Demagoguery and Propaganda
The leading sources of hate, bigotry, ignorance and misinformation now -- are the very institutions once formed to combat hate, bigotry, ignorance and misinformation -- because they’ve learned, if nothing else, how to do the opposite. No, not ridding the world of hate, bigotry, ignorance and misinformation -- but creating anti-hate, anti-bigotry, anti-ignorance and anti-misinformation techniques and propaganda, which is the original problem in a modified form.
That is the misguided efforts of the mainstream (mass) media -- in thinking if they just provided as much conservative demagoguery as they do liberal demagoguery -- that somehow, they have brought truth to the people, rather than multiplied the confusion. What is needed is simply the straightforward truth of the matter -- without having to muddle through all the lies, distortions and manipulations beforehand -- but that would be a rather short story, and they are paying them by the word, and are mesmerized with their own words, as though anybody else were.
The reader on the other hand, wants as much information as possible with the least expenditure of time and effort -- rather than having to enroll for a 15-year course or sign up for a lifetime subscription -- to get the information he wants right now for the urgency they are confronting. In 15 years, or a lifetime, they will have forgotten what the question they asked was, before having embarked on their tortuous journey through life -- with bad teachers, guides and informants all waiting to exploit them for their own benefit.
So the whole trick in life, is to find that which is truth -- in the haystack of falsehoods. That would be a meaningful and valuable education -- deliberately not taught in schools, because knowing that would free one from the reliance on teachers, gurus, all the self-proclaimed and self-appointed experts who think it is their job to do the thinking for everyone else. That is the training ground for demagoguery and propaganda -- the belief that there are these self-chosen few who know the truth, and whose authority are never to be questioned.
These demagogues are positioned everywhere in society -- exploiting gullibility and trust, demanding that you believe whatever they say, at face value. They expect us to believe that sharp criticism of opposing authority figures while high praise for themselves sent by anonymous “objective“ people, is not written by themselves using the multiple aliases they have created to deceive people of their influence and popularity.
Every article they write though, is this long-winded, muddled, tortuous journey of one implausibility after another -- having little to do with any reality. They just want you to BELIEVE. No facts, no clarity, no appeal to intelligence -- but just one insult to intelligence after another, hoping to find the ripe audience.
People sometimes ask me what is my fixed position on any matter -- as though I should have made up my mind before hearing the facts -- or even understanding the meaning of the question, which is usually prejudicial to the answer they wish to hear. The first task of a decision-maker is to find out what the facts are, and the prejudices implied, rather than already having their minds made up -- which is a closed and biased mind. Those are not the kind of people you should choose as leaders; they will alway be followers and conformists no matter how padded their resumes to make them seem impressive.
posted by Mike Hu @ 7:40 AM
4 comments
4 Comments:
When I go out campaigning person to person, I'm just as interested in finding out who these people are -- as I am in telling them who I am.
I think that is a shcok for many -- who are not used to thinking of government as an interactive process -- because they are used to the old mas media model of one-way, unilateral communcations and directives from government officials.
That kind of centralized decision-making and autocratic power will obviously diminish in the society and culture of the 21st century -- not because I SAY SO but because it is the long term trend towards greater freedom and autonomy that is the history of humankind.
People wish to be free, to make the decisions affecting their own lives -- and don't want to surrender their choices to a greater overriding power.
The movement towards freedom and greater choice is not a temporary fad -- that people will get over. It is the hallmark of all life -- although undoubtedly at times, demagogues arise thinking that is not so.
These people are characterized by their authoritarian personalities -- as opposed to egalitarian impulses. It's a manner of dealing with people directly -- as equals, which betrays most liberals who have this attitude of knowing more than everybody else -- that is not justified in anything they say or do.
The most difficult thing for the “old” mind to deal with, is the “new” reality that they don’t have, nor can they control all the information -- which was the basis of their advantage over another. “Liberals” are not essentially egalitarians but are at heart, elitists, and that’s why they are the most disrupted and threatened in the new world order -- and think it is all Bush’s fault that their esteemed positions in society are eroded. There is something much more profound at work -- and has been at work for several decades now -- beginning with the decentralized model of information processing that the personal computer made possible.
Up to that point, the paradigm of society was highly centralized information processing represented by the IBM mainframe, that required everybody to run their vast data through these very large and expensive machines controlled by a few people. Transportation, education, everything else was designed in that mass, centralized model. There were a lot of casualties along the way. Suprersized boom boxes gave way to the Sony Walkman. Cell phones replaced the landline phone system -- one used to have to be plugged into.
A lot of people cannot deal with this new world because they are essentially hierarchic in orientation -- concerned with dominance and control over every other. That kind of interpersonal skills become obsolete -- controlling, disempowering, manipulative, deceptive, secretive, uncommunicative. Demagogic personalities and tactics are very easy to spot; what is amazing is how the mainstream media chooses such people as their own icons and role models. Undoubtedly, it says something about them.
By lying, cheating and stealing to win, if one is successful, one is then convinced that the ONLY way they can win in life is by lying, cheating and stealing -- which has disastrous effects on one's life and relationships.
That is how ruthless ambition destroys.
Candidates in Focus Schedule:
This should be the last of the broadcasts.
CIF General: 4 Kaimuki to Waikiki to Moiliilo to Manoa to Makiki FOCUS
11/5/2006 8:00:00 PM New and incumbent candidates are provided an opportunity to tape a five minute message. Election
CIF General: 4 Kaimuki to Waikiki to Moiliilo to Manoa to Makiki FOCUS
11/6/2006 6:30:00 AM New and incumbent candidates are provided an opportunity to tape a five minute message. Election
CIF General: 4 Kaimuki to Waikiki to Moiliilo to Manoa to Makiki FOCUS
11/7/2006 1:00:00 AM New and incumbent candidates are provided an opportunity to tape a five minute message. Election
But I expect that the blog will endure past the election -- win or lose.
Many have tried a campaign blog but few have been able to sustain regular, frequent postings -- with orginal content.
He who can create original content, drives the blogosphere -- because everybody else will copy -- some sooner than later.
I always thought that just as important as electing great leaders like Governor Lingle, we needed to upgrade the demand for great leaders by raising the intellectual quality and dialogue.
Then people can more easily recognize the good as the familiar -- as well as the bad which they are too familiar with, and often is the only thing they are allowed to see.
It doesn't have to be everybody who can recognize that difference; what matters is that there are a few who can -- and those few have always made the difference.
It's the difference between mass media and targeted media: there are people out there seeking that message -- while there are many others who aren't prepared to hear that message -- and shouting louder isn't going to help, or nagging persistently.
Those are all well-proven failures in human relations and interactions -- but that doesn't stop people from persisting at things that aren't working, and probably have never worked, but that is what everybody does as a ritualized behavior.
There is no understanding of cause and effect (causation). One merely does the ritual hoping to appease and please the arbitrary gods -- who may relent and shower blessings on one.
One sees the same kind of ritualized behavior in every field -- most notably, exercise and conditioning strategies -- in which there is little understanding that certain movements produce a very specific effect, and not just any movement because they consume the same amount of calories (energy). That's why some people become great athletes while others are in terrible condition -- despite often expending more energy.
Champion athletes (performaers) are actually the most energy-efficient at their skill -- that is the distinguishing quality no matter what the activity or the task.
They eliminate everyting that isn't necessary -- rather than adding more endlessly.
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