I was thinking today about how to teach kids, and people I guess, about how to be suspicious of people who are trying to sell you something. At some point I realized this, perhaps after seeing commercials for toys that made them seem *awesome* and then feeling the buyers remorse after actually owning them. Regardless, I came up with the following rule:<\/p>\n
If someone is playing to your emotions *and* asking for money, walk away.<\/p>\n
That doesn’t mean you can never come back, but it is important to give yourself a chance to think and process outside of that kind of manipulation.It occurs to me as we get closer and closer to the first Tuesday in November that people don’t always ask for money, sometimes they ask for your time and sometimes they ask for your votes as well.<\/p>\n
So, I think when people ask me why I tend to associate with the Democratic party, I think I am going to say it is because the Republican party is starting to sound like a bunch of insurance salesmen. Why do insurance salesmen have such a bad reputation? Because they are in the business of selling you a service based on the possible futures. Your house *might* burn down, your car *might* get rear ended, heaven forbid you *might* have an untimely accident leaving your loved ones without an income. Add to this that an insurance salesmen in the truest sense will earn a commission based on a % of the premium and you have a situation ripe for emotional manipulation. If you are selling insurance you don’t say might, you say *when*. What are you going to do *when* your house burns down, *when* you are rear ended by a terrible driver, *when* your family is left without you and your income. Insurance can be sold rationally, its just more profitable when you appeal to emotions and encourage people to buy more then is practical.<\/p>\n
Politics is similar in many respects. It too is based on possible futures that are talked about with certainty. We *might* get attacked, our deficit *will* lead to the end of our country, raising\/lowering taxes *will*lead to a recession\/expansion. The two party all-or-nothing nature of US politics tends to encourage this as well. There is no way to speak rationally to slightly over half the population of the US, if you are going to have one 10 second clip repeated and quoted, your most effective use of that small message is to speak to emotions.<\/p>\n
Now, effectiveness is not necessarily a morally good quantity. You can be quite effective at killing puppies… you are still killing puppies.<\/p>\n
In anycase, I guess my point is, as always: “Buyer Beware”.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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