Mainstream Manipulation

    The world we live in, in these modern times, is characterized by the immediateness of everything around us. Media outlets are able to cover developing issues around the world in a matter of minutes and with the internet privacy is really something only of the past. Truthfully we choose to ignore it, but reading The Shock Doctrine by Naomi Klein has opened my eyes allowing me to observe and understand more objectively everything that happens around the world. The truth is that nothing is what it appears to be. 

    Behind everything happening around the world there always seems to be some invisible actors, the puppeteers, who manipulate and control events to the benefit of a very few. Natural disasters are exploited for economic advantages, terrorists attacks are used as excuses for fascist reforms in the legal system, and one could even say some of these events are proxies created by the government to push forward initiatives that really can only exist when the shock value is present. But what is this shock value? It's the state in which we find ourselves completely disinhibited after something very unexpected and very intense occurs. Lost and in distress we are far more easy to manipulate and the reality is people take advantage of it. 

    In Colombia, as I've seen through my personal experience, people haven't really come to understand and investigate the manipulation we are subject to. Conspiracy theories are everywhere and they are, one could say, essential because it's very important to doubt what you see. In Colombia, though, it's hard for me to come across any of these. We're a country at war but we've never really tried to understand the manipulative power the government has over us. News outlets will never come close to contradict a government statement in regards with a terrorist attack or a specific event in the conflict. Is anyone confronting the powerful oligarchy controlling Colombia's economic front? Is anyone really questioning anything other than isolated corruption cases in the government? We are, in my eyes, a successful example of a one sided population that believes everything and anything that is fed to them. If you ever get to the point of asking whether or not the armed conflict has any other underlying conditions that don't include drug money profits you're going down the wrong path. We've stereotyped the way we should think, speak, and act to the point freedom is in a gray area so do we live under this shock doctrine? Are we alienated from corporate interests in Colombia, from political power, and from the truth of the armed conflict? I don't really know and maybe I am taking a step too further, but it maybe is time to start questioning. Wake Up.

Eulogy: (noun) High praise or commendation, especially of someone who has died.

Coercion: (noun) The practice of persuading someone to do something by means of force. 

          

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Tiger Wood

          Thank You For Arguing brings now the very interesting topic which touches on argument through character, or as rhetoricians refer to it: ethos. Indeed, who we are or better yet who we appear to be in the eyes of our audience is key to win our argument because how we are perceived affects the response we get directly.

          We have to deal with some small audiences from time to time, and we present ourselves in certain ways to get a better acceptance as well as to get our point across in a more effective manner. Celebrities on the other hand live off their image. Who they are isn't half as important as who they appear to be or who their fan base perceives them as. Take for example Tiger Woods, the pro golfer recognized around the world for having the highest amount of PGA victories, five years ago before any controversy erupted. He earned millions of dollars a year not only through his victories, but through important ad campaigns with some of the biggest brands in sports. Woods had an impeccable utilization of decorum acting just as his audience and his sponsors wanted him to act. Professional, disciplined, talented, and honest he was an exemplary athlete. He had his audience's love. Even if this grand virtue was only rhetorical virtue, which is basically the appearance of being virtuous, his audience believed every single bit of it. This allowed him to be as successful as he was. 

          Later on some events developed that presented an important challenge to this virtue Tiger had in the eyes of his fans, and truthfully the world. His wife caught him cheating not with one, but ten different women. Not only that but she chased him out of the house with his own golf clubs, breaking the windows of his car as he rode away basically trying to save his life. The public was perplexed. They'd been tricked for many years of who this man really was and rapidly his rhetorical virtue was uncovered. His image was destroyed and he didn't have the decorum worthy of a pro golfer. His sponsors parted ways with him as the admiration and love the public had for him began to fade away. He broke rhetorical protocol and as his true character was revealed he lost the battle. There is something, though, I have to attribute to Tiger Woods. He didn't get off the rhetorical horse right away. Looking to refurbish his image he pulled out one last trick. The acclaimed tactical flaw. He wasn't an unfaithful man with horrible decision making, crooked morals, and bad taste. He was a...sex addict. With doctors to back up his claims he achieved the unthinkable. People somehow sympathized with his medical condition, if we could call it that, and he regained some of that lost virtue. 

          In the end it wasn't enough. His wife left him, taking away a big chunk of his money, and his career never really recovered from this blow. Even though it had nothing to do with golf, the scandal transcended all the way to the Green and the ball never got back in as it had done so many times before. 

Winning My Arguments

          I've had my share of arguments over the last few years. I hadn't really thought about the importance of rhetoric or how much of it was actually an active part of my life, but Thank You For Arguing definitely opened my eyes to a world I had never acknowledged.

          Rhetoric, argument, persuasion, and manipulation live amongst us. At times they work for us, but sometimes they work against us. What most of us don't realize is that much of this is under our control, but we first have to learn how to take advantage of it and exploit it. The truth of the matter is that most of the arguments I come across are there seeking a winner. It's usually a choice which involves myself and another person, because you can't really make an argument against yourself (can you?), and I don't really know if I usually win or lose. The other day I was trying to convince my mom to let me go on a trip with a few friends. It's a classic argument amongst teenagers. Her immediate response was a strong no and my initial reaction was anger and frustration. A beginners mistake, but I've learnt my lesson. That attitude just exasperated the situation and it quickly escalated into a heated debate in which the topic was no longer if I could or could not go to the trip, but rather if my tone of voice was appropriate for such a discussion. In conclusion it was a disaster. My next eristic (the name that refers to debates seeking to win a point) came shortly after that next week. Again the issue at hand was whether or not I could go on a trip with my friends, but this time there was an external variable that was there to define the outcome of our argument. I had to win my point, whether or not my grades where sufficiently good or not for me to deserve such a reward, and with my newly acquired expertise I put myself to the task of coming out victorious. I used a little concessio at first to make some point for myself. I said, "I agree mom. I could've done better overall and for next quarter I'll have my blogs on time for sure". Some more of "You're right", "I agree", etc. Then I told her we should devise a plan that would allow for less procrastination on my part and more time to spend together for both of us. That was definitely the cherry on top. 

          I managed to change her mood by showing my compromise to the cause of my academic life and that was eventually a catalyst to changing her mind. I was able to turn a menacing no into a carefully executed yes. What a masterpiece. I was proud of myself and my developing skill set, and now the only thing left was to decide whether or not to take any sunblock. That in fact was an argument with myself and lets just say that judging by the pain I am going through in my extremities it was my stubborn side the one that came out victorious.