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Can you explain to me why politicians and the media would want me to believe that politicians and the media are not real people? It seems like such a matter-of-

Can you explain to me why politicians and the media would want me to believe that politicians and the media are not real people? It seems like such a matter-of-fact thing to say to me but flies in the face of rationale. I'm open to your interpretation of what we're being spoon-fed.

krapp 10y ago
Politicians want you to believe that politicians other than themselves are not real people. It's what I call the "Mister Smith goes to Washington" syndrome. Encouraging cynicism among the electorate makes voters more malleable. Cynics can be trusted to believe or doubt statements which conform to certain biases, regardless of their actual truth, to be swayed by rhetoric, and to vote based on emotion rather than reason. I'm purposely differentiating between cynics and skeptics in this case. Yet every successful politician by definition is "fake" in the ways that politics requires. As a result, politicians who are successful at a "down to earth, anti-establishment" facade appear more sincere, despite that being a political schtick that goes back to ancient Rome. Politicians who are sincere, but don't present that facade appear fake. The fact alone that Donald Trump openly rejects appearing "presidential" while running for president should clue you in that there's a game being played. George W. Bush went to Harvard Business School and Yale, came from an elite family, and yet presented himself as a cowboy, like he'd just stumbled into the White House off of the turnip truck. And of course Obama is an example from the other side. He basically ran and won, and got a Nobel Prize, for not being George W. Bush. If we respected politics as an art, and expected politicians to be experts in their fields like doctors or scientists, and we were engaged in the political process, then politicians would have to prove their worth by the weight and value of their ideas. But, we've been trained to hate politics, despise politicians, and to have no faith in the system. They just have to ring the populist bell and we drool. Politicians also want you to believe the media is wholly bought by the other party, so that you'll dismiss criticism and attempts at in-depth interviewing as propaganda and 'hit-pieces.' If a Democrat runs, the media is a tool of the right, when a Republican runs, it's a tool of the left. Meanwhile, media companies are in competition, but they're also reporting on the same events, so to differentiate themselves they present biased reporting as unbiased and encourage people to believe that their competition can't be trusted. A belief in the fairness and sincerity of the media would mean less brand loyalty among media consumers.

krapp 10y ago

Politicians want you to believe that politicians other than themselves are not real people. It's what I call the "Mister Smith goes to Washington" syndrome. Encouraging cynicism among the electorate makes voters more malleable. Cynics can be trusted to believe or doubt statements which conform to certain biases, regardless of their actual truth, to be swayed by rhetoric, and to vote based on emotion rather than reason. I'm purposely differentiating between cynics and skeptics in this case. Yet every successful politician by definition is "fake" in the ways that politics requires. As a result, politicians who are successful at a "down to earth, anti-establishment" facade appear more sincere, despite that being a political schtick that goes back to ancient Rome. Politicians who are sincere, but don't present that facade appear fake. The fact alone that Donald Trump openly rejects appearing "presidential" while running for president should clue you in that there's a game being played. George W. Bush went to Harvard Business School and Yale, came from an elite family, and yet presented himself as a cowboy, like he'd just stumbled into the White House off of the turnip truck. And of course Obama is an example from the other side. He basically ran and won, and got a Nobel Prize, for not being George W. Bush. If we respected politics as an art, and expected politicians to be experts in their fields like doctors or scientists, and we were engaged in the political process, then politicians would have to prove their worth by the weight and value of their ideas. But, we've been trained to hate politics, despise politicians, and to have no faith in the system. They just have to ring the populist bell and we drool. Politicians also want you to believe the media is wholly bought by the other party, so that you'll dismiss criticism and attempts at in-depth interviewing as propaganda and 'hit-pieces.' If a Democrat runs, the media is a tool of the right, when a Republican runs, it's a tool of the left. Meanwhile, media companies are in competition, but they're also reporting on the same events, so to differentiate themselves they present biased reporting as unbiased and encourage people to believe that their competition can't be trusted. A belief in the fairness and sincerity of the media would mean less brand loyalty among media consumers.