Beyond the Century of Self: How Power, Psychology, and Persuasion Shape Our World (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9798267522359)

Why do we think our choices are "free" when so many are carefully engineered?

For over 100 years, psychology, advertising, politics, and media have been quietly rewiring society. From Freud's theories to modern data-driven marketing, we have lived through what many call the "Century of the Self", an era where consumerism, persuasion, and identity manipulation shaped nearly every aspect of modern life.

But as the world faces social unrest, political polarization, and digital surveillance, we must ask: what comes next?

Beyond the Century of Self is a sweeping investigation into how powerful institutions, from corporations to governments, learned to influence desire, emotions, and identity. Drawing from history, psychology, sociology, and cultural critique, Gale Benitez reveals the hidden story of how persuasion became one of the most powerful forces of the modern age.

• The birth of modern propaganda and how early psychologists helped corporations and governments manipulate the masses.

• How advertising created the "marketplace of me" where identity and consumerism became inseparable.

• Why democracies began to treat citizens like patients on the couch, guided more by emotion than reason.

• How the therapy culture reshaped politics, work, and personal life.

• The shift from counterculture to mainstream consumerism, how rebellion itself became a brand.

• The rise of data-driven persuasion and the age of surveillance capitalism.

• Why modern politics thrives on fear, emotion, and identity manipulation.

• The illusion of choice in a world where every option is pre-designed to keep us consuming.

• Where cracks are beginning to form in the mirror of the "self", and how we might break free.