The Real Lipstick On The Pig

September 15, 2008 1:25 AM by Justin Ptak (Archive)

That may be one possible title for the following article, but another may be:

More And More People Discover The Reality Of Democracy

In reality the title is:

Cynicism 'can damage democracy's health' by Caroline Davies

"Cynicism may now represent one of the greatest threats to democracy, according to a research project at the London School of Economics.

Findings indicate that people are more cynical about politics than anything else, and that cynicism is a more important factor than distrust when it comes to whether people vote. Those who think politicians are liars will probably continue to vote, whereas those who are contemptuous of them are less likely to do so.

But what if politicians could measure the impact that their buzz words were having on the cynicism levels of different groups? The Syntony Research Team at the LSE is trying to develop a 'Cyndex' - a cynicism index. It would measure the emotional responses of cynics according to their age, race, religion, gender and socio-economic backgrounds - from mild frustration to violent anger..."

Of course their solution to this perceived problem is to create more "buzz words" to enhance acceptance, manipulation, and control. It is fascinating to see some read Orwell's "1984" as a playbook rather than as a cautionary tale? This is how Frank Luntz makes his living after all so it is not quite that surprising. It is also one reason why the appeal of Ron Paul's campaign was so alien to Luntz. A campaign based on principle is quite difficult to understand when your specialty is "testing language and finding words that will help [your] clients sell their product or turn public opinion on an issue or a candidate."

I have been listening to quite a few of the recorded conversations of JFK, LBJ, and RMN while they were in office lately and they are quite illuminating. How about government provides greater transparency in order to assuage our cynicism and prove their worth rather than resort to trying to lie in a more effective manner? Oh, wait we would probably be inundated with stories of incompetence, thievery, corruption, "sleeping with the industry," and "a culture of ethical failure." We cannot have that can we?