business to run and your presence in the office will be very disruptive." Camera's rolling; Angela came back with, "You must be hiding something."
"Are you afraid we'll find out something you don't want the public to know?"
How about that for suggestion?
There is uncertainty about the measures of economic performance. Do measure of productivity, for example, accurately capture improvements in living standards?
Do measures of poverty accurately capture distress? The interpretation of performance is a matter of perception and appraisal.
Conniving CEOs are the main topic of every TV news and commentary programs. Even Mr. Brokaw, a respected journalist, has succumbed to the perception that the majority of publicly held corporations are guilty of crimes against investors and consequently their employees.
The national media is suggested that the majority of corporations in this county must be overhauled in order to keep American workers out of the poorhouse!
The vast majority of American businesses are legitimate enterprises run by legitimate, creative, hardworking executives.
The economy of this country is sound, but the media in its quest to be viewed, read, and heard continues to subscribe to the erotic news about the lifestyles of a few unscrupulous executives.
Finally, luck plays a certain part in everyone's life. You can be healthy, creative, productive, successful in your business, suffer an accident, and end up in a coma.
George W. Bush is an honest, hardworking man who, in my opinion, is a stroke of bad luck for the USA.
Our economy is basically sound, yet the stock market is as nervous as a bull in a china shop. Our country has a deficit of $136 billion which in reality is $400 billion. The $264 billion is being financed by Social Security.
President Bush is now pushing for a war with Iraq that will cost this country over $100 billion.
If you oppose this ridiculous scheme to attack Iraq, I suggest you write a letter to your Senator and Congressman to express your concern about the negative repercussions Bush's impending fiasco would have on our lives.
If you need the address of our political leaders, call me at 725-3