(Heads up: this post is mostly about US policy, but the propaganda I'm going to talk about has impacted places all over the world)
So, you know that statistic people always cite, about how PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) euthanizes most of the animals it takes in? Or how the HSUS (Humane Society of the United States) doesn't financially support animal shelters?
Yeah, that's all disinformation cooked up by Richard Berman and The Center for Organization Research and Education (formerly The Center for Consumer Freedom, which you're more likely to have heard of):
Though Berman and his companies/front organizations have been involved in a lot of anti-environmental causes, they've also majorly impacted the US food and drink industry. There's a good chance that if you've heard any damning 'facts' about animal welfare organizations, unions, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, Greenpeace, the Food and Drug Administration, vegetarian/vegan food companies, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, green energy, or science-based research on the effects of food/drink/tobacco on human health, they started with Berman.
I've been checking in on this guy's evil exploits for years now, but almost no one in the US seems to have heard about him—let alone know how massively he's influenced US Americans' beliefs, the economy, politics, and (a lack of) government safety regulations in a variety of areas.
His organizations are supported by tobacco, beverage, and oil companies, as well as the animal-industrial complex. Their goals are, respectively: preventing laws that proposed to add warning labels to cigarettes or ban smoking in certain places; fighting Mothers Against Drunk Driving and preventing regulations that would tax soft drink companies; spreading disinformation about green energy, like solar and wind; and smearing food companies that make alternatives to animal products, like plant-based milks, fake meat, and egg substitutes.
All of these efforts are, of course, allegedly in the name of 'consumer freedom,' but I'm betting this information will shock absolutely no one:
He's a real dirt bag and we should all be aware of the lies he and his ilk have spread, because they're truly insidious. I've fallen for some of them before.
You can of course find more info about Berman on both the Wikipedia pages I linked to and from many other reputable organizations, but I wanted to share one more section from CORE's Wiki page:
Did you see that real sneaky one? The Environmental Policy Alliance? "You mean the EPA," you ask? Yeah, no, the real EPA is the Environmental Protection Agency. Meanwhile, the anti-vaccination, anti-trans American College of Pediatricians took a page out of Berman's playbook by giving themselves a name similar to the legitimate American Academy of Pediatrics.
Not only has Berman been directly responsible for a lot of disinformation, but his example has taught other people how to deceive and manipulate the public.
So, yeah. Go forth and be fucking skeptical.
