3 Comments:

• Since I am currently reading a book on the consolidation of Democracy (Economic Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy) I should say that we stop using the term "democracy" here. All the term "democracy" stands for is a condition of competitive elections, in which the side that loses power agrees to relinquish power because they know they have an equal chance with the next election cycle. Just because politics is about the few manipulating reality for the masses (whether the masses are consumers or voters) doesn't mean it's not a democracy. It just means that the nature of democracy varies from country to country.
  
  What you and Whiskey Bar are bemoaning is not the crushing of democracy, but the crushing of civic virtue and citizenship. When you treat elections like a marketing campaign to sell a false reality, there is no incentive for ordinary citizens to actually participate in shaping that reality - instead they let a small group of leaders do it and then they stop worrying about it.
  
  Yes, when perception is everything we don't have much, if any civic culture that helps support democracy, but we do have democracy, simply because we have truly competitive elections and the consequences that come with a change in power. You are talking about the process, not about the outcome.

  By  Marriah, at 8:54 AM  

• One of the reasons I read your blog is that you talk in terms and sentences I can understand!
  I followed the link and my head was swimming until I saw this: It doesn't matter what ideological brand of soap you're selling, as long as you control the means of mass communication.
  Then, I got it!
  Thing is, my friends and I figured this out over high-school lunch one day - way back in 1979 - and we all decided not to buy the soap if it smelled like swamp water.
  If us 6 - with average intelligence and praying that disco would just die - could figure this out, why the hell is it taking so long for everyone else?!
  Sorry, I ranted.

  By  Penguin, at 9:18 AM  

• I think what I'm saying is a little different from what's in that article.
  
  “Do not try to change this reality. Work with it. The perception you create IS the reality! Take heart! If they perceive something despite obvious evidence to the contrary, you will be able to make them perceive any number of things!”
  
  This may be true in a short-term case, which may be why Republicans are getting votes from lower income levels than they have usually been able to in thte past. Long-term, though, I don't think anyone can maintain the deception of the Emperor's New Clothes. Eventually, the voters will wise up.
  
  And the example I used with Bill Clinton differs in some very important respects. One, is that he did manufacture a scenario. The economy at that time was uppermost in voters' minds and he recognized that. Second, he came up with a convincing argument of how he would fix this problem and, after being elected, he did fix it.
  
  So there was no need for Clinton to tamper with reality. He just kept things clear by keeping them simple - uncluttered, if you will. It was a very minimalist approach to campaigning, so maybe that's why I am so enamoured of it. In any case, it worked beautifully and there is no reason why it shouldn't do so again - except you also need the right candidate. Image isn't actually everything, but it is very, very important.
  
  While I do believe that you have to accept the fact that voters will not educate themselves, I think you cannot forget that they still have very definite opinions as to what is important to them at any given time. There are always a plethora of issues to choose from. What I'm saying is, a candidate should go for the biggest, most important one to the voters. Come up with a plan, and hammer it home every chance you get. Find a way to turn every debate question in that direction. Yes, that is manipulation - but it is not deceit. It's keeping focus on where you want it, but the issue being spotlighted does exist. And it's one the voters themselves have chosen.

  By  Rebecca, at 10:07 PM  

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