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Regardless of the political party you support, you are probably sick and tired of hearing politicians repeat the party line again and again ad infinitum.
As both parties are telling diametrically opposing stories, they're not just putting a spin on the truth. It's clear that somebody is lying. And that, in turn, should cause every voter to question everything that's being said to determine for themselves who is lying and who is telling the truth. Truth telling is always just a shade different for everyone, the tiny bit that reflects their individual perspective. But when EVERYBODY in a party is saying EXACTLY the same thing, that doesn't happen by accident. Have you ever told one person a rumor and had it come back to you later, a full blown scandal? Or even a joke? You simply would not recognize it. What would you have to do to have it returned to you EXACTLY as you told it? And to continue that way over time? Impossible. So this EXACTNESS is an indication that there is a campaign of lies, orchestrated and organized. In other words, PROPAGANDA. Amazingly, the politicians doing it seem to believe that participating in an organized campaign of propaganda to deceive the voters is somehow on a higher plane than common lying. That their lies won't be seen by the voters as representative of their honesty, morality and ethics. (Good luck with THAT one!) Excerpts below from "The Power of Words." PROPAGANDA (also called the Argumentum ad nauseam fallacy) This description of Propaganda has been condensed and paraphrased from the writings of, perhaps, the all time master of propaganda:
The more modest its intellectual ballast and the more exclusively it appeals to the emotions of the masses, the more effective it will be. For the overwhelming majority of people, sober reasoning determines their thoughts and actions far less than emotion and feeling. And this sentiment is very simple: it has no multiple shadings; no partialities, no gray areas. It has only a positive and a negative; love or hate, right or wrong, truth or lie. In propaganda there are no ambiguities or half truths that might give rise to doubts. From this the following rule results: The receptivity of the great masses is very limited, their intelligence is small, but their power of forgetting is enormous. In consequence, all effective propaganda must be limited to a very few points repeated over and over until the last member of the public understands and believes them. When there is a change and a slogan is presented from a different angle, it does not alter the content of what the propaganda is driving at. Only in this way can the propaganda have a unified and complete effect. Humanitarianism has no place in propaganda. Its function is not to weigh the rights of people, but to exclusively emphasize the aim which it has set out to gain. Its task is not to set the truth before the masses with fairness; its task is to serve its own goals, always and unflinchingly. Consequently, it is correct to load every bit of blame on others, even if this does not corresponded to the facts. As soon as propaganda admits so much as a glimmer of right on the other side, the foundation for doubt has been laid. In the words of the writer: "Here, too, the example of enemy war propaganda was typical; limited to a few points, devised exclusively for the masses, carried on with indefatigable persistence. Once the basic ideas and methods of execution were recognized as correct, they were applied throughout the whole War without the slightest change. At first the claims of the propaganda were so impudent that people thought it insane; later, it got on people's nerves; and in the end, it was believed. . . . And in England they understood one more thing: that this spiritual weapon can succeed only if it is applied on a tremendous scale, but that success amply covers all costs." Adolph Hitler, Mein Kampf, Vol. 1, Chapter 6, War Propaganda (I would call your attention to what is euphemistically referred to by our country's politicians as "talking points" and/or "staying on point." This is, in fact, brain washing!) On Aug 19, 1934, Adolf Hitler, already Chancellor, was elected president of Germany. ON THE NATURE OF TRUTH Truth and non-truth are in the use of language. To speak the truth is to say that which conforms to reality. Reality simply "is." There is nothing true or false in it until something is said about it. Most people, aware they do not know what the reality is, speak "opinion," qualifying their statements with "I think" or "I believe." Those who speak falsely because they don't know the difference between reality and illusion are seen to be suffering from some mental defect or disorder. Those who do know what the reality is and speak falsely about it are telling an untruth; they are lying. It is my opinion that 99% of all lies are told to manipulate other people or to gain an unfair advantage over them. As well as the socially accepted "white" lies, this can include all manner of cover-ups, misrepresentation, and propaganda. Even in the legal sense, a not guilty plea gives the advantage to the accused and, unless the charge can be proven in court, the accused is acquitted as not guilty. In reality, though, this does not mean the acquitted is innocent. Since truth is reality based, it works in the real world. With truth as a basis, one's beliefs, actions and expectations conform to reality. To believe, trust or act on the basis of lies is to expect unreality to work in a real world.
There are more than 30 of these emotional juggernauts. Each one of them has a name and is crafted for a specific purpose. "The Power of Words" details these arguments and shows you what they are, how they work, and how they are used to influence and deceive the people. Return to The Power of Words |
