Charisma is seduction on a mass level. This is what we are witnessing with Barack Obama. Charismatics make crowds of people fall in love with them, then lead them along. People happily follow charismatics because they like to be led. Charismatics have a gift, a smoothness with language, that makes them stand out and which they use to express a vision. In their presence, people have a sort of religious experience. When mass seducers concoct the effect of charisma, the religious source of charisma's power is never far. Obama plays into people's desire to believe in something. There is nothing more seductive than giving people something to believe in and follow.
As a charismatic, Obama relies on the power of words: words are the quickest way to create emotional disturbance. They can uplift and elevate without referring to anything real. Charismatics know how to stand on a crowded stage and command attention. It is essential for the charismatic to be self-aware and have the ability to see himself as others see him. Obama heightens the effect of his words by commanding attention this way, staying calm, radiating self-assurance in order to appear regal. In order to animate his poise demeanor, and in order to seduce crowds of people, Obama has a fiery belief in a great cause around which people can rally: viz., change and hope.
Obama is not trying to tell you how he will govern. He is trying to produce an effect on the audience. That is the key to seductive oratory. Seductive language is designed to move people and lower their resistance. The seducer asks himself, "What can I say that will have the most pleasant effect on my listeners?" Often, this entails giving them vague hopes for the future. Words can be an intoxicating drug that will make people emotional and malleable. Obama keeps his language vague and ambiguous, letting his followers (which includes journalists too) fill in the gaps with their fantasies and imaginings.
Sometimes, the most pleasant thing to hear is the promise of something wonderful, a vague but rosy future that is just around the corner. This is the currency of Obama. He promises his audience something realizable and possible, but does not make it too specific: the seductive orator just lets his audience dream. Obama does not discuss how things will be accomplished. There is no greater anaphrodisiac, nothing more soporiphic than policy-talk. Obama does not explain how he will govern, or how things will be accomplished, because his aim is to lift people's thoughts into the clouds, where their defenses will come down. His seductive speech, an elevating drug, makes people not care that he isn't saying much of anything at all.
Following Super Tuesday, Hillary Clinton invited Obama to participate in a weekly debate. Obama's initial reaction was to dismiss the idea. This comes as no surprise, since the most anti-seductive form of language is argument. It is more persuasive to appeal to people's hearts than their heads. Obama, who has quickly climbed up the ladder of ambition on the basis of charisma, knows that emotional people are easier to manipulate. If he does not want to debate, it is because it is hard for an audience to decide whether an argument is reasonable: this requires concentration and active listening. If a person becomes distracted, or does not understand the discussion for some other reason, he may feel insecure or inferior. But, by using seductive language and letting the audience dream and fill in the blanks, the crowd bonds together, everyone contagiously experiencing a wave of emotion.
The goal of seductive speech is often to create a hypnosis, to make people more vulnerable to suggestion. Obama hypnotizes through his masterful use of repetition and affirmation. In his public appearances, he chooses words with emotional content, keeping the message simple, and uses these same words over and over. Hope. Change. The effect is to mesmerize: ideas can be permanently implanted in people's unconscious simply by being repeated. When Obama wants you to know something, he will indicate this by beginning his sentence with the command, "Understand that..." (This is the guru side of Obama). His campaign's latest affirmation is the "yes you can" mantra (now available as a music video).
Obama's words do not stand for anything real, other than the feelings they evoke. His campaigners like to say that if Obama gets a crowd in a room, he can win the crowd over. This may be true, but only because by beautifully wielding elusive and vague language, he allows his listeners to conjure up their fantasies and diminish their contact with the ugly reality that has worn on them. He is a savior to the hypnotized.
--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---As a charismatic, Obama relies on the power of words: words are the quickest way to create emotional disturbance. They can uplift and elevate without referring to anything real. Charismatics know how to stand on a crowded stage and command attention. It is essential for the charismatic to be self-aware and have the ability to see himself as others see him. Obama heightens the effect of his words by commanding attention this way, staying calm, radiating self-assurance in order to appear regal. In order to animate his poise demeanor, and in order to seduce crowds of people, Obama has a fiery belief in a great cause around which people can rally: viz., change and hope.
Obama is not trying to tell you how he will govern. He is trying to produce an effect on the audience. That is the key to seductive oratory. Seductive language is designed to move people and lower their resistance. The seducer asks himself, "What can I say that will have the most pleasant effect on my listeners?" Often, this entails giving them vague hopes for the future. Words can be an intoxicating drug that will make people emotional and malleable. Obama keeps his language vague and ambiguous, letting his followers (which includes journalists too) fill in the gaps with their fantasies and imaginings.
Sometimes, the most pleasant thing to hear is the promise of something wonderful, a vague but rosy future that is just around the corner. This is the currency of Obama. He promises his audience something realizable and possible, but does not make it too specific: the seductive orator just lets his audience dream. Obama does not discuss how things will be accomplished. There is no greater anaphrodisiac, nothing more soporiphic than policy-talk. Obama does not explain how he will govern, or how things will be accomplished, because his aim is to lift people's thoughts into the clouds, where their defenses will come down. His seductive speech, an elevating drug, makes people not care that he isn't saying much of anything at all.
Following Super Tuesday, Hillary Clinton invited Obama to participate in a weekly debate. Obama's initial reaction was to dismiss the idea. This comes as no surprise, since the most anti-seductive form of language is argument. It is more persuasive to appeal to people's hearts than their heads. Obama, who has quickly climbed up the ladder of ambition on the basis of charisma, knows that emotional people are easier to manipulate. If he does not want to debate, it is because it is hard for an audience to decide whether an argument is reasonable: this requires concentration and active listening. If a person becomes distracted, or does not understand the discussion for some other reason, he may feel insecure or inferior. But, by using seductive language and letting the audience dream and fill in the blanks, the crowd bonds together, everyone contagiously experiencing a wave of emotion.
The goal of seductive speech is often to create a hypnosis, to make people more vulnerable to suggestion. Obama hypnotizes through his masterful use of repetition and affirmation. In his public appearances, he chooses words with emotional content, keeping the message simple, and uses these same words over and over. Hope. Change. The effect is to mesmerize: ideas can be permanently implanted in people's unconscious simply by being repeated. When Obama wants you to know something, he will indicate this by beginning his sentence with the command, "Understand that..." (This is the guru side of Obama). His campaign's latest affirmation is the "yes you can" mantra (now available as a music video).
Obama's words do not stand for anything real, other than the feelings they evoke. His campaigners like to say that if Obama gets a crowd in a room, he can win the crowd over. This may be true, but only because by beautifully wielding elusive and vague language, he allows his listeners to conjure up their fantasies and diminish their contact with the ugly reality that has worn on them. He is a savior to the hypnotized.
Blankly smiling workers and collective farmers looked out from the covers of books. Almost every novel and short story had a happy ending. Painters more and more often took as their subject state banquets, weddings, solemn public meetings, and parades.The apotheosis of this trend was a movie which in its grand finale showed thousands of collective farmers having a gargantuan feast against the backdrop of a new power station. Recently I had a talk with its producer, gifted and intelligent man. "How could you produce such a film?" I asked. "It is true that I also once wrote verses in that vein, but I was still wet behind the ears, whereas you were adult and mature." The producer smiled a sad smile. "You know, the strangest thing to me is that I was absolutely sincere. I thought all this was a necessary part of building communism. And then I believed Stalin.
"So when we talk about "the cult of personality," we should not be too hasty in accusing all those who, one way or another, were involved in it, debasing themselves with their flattery. There were of course sycophants who used the situation for their own ends. But that many people connected with the arts sand Stalin's praises was often not vice but tragedy.
How was it possible for even gifted and intelligent people to be deceived?
To begin with, Stalin was a strong and vivid personality. When he wanted to do, Stalin knew how to charm people.--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---
1 comment:
Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves» [Matthew 7:15]
Post a Comment