From: colten@cbnewsb.cb.att.com (marc.colten)
Subject: Re: Intellectuals and totalitarianism
Followup-To: alt.activism
Summary: Joe Bluecollar and his vote
Organization: AT&T
Date: Thu, 20 Aug 1992 13:26:12 GMT

In article <1992Aug19.154702.3625@desire.wright.edu>, demon@desire.wright.edu (Stupendous Man) writes:
> In article <1992Aug19.134718.25883@mcshub.dcss.mcmaster.ca>, bunker@physun.physics.mcmaster.ca (Alex Bunker) writes:
> > In article <1992Aug19.033102.28965@ncar.ucar.edu> gary@isis.cgd.ucar.edu (Gary Strand) writes:
> >>f > "Frank" (Robin Collins)
> 
> > Your average Joe Bluecollar steelworker is a very sensible fellow
> > and knows who's side he is on.
> 
> 	Which is why (s)he voted for Ronald Reagan in overwhelming numbers.
> 

I'd like to drop in my 2 cents on this - who's more susceptible to
propaganda issue and bring up my major pet peeve now that a
presidential election is coming up.

Yes - intellectuals of all stripes jump on Left/Right/Religious
bandwagons - often with a fervor no one else can muster.  I like
to call this "Smart Person Syndorm" (SPS) - which shows up in
people of demonstrably high intelligence making them thing that
"Hey, I'm so smart that any crackpot idea I get must be right!"

The other thing, about Joe Bluecollar - ignores the major influence
on national politics and why Bush has MORE than a fighting chance
in November - polls or no.  That influence is Reader's Digest. Yes
that innocuous little magazine that is in MILLIONS of American Homes,
targeted at people just like Joe Bluecollar and is the major
source of their information.  I mean why read a newspaper or
national news weekly, when the good folks in Pleasantville (and
who made that one up?) will read them for you and tell you the
parts you need to know?  Every year my father renews the gift 
subscription he got me to that rag and I only read it when I want to get
pissed.

Now that a national election is coming up, we will see the following
types of articles in RD, targeted at just the people we are talking
about:

1)  Pro-American - these are usually vague articles that don't really
    say anything important but set the tone and suggest that only
    RD knows whats good for America.  Typical will be "I am the Flag"
    ("I was with Washington at Valley Forge ... ").

2)  Pro-Bush - Conservative Republican Presidents have always had
    a convenient soap box in RD.  You will see one, maybe two
    things a month on why Bush is the best president we've ever
    had, including at least one supposedly written by him entitled
    "Why I love America".

3)  Anti-Liberal - There are usually collection pieces - little
    snippets from newspapers and magazines about criminals who
    slipped through the noose on some idiotic technicality, as
    if this was the sum total of American justice or Liberal
    thought.  They usually have titles like "Have we gone mad?"
    or "The Liberal Legacy of Looser Laws".

4)  Anti-Clinton - Now that we all know who the candidate is,
    RD will go after him full force.  No reprints of his speeches
    or positive articles about him.  Expect articles like
    "Clinton's Arkansas - Nightmarish Hell on Earth - or what?".

RD also explains why Republicans remain so strong in the White House
and so poor in Legislatures.  RD just can target enough of them
to make a difference - but there's only one President.

marc colten

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