- Joined
- Dec 16, 2008
- Messages
- 1,005
This is the age old battle between Socrates (rational thinkers) and the Sophists (emotional manipulators). It is a common misconception that Sophists were the ancient philosophers that Socrates associated himself with. The truth is that in the end, the Sophists ended up killing Socrates for spreading his ideas and philosophies, that were contrary to the interests of the people in power. Government can always be boiled down to its key function: the taking of wealth and resources, by force and/or violence, from one group and giving to another. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, if all a government does is protect its people from "force and fraud," then very little wealth and resources are extracted from the people in exchange for protection from basic threats. However, it is when the government gets into investment incentives, subsidization, and foreign entanglements, does it begin stealing exorbitant amounts of wealth from its people (both overtly, through direct taxation, and covertly, through currency depreciation) for the benefit of the ruling class. The government and media are masters in the art of sophistry and persuasion, and are able to sell the public on ideas that are just plain dumb. Through emotional manipulation, they are able to convince the public into selling out future generations by going to war. They are able to convince the public to invest their own money in certain assets, and even create tax incentives to further encourage the behaviour they want. If they want to prop up a real estate market, they simply create tax incentives, and insurance programs making it easier than ever to qualify for a loan! The key to remember, is that someone is always benefiting from public policy, and government incentives. Generally, not the public. But rather, the lobbyists and campaign financiers who control the direction of government.