The Circus and the Sausage Factory

“Political language… is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.”

“The great enemy of clear language is insincerity. When there is a gap between one’s real and one’s declared aims, one turns, as it were, instinctively to long words and exhausted idioms, like a cuttlefish squirting out ink.”

“We have now sunk to a depth at which restatement of the obvious is the first duty of intelligent men.”

— quotes by George Orwell

Well, It’s Political Season… and it’s come down to this… take it or leave it.

Is there anything to be learned from the endless, knock-down, drag-out fighting that passes for political discourse these days? Well, Yes. While politics may be repugnant in particular, perhaps there are lessons in principle:

• When you lie, or prevaricate, the story can never stay the same.
• Repetition (Message Control) is a two-edged sword, benefitting both liars and honest people equally. Nothing gets traction without repetition.
• The Truth, because of politics, is usually obscured, and requires honest and intelligent people to demystify and re-state it, in its obvious brilliance.
• If the argument du jour seems repellent, you are not the target audience.
• In the presence of Social Media and partisan “News” Organizations, everything is public; Lofty is no longer relevant, and Low is as high as it gets. Political conversations can no longer be carried on at different levels of discourse… Sooner or later, everything is public, and the public goes for “Bread and Circuses.”

If we reference our (if you’ll pardon the term) “standards” for judging communication efforts, disappointment is at hand. Politics deals in “short and easy phrases” that are calculated to be slightly more like-able (or slightly less un-like-able) than the other guy… Sound Bites Rule.
Relying on Aristotle’s classic “Good, Beautiful and True” isn’t going to work… These contests are not judged according to classic standards of rhetoric or judgment. It’s who gets your blood pumping and passion flowing?

In this arena, it’s the short attention span and the quick resort to outrage. It’s theater, only distantly related to either reason or debate.

In the end, political strategy seems to be about “Who shares your upset?”

“Are you upset about this? Me Too! I’m really upset about that! I have a long history of being upset about that very same thing. You can join my organization and your contribution will help us go to the Capital and fight, fight, fight for your right to be upset about that very serious situation!”

Political decisions are (in some quarters) as much about emotion and chemistry as logic. Be thoughtful at your peril!

There’s sausage being made here, in public… and it’s hard to witness.

But the most basic of lessons still stand:

Tell The Truth! Tell Your Truth! Stick to it!

As a Person, As a Parent, As a Leader!

Applications

1. For You
In your work, your teaching, your life, you find that certain truths reveal themselves, and become one or more of your “Operating Standards.” If you reduce those standards to the fewest words possible, you can reveal the principle and keep the standard close for future reference.

Personal Message Control…

“Treat others the way They need to be Treated!”

“Practice, Practice, Practice!”

“Happiness is Seeking the Goal, not Reaching it!”

“Beauty is its own Reward!”

“The Word is not the Thing!”

As you grow, your own private Truths Collection becomes your internal compass… helping you stay on track, and re-evaluate your “course heading” from time to time.

2. For the Family
Is there a place in your home where the Lessons reside? Is there a wall perhaps, where the Rules or Truths may be found? Is there a set of family pictures, and some notes about what you believe, commit to, or support? Is there a common bookshelf with the Family Truths? Why not? Wouldn’t it make sense to put The Rules where they can be seen daily, and refreshed from time to time?

3. For the Office
One client organization has “The Corporate Goal” on the elevator call panel in the lobby of every floor. Whether you agree with it or not isn’t the issue: it’s keeping it top of mind every time someone comes or goes… Message Control at work. Is there any thought given in your shop to what “The Culture” might be, or where it might be easily discovered or revealed?

Political Season is hard on the soul, there being so little of the “Good, the Beautiful or the True” going around out there. Though “One Story, Many Voices!®” can find its negative application during political season, it can also serve you and yours as you try to improve things.

Well. It’s a Circus and a Sausage Factory. But, as Churchill said, “It’s the best we have.”

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