Propaganda

For most of my working life I've made a living as a propagandist. Propaganda is a delightful word to say out loud. It is also a scary word. It conjures images of Goebbels and Big Brother.

Another word for propaganda is advertising, also now something of a pejorative. Persuasive communication is yet another synonym. It is safe, and leaden.

Propaganda per se is morally neutral. It is based on the Latin verb propagare, which means “to propagate,” as when a horticulturalist plants or grafts a cutting. I know this fact about propaganda, and yet I have always struggled with the moral ramifications of creating it. Should not facts and logic be sufficient to win an argument or motivate action? It always was for me, or so I tell myself.

A BoingBoing guest post by Stephen Worth in January 2010 praises passion as a necessary complement to reason. In particular:

The problem with this world isn’t that there isn’t enough logic. The problem is that there isn’t enough compassion. Logic won’t cut it alone in each of our own lives either. There are a million things that make sense to do. I have a whole laundry list full of logical things to do in my own life—more than I'll ever get around to doing. Guess which ones I actually go out and do? Reason may be the reason to do things, but passion is what makes things actually happen.

Worth is right. Logic may appear to offer safe harbor for those of us who want to escape the moral dilemmas inherent in persuading people to think or do something. But logic can take you only so far in changing people’s minds (apparently not very far). This has been a very hard lesson for me to learn, and I have to continually re-learn it, which is frustrating because in other areas of my life I am not so thick-skulled. But to make history, you have to temper reason with passion. Scary.

Stay on the High Road

The "Go for it" taunt made me wince. Sorry to see that it was apparently part of the prepared remarks as well. It's a needless bit of dancing in the end zone, if you ask me, and out of character for Obama.

You never want to provide headlines for the other team to put on the locker-room bulletin board. Also, his credibility with independents is too fragile yet to act so cocky.

Obama does this sort of thing from time to time -- cutting remarks like "You're likable enough" to Hillary Clinton and "I won" when in a Roosevelt Room meeting with Dem and GOP leaders last year on the stimulus.

When I saw this, my mind went immediately to the image of President Bush's callow challenge to insurgents in Iraq to "bring it on." Which they did.

Obama's Health Care Speech

A classic of rhetorical technique:

1. Start with Ethos: Establish your credibility as someone to listen to. "When I took office, the economy was on the brink. Things are still bad, but we've pulled back from the edge. I am a competent manager."

2. Logos: Give a logical argument for why your approach is best. Obama offers a series of wonky arguments for why his reform is the best route.

3. Pathos: Appeal to the heart, and ask people to take some action. Obama invokes Ted Kennedy, and reminds us that wanting to help your fellow man is not a partisan issue.

Rhetorically, a very strong speech. Unknown is how many persuadable people actually watched it.

Convention Review

I am enjoying the little bits of the convention that I am watching. Trying not to overdo it.

I love-love-love Michelle Obama, so I was sure to watch her speech. It was OK, but not the best showcase for her qualities, and I thought her brother's intro was way too long.

I missed Hillary's speech -- seeing too much of her in the winter and spring is what led to my cold-turkey giving-up of the blogosphere except for Tyler Cowen.

Did see Bill C and Joe B last night. I like Joe B as a speaker very much and his mother is great. Will probably check out Obama at the Stade Fasciste football stadium tonight as well.