Those who want power over others have always manipulated public perception of the truth, but an Open Society (by Karl Popper's definition) was supposed to be re

Those who want power over others have always manipulated public perception of the truth, but an Open Society (by Karl Popper's definition) was supposed to be resistant to this in much the same way as the scientific process is resistant to it, through things like free speech, democratic debate, and freedom of the press. Today the ideal of the Open Society is in tatters largely because of systematic and relentless attacks on the truth. I think the seeds of many of our problems today are found in the birth of modern marketing and and the manufacture of "needs" to create a consumer society. And also, I think that the very idea of "intellectual property" is at odds with a commitment to truth and a truly open society. This combined with the fact that the primary beneficiaries of these two concepts also hold most of the economic power in our world create the fundamental distortion that has led to where we are today.