Monday, September 15, 2008
Lies, lies, lies
It's election time in both Canada and the US this fall. I've worked in that business, still do a little bit and, when I'm being strictly honest with myself, there are still some moments when I enjoy the electoral process.
But, most of the time, I'm just really tired of it. It's the lies that get to me. I hope I'm not shocking anyone, but there is quite a bit of untruth floating about during elections. Not just the lies, though. The hatefulness too. That really gets to me.
I just wish the voters weren't such suckers for it. Because that's why political parties do it, you know. They do it because it works. Most political hacks, in my experience, are ex-debate club geeks who, if they had their druthers, would rather win debates through deft skill at rhetoric, logic and argument. But nobody pays attention to that shit, so the propaganda writers have to use whatever blunt clubs they have available.
And, you know, none of them are any better or worse than the other. Don't kid yourself. If you think one guy is the devil and another guy is a saint, you think that way because you've allowed yourself to be programmed. Some propaganda craftsman somewhere many months or even years ago put together a power-point show describing how his crew was going to drive the voters perceptions. So congratulations for being a sucker. Sorry to be so harsh, but that's the truth of it.
There are no white knights. There are no devils. Just a bunch of monkeys who will never be quite as clever as they think they are.
The Futility of All Human Endeavour, my favourite Threepenny Opera tune, although I prefer the translation that goes:
For the task assigned them
Men aren't smart enough or sly
Any rogue can blind them
With a clever lie.
On that cheery note, please do get out and vote, no matter what your political leanings. As ugly as electoral politics is, it's still better than the alternatives.
posted by Mentok @ 10:34 p.m.,
2 Comments:
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At 7:28 a.m.,
said...
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ah yes, tis the season of lies. my question is, does anyone really believe them? i pretty much ignore 99% of what the partisans spew and try to go on what the "real" media reports, although that's not necessarily without bias either.
most people don't give a rat's ass, though, and are more than happy to be fed the b.s. because it means they don't have to do any real thinking for themselves. which is precisely what the campaigns are counting on. -
At 10:14 a.m.,
Mentok said...
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Yup, you nailed it - the campaigns are, indeed, relying on people not paying attention to the issues and reacting in a purely Pavlovian emotional manner.
... and, just to stress my non-partisan tact a little further, this cynical view of voters applies just as much to "Obama mania" as it does to "Palin mania".
