Friday, 26 April 2024
While the coin is palmed
Two familiar points –
Firstly, arguments hardly persuade anyone. Some kind of advantage is what persuades. There has to be some advantage to any standpoint in any argument even if the advantage is an illusion, which in the political arena it usually is.
Secondly, things go on behind public narratives, not because of them.
These two points are linked of course. Politicians don’t emit all that yaketty-yak in the hope of persuading us. They know we are not persuaded by argument. They certainly aren’t persuaded by anything other than personal advantage so why should they think we are any different? They don’t. The yaketty-yak is designed to prevent us from understanding what is happening until it happens.
Elites have never told us what is going on, so why should they start now? They have always known about carrots and sticks too. All they ever do is update the language to fit whatever new imposition is being concocted and add a spoonful of illusory sugar to help the medicine go down.
It’s all conjurer’s patter – the misdirection while the coin is palmed.
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4 comments:
It's rare to hear any kind of formal argument in politics; they don't attempt to convince using reasoning or syllogisms. There is either the carrot or the stick. The former involves claiming that they are better at delivering what you, the public, want. The latter is mainly about associating an opponent with low-status ideas. Hence all the attempts to convict people of racism, sexism, uncaring attitudes, and managerial incompetence.
Also interesting is the rarity of debating first principles: what sort of lives do people want to live? It's mainly just an assumption that everybody wants money, sex, a fantasy of their own superiority, and pizza while watching "Strictly".
Sam - yes it is rare to hear formal arguments in politics. Voters seem to be much the same and it isn't obvious why, because voters speak as if they want something specific from their MPs, such as immigration control. Yet we'll probably see voters throw the Tories out and vote Labour in for reasons which can't easily be crafted into formal arguments.
I always wondered why Rhetoric (speech or writing intended to be effective and influence people) was so lauded in the USA. The ability to persuade rather than convey truth is a mighty skill for politicians to wield... and it seems that 'spin' is becoming so prevalent in the UK that we now automatically discount it.
Live by the Rhetoric and die by the Rhetoric perhaps? No wonder politicians go from masterful statespeople to appearances on Strictly or Celebs in the Jungle so swiftly.
DJ - that's a good point, many can't retire from Rhetoric without going back to the mundane exhibitionist behind it.
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