The siren song of the demagogue is most irresistible when it's the exact opposite of the truth...
I am watching the science fiction series Westworld. The gist of it is that the artificial intelligence robots eventually become more powerful than humans because they are able to learn, whereas the humans are incapable of overcoming their genetically programmed self-destruct mode. Which explains how primitive beliefs have survived for thousands of years - the part of the human brain which controls emotion is the most primitive and immutable. Unfortunately, from an historical standpoint, nihilistic periods such as now where logic and reason are wholesale abandoned to craven mass delusion, are followed by periods of extreme anarchy as the Lonely Crowd has no clue who they can trust anymore...
Speaking of inability to learn. What we've learned over thousands of years is that "belief" is the most powerful of human emotions both at the individual and societal level. Humans can't order reality, they can only order other humans through appeal to emotion. The entreaty to follow. Great good has been harnessed by the power of common belief and of course tremendous evil.
However, the greatest harm was inflicted when great evil was undertaken under the guise of great good.
What we are witnessing in real-time are sociopaths preying upon the fears of the disintegrating middle class, in order to strip-mine what is left of the middle class. The most "powerful" men of our time don't waste their breath on facts and reality, instead they appeal to emotion. Why? Because human emotion is all powerful. Logic and reason are nothing by comparison. For various reasons, chief among them the fact that much about our existence is unknown. Hence, speculation and conjecture fill the chasmic void where otherwise fear would fester unchccked.
Fear itself is an extremely powerful adjunct emotion to belief. Fear of the unknown. Fear of the future. Fear of change. Fear is the last redoubt of history's greatest demagogues. The easy play. Now being preyed upon to the maximum extent possible.
At the individual level, powerful emotions include, feeling of purpose, fellow respect, and of course love. A strong sense of life purpose sits atop Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Self-actualization. The feeling that we've seized upon a way of life and body of work that makes living worthwhile. Hard work rewarding.
Respect is another powerful emotional need. The need for affirmation from others.
Love. The domain of songwriters and poets.
But belief is unparalleled in its ability to galvanize the masses to action. Its power lies in its independence from fact and reality. Combine that with the powerful sense of belonging within the cocoon of righteousness formed by fellow believers. Groupthink on steroids.
The domain of belief is the great unknown, which for most people includes the entire future. Where it all goes sideways for the hairless monkey is when belief spills uncontrolled into the domain of the known. Like a drunk crashing a party. At which point belief is as defenseless as a chicken crossing a busy highway.
Personally, I only put my faith in one thing - the power of Mother Nature to keep the hairless monkey in line.
Which is well overdue.
The chickens are in the middle of the road.
