Educated people who care about politics typically aren't fooled by claims from the "left" that President Bush bombed the levees in New Orleans or conspired to have 9/11 occur or claims from the "right" that President Obama wasn't born in the U.S. and is a Muslim socialist. However, those claims at least garner credibility in the masses--even if they simply cast doubt on a leader's honesty or capability. Knowing this point, political leaders then make a rational choice to use symbolism and scare tactics rather than intellectual argument to promote their policies. After all, that's what gets the votes and keeps them in office. This reliance upon symbolism looks ridiculous to people who see straight through it and may cause them to question their political leader's intelligence. However, most politicians aren't dumb--they just know that it's better for the general public to like them than a few people who don't get scared by the words "socialized medicine" or "financial catastrophe."
-Sam Rauschenberg
These are good examples of symbols being used destructively, but it's also worth pointing out that not all symbols are so extreme.
ReplyDeleteSymbols aren't a problem as long as they're being used responsibly. The role of the press should be to make sure that they are - but it often seems like the press is just yelling the same destructive symbolism into the camera. That just exacerbates the public confusion and misinformation Sam talked about.
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