- Joined
- Apr 22, 2019
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There is a message across all these people, some explaining it and some exhibiting and practicing it. That message is about power.
Hans Christian Anderson wrote about it in "The Emperor's New Clothes", in 1837, when he wrote about an Emperor who walked through town naked, yet the crowd saw him naked and said he was wearing pretty new clothes.
What was the point of this fable, but for illustrating the role of power, using lies to express power? And it was true even then to be written about. The fable makes no sense other than for that.
George Orwell similarly noted that power in 1984, with a lesson about authority holding up a hand with three fingers raised, asking how many, and then saying the answer can vary. Power.
It was the other two who were the 'Emperors' from the story, with Hitler writing about "The Big Lie", power to push lies. We' watching this year as Putin does exactly that, launching his non-war, that is defensive, to 'de-nazify' Ukraine, in which he is harming no civilians, sending no conscripts - and most Russians believe him and his support has increased despite the sanctions and turmoil and casualties.
Then we get to trump. On day one in office he began the same thing, ordering his press secretary to say his inauguration crowd was larger than Obama's - it was a power play to tell the press and American people that he would walk naked and demand they praise his new clothes. Lying is about power for him. It's an old lesson, not just a personal character flaw for him.
In addition to the above, it's another type of power play - one that Jared Kushner described to Bob Woodward as "controversy elevates message". He gives as an example, that trump will intentionally lie that the economy is better in his presidency in any time in history, knowing that all of the noise created as 'fact checkers' make noise about his statement will leave many people seeing "nit-pickers" pointing out period when the economy was better, and feeling like they are attacking trump and instead sympathizing with trump and his message, that his statement he has the best economy is "true enough" as Woodward put it. And of course, there's the very basic point, what Kushner is quoted as telling someone else in 2017: "He doesn't really believe it, Elizabeth. He just knows Republicans are stupid and they'll buy it."
Hans Christian Anderson wrote about it in "The Emperor's New Clothes", in 1837, when he wrote about an Emperor who walked through town naked, yet the crowd saw him naked and said he was wearing pretty new clothes.
What was the point of this fable, but for illustrating the role of power, using lies to express power? And it was true even then to be written about. The fable makes no sense other than for that.
George Orwell similarly noted that power in 1984, with a lesson about authority holding up a hand with three fingers raised, asking how many, and then saying the answer can vary. Power.
It was the other two who were the 'Emperors' from the story, with Hitler writing about "The Big Lie", power to push lies. We' watching this year as Putin does exactly that, launching his non-war, that is defensive, to 'de-nazify' Ukraine, in which he is harming no civilians, sending no conscripts - and most Russians believe him and his support has increased despite the sanctions and turmoil and casualties.
Then we get to trump. On day one in office he began the same thing, ordering his press secretary to say his inauguration crowd was larger than Obama's - it was a power play to tell the press and American people that he would walk naked and demand they praise his new clothes. Lying is about power for him. It's an old lesson, not just a personal character flaw for him.
In addition to the above, it's another type of power play - one that Jared Kushner described to Bob Woodward as "controversy elevates message". He gives as an example, that trump will intentionally lie that the economy is better in his presidency in any time in history, knowing that all of the noise created as 'fact checkers' make noise about his statement will leave many people seeing "nit-pickers" pointing out period when the economy was better, and feeling like they are attacking trump and instead sympathizing with trump and his message, that his statement he has the best economy is "true enough" as Woodward put it. And of course, there's the very basic point, what Kushner is quoted as telling someone else in 2017: "He doesn't really believe it, Elizabeth. He just knows Republicans are stupid and they'll buy it."
