this matter clearly we must first understand the nature of free-
dom; and to do this we must differentiate between overt authority
and anonymous authority. ^*

Overt authority is exercised directly and explicitly. The person
in authority frankly tells the one who is subject to him, "You
must do this. If you do not, certain sanctions will be applied
against you." Anonymous authority tends to hide that force is be-
ing used. Anonymous authority pretends that there is no author-
ity, that all is done with the consent of the individual. While the
teacher of the past said to Johnny, "You must do this. If you
don't, I'll punish you"; today's teacher says, "I'm sure you'll like
to do this." Here, the sanction for disobedience is not corporal
punishment, but the suffering face of the parent, or what is
worse, conveying the feeling of not being "adjusted," of not
acting as the crowd acts. Overt authority used physical force;
anonymous authority employs psychic manipulation.

The change from the overt authority of the nineteenth cen-
tury to the anonymous authority of the twentieth was deter-
mined by the organizational needs of our modern industrial
society. The concentration of capital led to the formation of
giant enterprises managed by hierarchically organized bureauc-
racies. Large conglomerations of workers and clerks work to-
gether, each individual a part of a vast organized production
machine, which in order to run at all, must run smoothly and
without interruption. The individual worker becomes merely a
cog in this machine. In such a production organization, the
individual is managed and manipulated.

And in the sphere of consumption (in which the individual
allegedly expresses his free choice) he is likewise managed and
manipulated. Whether it be the consumption of food, clothing,
liquor, cigarettes, movies or television programs, a powerful sug-

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