After much thought, I have come to the conclusion that I want to extend my interest in “Wants” (see http://Wants.Blog ) to more professional, career oriented “business interests“.
Over the years. I have noticed that very few people seem to be aware of the fact that business actually refers to the state of being busy. Likewise, the “milieu” concept seems rather nebulous to most, even though the word is quite obviously internationally known and dates back several millennia (at least).
Therefore, I hope to shed more light on these issues by creating a new website devoted to “Milieus Networking” (see http://Milieus.Blog ). Although John C. Dvorak (see “Life is a Scam“) was really the first person to direct my attention to milieus (see e.g. “Mainstream Milieus” and other articles about the “milieu” concept), I feel that it is through the writing of Edward Bernays that the importance of the linguistic nature of business activity became much more clear and focused to me:
it is one of the functions of the public relations counsel to discover at what points his client’s interests coincide with those of other individuals or groups
Edward Bernays, “Propaganda”, p. 59
and furthermore:
Such coincidence and overlapping of interests is as infinite as the interlacing of group formations themselves. For example, a railway wishes to develop its business. The counsel on public relations makes a survey to discover at what points its interests coincide with those of its prospective customers. The company then establishes relations with chambers of commerce along its right of way and assists them in developing their communities. It helps them to secure new plants and industries for the town. It facilitates business through the dissemination of technical information. It is not merely a case of bestowing favors in the hope of receiving favors; these activities of the railroad, besides creating good will, actually promote growth on its right of way. The interests of the railroad and the communities through which it passes mutually interact and feed one another.
Edward Bernays, “Propaganda”, p. 60
Unlike Edward Bernays, I view business networking as an element of the interactions among people in the ways the use and implement natural language and also cultural activities and norms in their own daily life. So, in contrast to the traditional advertising model, I believe people do not orient their behavior to the advice of leaders, spokespersons, role models, etc. I believe they act according to their own convictions — albeit these convictions are expressed, as Wittgenstein was want to saying, in languages which thereby (i.e. “naturally“) sort of limited their own powers (or “ability” or perhaps “capability”) of expression (see also “The further on I go, the less I know” and other articles about “Wittgenstein“).
