...suggest that signs or symbols in themselves have any magical force as narcotics. They are, rather, the only means by which groups not in a position to...stereotypization, oversimplification, and reassurance. There have, of course, been many instances of effective administration and enforcement of regulatory...

...law which permits the organized to pursue their interests effectively."2 8 Signs and symbols, then, are "the only means by which groups not in a position...stereotypization, oversimplification, and reassurance." 29 Edelman's theory suggests "a tie between the emergence of conditions promoting interests in symbolic...

...smokescreen - the opiate of the masses he did describe symbolic processes pejoratively (1964:40) as "the only means by which groups not in a position to analyze a complex system rationally may adjust themselves to it, through stereotypization, oversimplification, and reassurance."...