Posts
Op-Ed, May 13, 2012, Charlotte Observer
Like David Jones, I am eager for a new social paradigm
between gay and straight people. Unlike him,
I am not an attorney. “Discredit the
witness” is a tactic so prevalent in political discourse that it has become
repugnant.
This tactic is part of a strategy to gain emotional
influence over the listening audience.
Like most advertising that attempts to persuade, the ability to press
the listener’s emotional buttons is the holy grail of public
communication. Our culture believes
that, in order to persuade another to take action or change an opinion, the
listener needs to be wrapped in a warm blanket of emotional congruence with the
speaker’s aims.
This is emotional manipulation, pure and simple. I reject it as a basis for decision-making,
yet its predominant role in politics, fundraising, and consumer advertising is
growing. Are we saying that the modern
light saber of leadership and influence is the ability to manipulate? Let’s call the bluff: if this is really what we value as a society,
then let’s stop spending so much money teaching our children to think. If not, proceed immediately to reconcile
beliefs and behavior.
Go ahead, be the voice in the wilderness that encourages others
to make decisions and sell ideas based on the merits. I hear that emotional manipulation is how street
gangs recruit tweens to join up. Please,
please, leaders in the US, stop teaching our young people that manipulation is
the path to power.
People say that the volatility in the stock market after the
mortgage debacle had everything to do with investors not trusting either the
government or corporations to tell the truth.
There it is: if people trust you,
manipulation is not necessary.
