Frank's Musings

Those techniques replace logic and ethics with repetition and insistence. It used to be thought that if a demagogue was able sufficiently to repeat his diatribe he could win everyone’s support. Now, if he can get coverage by most of the media channels, he will reach the most people, and they will be convinced of his views primarily because his message was delivered by their most trusted information sources.  The validity of democracy is attributable to the proposition that most people think for themselves and a majority of any group of them will accurately conclude what is in their best interest. Independent viewpoints have abdicated their priority to the ubiquity and intrusiveness of modern means of communication. Modern communication means have weakened the basis of democracy’s validation . The public’s will can be manipulated by the person who makes not the most reasonable argument but by he who most effectively uses modern communication methods to present his message.

This is not to say that rule by the majority (i.e. democracy) is inadequate. But saving democracy from authoritarian rule will require adopting the pervasive modern communications techniques to inculcate mandatory civics lessons. Those lessons must teach and demonstrate that democracy is not a zero-sum game: that the common good means that no one need benefit at the expense of others.

Accomplishment of this mission is essential if genuine democratic rule is to withstand the challenge of staying relevant as the intelligent world progresses. Maybe a fairer way to govern ourselves will eventually be invented. In the meantime, the tools at hand should be used to retain the only equitable political system we have.