In the same way that business prefer consumers to be uninformed - conservative politicians want a similarly dumbed-down electorate.
In the case of business it is easier to sell over priced stuff to people who don't understand true value. In the case of politics an uninformed electorate is easily manipulated by unscrupulous politicians and their mates in the media.
This is mainly how our large retailers have gotten away with ripping us off. They form cartels, limit choice and charge double. And we have been falling for it for decades - because we seem to have too much money and too little intellect.
It's why the banks are so profitable, why we have been paying too much for houses and cars and why your local trades-person gouges you every time. Their business model would collapse if we consumers were even half smart.
Fortunately consumers are being educated even without trying very hard - courtesy of the Internet.
It is also why our politics are broken. Weird conservative ideology is really just a smokescreen for doing stuff that we wouldn't want them to do if we understood what they were doing.
As if you could grow an economy by slashing spending? It's classic diversionary tactics designed to exploit our ignorance.
If - like the smart folks in the Australian Treasury - enough of us actually understood the impact of the *Carbon Price* then we would neither be worried about it nor fall for the BS of conservative politicians and the media.
And Whyalla wouldn't be in danger of "being wiped off the face of the map" come 1st of July ;-)
We might moan and complain about business rip-offs and political bastardry - but the truth is *the main problem is us*.
And it won't be fixed until we deal with that fact.
In the case of business it is easier to sell over priced stuff to people who don't understand true value. In the case of politics an uninformed electorate is easily manipulated by unscrupulous politicians and their mates in the media.
This is mainly how our large retailers have gotten away with ripping us off. They form cartels, limit choice and charge double. And we have been falling for it for decades - because we seem to have too much money and too little intellect.
It's why the banks are so profitable, why we have been paying too much for houses and cars and why your local trades-person gouges you every time. Their business model would collapse if we consumers were even half smart.
Fortunately consumers are being educated even without trying very hard - courtesy of the Internet.
It is also why our politics are broken. Weird conservative ideology is really just a smokescreen for doing stuff that we wouldn't want them to do if we understood what they were doing.
As if you could grow an economy by slashing spending? It's classic diversionary tactics designed to exploit our ignorance.
If - like the smart folks in the Australian Treasury - enough of us actually understood the impact of the *Carbon Price* then we would neither be worried about it nor fall for the BS of conservative politicians and the media.
And Whyalla wouldn't be in danger of "being wiped off the face of the map" come 1st of July ;-)
We might moan and complain about business rip-offs and political bastardry - but the truth is *the main problem is us*.
And it won't be fixed until we deal with that fact.
2 comments:
There is an explanation for why conservative governments are cutting back on Education spending. Because the more that people are deprived of the training to think critically, the more susceptible they will be to conservative manipulation.
Fear mongering, lies about the economy and racist beatups don't work so well on a populace that's educated in Economics, history, comparative cultures, critical thinking.
Conservatives know the effectiveness of dumbed-down three word slogans; all they need to follow through is a dumbed-down population.
I do agree.
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