636: Target-Covered Teens: Obstacles and Doorways To Teenage Self-Knowledge (with Jim Hood)

"Target-Covered" is a reference to the array of political and corporate interests trying to harness adolescent angst for their own purposes. And yes, "Teens" is in the title, but this is a conversation for everyone. Jim and I will begin by discussing the 20th century history of this problem, through the work of Edward Bernays, the father of public relations. In his book Propaganda, Bernays wrote "The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country. We are governed, our minds are molded, our tastes formed, and our ideas suggested, largely by men we have never heard of…. It is they who pull the wires that control the public mind." This leads us to questions we'd love young people to ask themselves: - Have you ever stopped to reflect on how you became who you are? To question your values, beliefs, where they came from? - Once you stop to think about it, is that what you really want? Or who you really are? We'll then cover several self-exploration exercises, including a values assessment from Test Drive Your Future, DISC styles, Love Languages Branden's The Art of Self Discovery, and Peterson's Self-Authoring program. Jim Hood is a father, entrepreneur, eventual autodidact, and a School Sucks listener. He and his wife Beth are also authors of a book called Test Drive Your Future, which has now evolved into an online course. If you are a self-educating teen or the parent of any teen with college and career decisions on the horizon, it's worth your time (and financial security) to check out their work. The course focuses on helping teens choose a college and career path that fits their skills and talents, avoids massive student debt, and helps them stay interested, inspired and growing. Here's the link: Test Drive Your Future Jim will also join SSP as a monthly correspondent, to help us keep our ear to the street on this college and career (or lack thereof) crisis so many young people face. Jim and I both entered college at the same time, both on autopilot, and we're now committed to helping others avoid our mistakes. The downloadable version of The Ideas Into Action Summit is now available. Visit sspuniversity.com/ideasintoaction to learn more about the presenters, topics, bonus materials and encore presentation. Please Support School Sucks We do cool things! Thanks to your support. School Sucks is one of the longest running liberty-minded podcasts on the web, and the only one completely devoted to the issue of education (versus public school and college). Your support keeps the show going and growing, which keeps us at the top of the options for education podcasts and leads to new people discovering our work. Please help us continue to spread this important message further! Before you do anything, please bookmark and use this link for your Amazon shopping: Shop With Us One-Time Donation Options: Paypal/Venmo; Donate DASH Donate ETHEREUM Donate LITECOIN Donate BITCOIN Donate BITCOIN CASH Donate ZCASH Recurring Options: NEW! SubscribeStar Access our personal development bonus show, The Discomfort Zone, and lots of other irreverent and acerbic commentary you've never heard before. Support Us On PATREON Help incentivize our production! Pledge $1 per content item and access dozens of Patron only audios and videos. Join the A/V Club If you're looking for more School Sucks content, the A/V Club option grants you access to a bonus content section with 400+ hours of exclusive audio and video. If you are a regular consumer of our media, please consider making a monthly commitment by selecting the best option for you... A/V Club - Basic Access - $8.00/Month A/V Club - "Advanced" Access - $12.00/Month Sigma Sigma Pi - "Privileged" Access - $16.00/Month   Crypto Addresses: DASH; XcZfPP6GZGVo9VKViNBVJZja5JVxZDB229 ETHEREUM; 0x3c5504CE3401C028832173506fa30BD4db4b7D35 LITECOIN; LKNp24f5wwvZ2QzeDbvxXgBxyVwi1yXnu2 BITCOIN; 1KhwY836cfSGCK5aaGFv8Q7PHMgghFJn1U BITCOIN CASH 1AmqLVxjw3Lp9KT5ckfvsqfN2Hn3B1hCWS ZCASH; t1by1ZGJ63LoLSjXy27ooJtipf4wMr7qbu4