Illusion of Choice in Voting;
Democracy’s Ultimate Control
Nothing more defines modern Western culture and nations as democracy with voting as the major methodology by which people are able to express their will and Control their government(s). Nothing more says illusion as the act of voting which occasionally gives the appearance of choice. Our last post, Hidden Enemy We Love, discussed the role of psychology in manufacturing this illusion; however, it is not the only card in Satan’s deck of delusions (2Th 2:3-12). This post will examine three fallacies of voting to express one’s will or Control of government.
The first fallacy is simply a matter of numbers. If only ten people vote then each vote is significant; however, if 10,000 people vote then each vote pales into insignificance. The more people who vote, the less each vote counts. Where this crossover point may be varies by matter, significance of the issue and consequences for losing the issue compared to winning the issue. However, this point itself pales into insignificance when one considers that access to pertinent information is essential to casting one’s vote according to one’s understanding of the issue. We will ignore the obvious fact that most ballot questions are phrased so as to mislead the voter into voting against their own views; but, this does highlight the issue of Control of Information. The Battle at the Ballot Box is usually lost months earlier in the information the voter can access. When the enemy controls the information flow it is called propaganda; however, when your side controls the information it is called news or documentaries or…well, you get the idea.
Walter Lippmann Showed Journalism’s Power
This Became the Third Element of Control
Walter Lippmann was a Progressive journalist-reporter who used his position to influence his readers as to the rightness of his views. In other words, he was biased and sought to persuade his readers to accept his views as the correct views. During the early portion of his career he was Bernays’ disciple. Bernays was influential because he harnessed the power of the press to advance his agenda of propaganda; err, public relations. Mr. Lippmann’s writings popularized his methods making it part of America’s vocabulary; and not just America’s also. But when Black Thursday occurred and Bernays could not reverse the crash with his public relations magic, Lippmann and most Americans became disenchanted with his methods. Ostensibly because Bernays viewed individuals as ignorant chattel to be led about by their desires, lusts, to the tune of big business. This low view of voters was not appreciated when stated so obviously. There had to be a better way, a more scientific approach to understanding the voter’s mind. And a savior appeared with such a methodology.
George Gallup Did NOT Invent Polling;
He Claimed to Make it Scientific, Unbiased
George Gallup applied statistic methodologies to polling which hitherto were simply straw polls. Mr. Gallup appeared to achieve what he promised, to know the actual voter’s mind, when he successfully predicted the reelection of FDR while the most famous straw poll of its day, Literary Digest, predicted a Republican victory {The 1936 election – a polling catastrophe.}. Gallup’s Poll appeared to offer a reliable alternative to Bernays’ manipulation of public opinion. One was non-empirical, Bernays, while the other appeared empirical, Gallup. Since Gallup successfully predicted FDR’s reelection, FDR hired Gallup to poll the people to determine which program he should promote and to understand how his policies were perceived by the voters. Mr. Lippmann also began to promote Gallup polls as the better method to understand the intelligent American voter. This appeared to empower voters to influence government between elections. All appeared to be saved unless one looks beneath the sheen of science. However, it always helps to publish a book for people to read and believe they understand the process. Again, the journalistic information services were indispensable to promoting the correct view.
However, what was created were two different approaches to influence the voter. Business stayed with Bernays who promoted World’s Fairs and other flashy venues that promised a bright future ahead; and he was right though not immediately apparent. Government used Gallup polls not so much to learn the voter’s mind as to gauge the success its propaganda efforts to gloss over the fact that FDR’s handling of the Great Depression made it much worse in American than in other Western countries.
Polls Claim to Understand Voter’s Opinions
Polls Often Used to Direct Voter Opinions
Gallup’s scientific polls suffer from the same shortcomings as Freud’s psychology and Bernays public relations; all claim to be scientific but in fact are simply scientism. Polls often do not correlate or collect voter opinions but are framed in such a manner as to guide a voter’s opinion to the desired viewpoint. Minority viewpoints are tails on the Bell Curve and ignored or even vilified. Majority opinions that favor the correct view are touted in the news to influence majority of viewers which view is better. Yet, because one is dealing in a person’s beliefs or opinions there can be no science! Science is empirical, measurable. The very act of phrasing a question or creating a desire is not empirical; hence, it is not science. The claim of being science is in fact proof of scientism. Science forms hypotheses based on many measurements and testings. Scientism determines truth based on its conceptual goal and that goal is ALWAYS to manage information to control YOU.
These two arms of public relations caught the attention of two tyrannical socialist regimes: Hitler’s Germany and Stalin’s USSR. Both used these very same public relations techniques learned from America to frame their goals to influence people in their countries and abroad. They were not as successful because the Western democratic countries were better able to sale their public relations as freedom backed by economic prowess; and war when necessary. In fact, today it is still difficult to have people understand how FDR mishandled the Great Depression or how Wilson entered World War I to institute national socialism at home even though both concepts are well documented!
One’s Truth is Less About Truth than
the Information that Forms One’s Truth
Notice Lippmann’s understanding of a democratic majority; always ready to put down a revolutionary minority. In other words, Lippmann was for free speech for him but not for you, the voter. Has anything changed today? No, it has gotten better organized apart from government! Biden’s Surgeon General bemoaned the disinformation concerning Covid-19 and the vaccine drive and demanded that information tech giants like Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, etc. should do more to Control misinformation; i.e., censor it so YOU do not have access {Biden Charges Facebook with Homicide. Reason.}. What is labeled misinformation is simply the information that goes against government, or corporatism, goals of the moment; much like Lippmann’s revolutionary minority {Experts Warn Accurate News Articles Are Misinformation if They Support Conservative Views. Reason.}. I would like to say this is about Democrats over Republicans; however, it is about Satan using people’s lust for power to accomplish his deception (2Th 2:3-12).
Nothing has changed since that day in the Garden when Satan enticed Woman with the lust of being as God to determine one’s own morality. People have done this since (Ro 1:18-28). They would rather live with an illusion, calling it real than admit their sin and cling to Christ.
They do this to justify themselves as good and God as evil. All those who identify themselves with God’s Gospel in Christ also are evil as they are proof that Christ saves sinners. There is no means to determine if one’s information is truth apart from the Bible. Yet, the Bible is constantly belittled or one is enticed to practice poor hermeneutics to accept their lies over God’s truth (2Pe 2:1-3, 15-20; 3:3-7). There is only one mission for Christians today: proclaim the Gospel (Ga 1:6-10). Our hope is not in this world which is passing away but in the world to come if we are true children of Abraham (He 11:13-16). Is your home here? Or is it to come in which case this world will seek to shame and detest you to make you like them; resist in Christ and the strength of His indwelling Spirit (He 12:1-3).