Certainty Claims

Comparison of different methods to raise voter turnout

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As we re-enter the "silly seasons" of electioneering, in the United States, France, Australia, and elsewhere, it's timely to look afresh at propaganda claims and processes. Not that this or that propagandist's statement or action now is very different, or especially more damaging than the propaganda processes we let wash over us every day–it's just the stakes are even greater. Since a good result in an election can also blunt some effects of propaganda, how we approach an election brings the opportunity to look afresh at what's going on with propagandists–if only to reconsider ways to raise the voter turnout of anyone who believes in democracy. 

Often as an election approaches, the foreboding will be of a Groundhog Day experience–as we anticipate even more intense shouting by the anti-democracy mob, any of whom might live next door. Unfortunately, the United States and some other democracies have a too large crop of shouting wannabes, whose copy-cat tradition is to speak of carnage and how they're so hardly done by–especially by the media–and, with a zealot's energy, will set about attacking others and claim that all will certainly "be best" by reviving some mythical glories of the past–which never include humor or a capacity for laughter.

And those candidates along with some elected representatives seem to mistakenly believe that they're born to rule. They keep popping up. Their public communication is strikingly similar in its dual focus on themselves and on being "anti-" the values of civil society–especially democratic values. Commonly, they promise certainties, rather than choices. The certainty claims conveniently ignore that, especially from the early to the later stages of an election, many of us would like to have some real choice–including among quality candidates for public office. 

Who are propagandists is usually what's most certain, when you know what to look for. Sometimes these propagandists pay lip service to democratic values, but mostly just "scream for the camera," as one Congressional representative astutely described some colleagues from his own party recently. The anti-democratic language of propagandists is preoccupied with at-least-mild exaggeration, or more often hyperbole–to capture the attention of a journalist or a camera.  

Caught up with self-advancement–by any means, at the expense of anyone else–most propagandists routinely use a high proportion of content words which have unclear referents, along with lots of function words like factive verbs and non-referential adverbs. 

It feels strange that the United States government in recent months has done so well, by using declassified intelligence, to anticipate and deal effective blows to blunt the propaganda of a foreign aggressor–yet we the people seem comfortable with domestic propaganda. Why is it that the horrors of lies told by another country are deplorable, while apparently local propaganda is willingly accepted in daily living?

A great amount of electoral and everyday propaganda ironically is from domestic terrorists and their foreign collaborators–mostly focused on the character assassination of opponents, sometimes persistently for many years, during endless fundraising and other mailings or using gossip chains. With the targeting of audiences dictated by some very expensive and ongoing socio-psychographic mapping and "messaging" rules, continuous propaganda is directed at party faithful and potential swing voters throughout the country. Yes, anyone else is as irrelevant as any non-person–who, just like any stateless individual in a foreign conflict, will be characterized as "not us"–with eerily bad outcomes expected to flow from all the "anti-" drivel.

Regrettably, by the time we bother to look closely at propaganda, much of its damage is already done--with the greatest damage not much talked about, namely how propaganda over time undermines personal and social values, changing where we put attention, energy, and action. As Jacques Ellul warned, for propaganda to succeed the propagandist must control free thought.

What most empowers a propagandist are reactions. So, it surely is time to take a pause, instead of taking to Twitter, or devising that media exposé of this or that propagandist, or feeling threatened, or otherwise responding to the impulses of fight or flight when our raw nerves are touched off by a propagandist's emotive nonsense. 

It's often safest and best to assume that a propagandist is weird, driven to develop extraordinary skills in self-preservation from probably a very early age, by a distorted commitment to being right and winning–at everything, by whatever means–including as an adult through remarkably protracted gaming of the legal system. All the lies, distortions, and dodges are tactics to prove to anyone who'll react that the propagandist is right and a winner, at your cost. 

Of course, as noted in earlier blog posts, pundits frequently do additional damage with so-called fact-checking or other clumsy analyses, disseminating a lie much more widely than the propagandist could manage. And, those nauseating excuses by the pundits on mainstream or social media that "only show you this, so you know what's going on" just repeat and magnify the propagandist's insult and abuse.

So, what are we to do? 

1. We could stop being obsessed with the aberrant behavior of the propagandist. It's better to pay attention to asserting, with truthful, lawful, and just speech, the practical initiatives that build and strengthen the values of western civilization–like justice, temperance, courage, and wisdom. It's better to ensure accountability, soon and well, of anyone whose "anti-" behavior violates existing law. And, it's more than time to find ways to "clean house" of any unqualified "anti-democratic" administrators and judiciary.

2. We could be skeptical of glib commentary, especially when it's just too neat, outlandish, or sounds too good to be true–these con-artists learned from wolves to dress up as sheep, and will bleat way too loudly, way above their weight. It's important to scrutinize a propagandist's actions or claims, to assess what impact these will make on freedoms of thought, speech, or association, and on the common good of people. This scrutiny and any needed actions in response are necessary for democracy to thrive.

3. We could stand up to the now too common virulent variety of propaganda that abuses or threatens your personality or safety–we no longer tolerate such abuse in domestic or workplace settings. It's hard to figure why that behavior is tolerated, and not called out more at school board meetings and other community gatherings, much less in legislatures or at the supermarket checkout–with persistent "anti-" claims about masks or vaccination, for example, still popping up in unexpected places. Some chairpersons and individuals are objecting to and successfully moderating that behavior, which requires some verbal "Whac-A-Mole" skills.

4. For all the propaganda processes and puffing and stuffing and hot words, it's best to look elsewhere–separate from the propagandist promises of certainty–for what's authentic and achievable.

The propagandist thrives by receiving attention. In the time that any of us is objecting to the latest outlandish outrage, our own comments will often exponentially assist the viral spread of drivel, while the propagandist launches more vitriol to suck(er) more people into weird obsession with delusions of the propagandist's invention. 

And, all those appeals to people's fears, grievances, greed, hates, wanting to belong, or other emotions are just a means to an end for propagandists–along with their lies, denials, delays, distortions, and disruptions that are megaphoned and further magnified unwittingly or willingly by mainstream and social media. Unfortunately, as much as one believes in democratic debate, this is not a belief shared by any propagandist. 

It's mostly pointless to argue or 'splain propagandist comments, other than to reassert or demonstrate democratic values of civil society. Likely those comments were put together to extend dogma, and are frequently couched as "not-for-debate." And it's not possible to even kindle debate when a propagandist won't acknowledge anyone else's much less civil society's ethical or moral framework. As wannabe winners, propagandists don't "get" anyone's morality, because, a bit like self-centered nihilists, they're not absorbing of anything other than self.

The propagandist sees nothing but "selling" us on anything that advances the wannabe goals of the propagandist. So, trying too much to describe a propagandist's ideological commitment is about as meaningful or useful as trying to label the Wizard of Oz. The better efforts will be to raise voter turnout.

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To Speak Out!

The Platypus sings of the antediluvian days

Kangaroo frontis by Unknown artist from Dot and the Kangaroo, 1899 

 This image is in the Public Domain {{US-PD-expired}}

At Amazon websites internationally 

or Ingram for libraries and bookstores.

ISBN: 978-1-7374895-1-1 (hardback)

ISBN: 978-1-7374895-0-4 (paperback)

Persuasive language styles of notable Australians, 1890s to 21st century. This book describes the ways that word choice, sentence shape, and passage development enable successful arguments for change. It is packed with creative uses of metaphor, humour, polemic, anaphora, and political jargon, with rhetorical flair. 

 

Detailing rhetorical strength in the speeches and writing of Sir Samuel Griffith, Louisa Lawson, Alfred Deakin, Dame Nellie Melba, John Curtin, Dame Enid Lyons, Sir Robert Menzies, Oodgeroo Noonuccal [Kath Walker], Kevin Gilbert, Gough Whitlam, Germaine Greer, Bob Hawke, Sallyanne Atkinson, Michael Kirby, Paul Keating, John Howard, Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard, Noel Pearson, Scott Morrison, and more. Includes a selection of notable speeches and writing.

REVIEWER'S CHOICE 

D. Donovan, Senior Reviewer, Midwest Book Review: 

“…designed to appeal to a broad audience interested in communication, rhetoric, and persuasive speaking… Australians who wielded their words as firmly and effectively as battlefield swords and guns …highly recommended, top-notch selection that belongs in the collections of a diverse set of libraries... Ideally, it will be used in classrooms and discussion groups as a solid example of language styles and effective speech.”

Full review here or search for book title at: www.midwestbookreview.com/mbw/jun_22.htm#dianedonovan

Roslyn Petelin PhD, Honorary Associate Professor, School of Communication and Arts, The University of Queensland and author, How Writing Works:

“A fascinating, monumental book that should be compulsory for all history and politics students and many others.”

Harry Hobbs PhD, Associate Professor, University Technology Sydney Faculty of Law, in Australian Law Journal:

“Miller's... keen eye, quick prose, and strong choice of material keep the reader engaged... [As he] explains, all effective speakers must 'combine the ingredients of language creatively' ...If representative democracy is to be sustained, Miller persuasively suggest it is incumbent on all of us to both speak out and call out those who do not offer real solutions. This requires an appreciation of the tools and techniques needed to develop an argument and communicate effectively.”

Full review here https://communicator.rodney-miller.com/p/australian-law-journal-review_21.html

*  *  *  *  *

True leaders advance the common good, using "...truthful, lawful, and just speech"–as recommended for more than 2,400 years. 

My new book, Australians Speak Out: Persuasive Language Styles, assesses persuasive language styles in the speeches and writing of leaders in one modern nation, who got it right. These leaders had to speak directly, laconically at times, and use plain talk to hold the attention of audiences. 

The book is packed with examples of how extraordinary speakers and writers use ordinary words to make representative democracy thrive. It assesses the persuasive language of some notable Australians, from the 1890s to modern times. 

Living in the United States through the absurdity of the initial handling of COVID and a remarkable election, I kept some perspective by exploring a rich heritage of extraordinary Australians who advocate social and political change–completing the book while intense fights for democracy continue throughout the world.

Speaking Up

In Australia, where the anti-hero is revered, leaders have to speak up and speak out in individual ways. When the Olympics were held here, on the night before the race, the blue line marking the marathon course was erased from one section of the course–the next morning to be found repainted running up to one pub door and out from another.

It's the same nation where, amid the COVID pandemic early in 2020, photos spontaneously appeared on the Internet, of suburban dwellers dressed in startling costumes as superheroes, zombies, grotesques, princesses, etc., just to roll out their wheelie garbage bins to the front of their homes for collection. Australians deal with the absurd with a developed sense of humour and a sense of independence.

At a time when truthful, lawful, and just speech is needed more than ever, the book takes a fresh look at how prime ministers, other community leaders, and advocates of change attract attention and move people to action. 

Australians Speak Out ["Look Inside" here] reveals the persuasive language of notable Australians whose advocacy helped to

* federate the colonies of Britain in the South Pacific as one nation

* make Australian women among the first to be able to vote, in 1902

* appeal directly to the people of the United States for wartime support

* establish rights for First Nations

* challenge sexism

* reform laws to respect human rights

* control guns

* deal with the COVID pandemic

and advance many other causes by appealing to our reason and emotions. For ready access, a selection of notable speeches and writing is included.

Direct Appeals

Looking closely at the language of more than 20 notable Australians, who helped to transform the colonies of Britain into a multicultural nation on the world stage, brought surprises along with expected familiarity. Familiar now to relatively few is the plea during World War II to strengthen the partnership of the United States and Australia to defeat foreign aggression in the Pacific–from prime minister John Curtin, speaking via radio directly to the people of the United States. 

Perhaps more readily recalled are prime ministers Sir Robert Menzies and Gough Whitlam, who respectively committed and removed Australian troops in support of the United States in Vietnam. Or, Germaine Greer provocatively addressing women's rights at the National Press Club in Washington DC in 1971–while promoting publication of The Female Eunuch, with the persuasive language that she used in her book reviewed here.

Advocacy for Action

Surprising to some might be the powerful language of Louisa Lawson's social activism, which spearheaded women's right to vote on the same terms as men in 1902; and yet peoples in the First Nations were unable to vote until 1962. 

The disturbing treatment of First Nations was finally officially acknowledged during the term of the reform prime minister Gough Whitlam, elected in 1972, and in the landmark speeches of prime ministers Paul Keating (1992) and Kevin Rudd (2008). Yet, still unaddressed were key rights for First Nations strongly advocated from the late 20th century, by activists like Oodgeroo of the Noonuccal Tribe [Kath Walker] and Kevin Gilbert, whose speeches are reviewed in the book. 

Also assessed are the remarkable speeches and writing of the former Justice of the High Court, Michael Kirby, who recalls the inspiration that Eleanor Roosevelt brought to schoolchildren through her visit to Sydney in 1944–and to his own life-long commitment of reforming laws to respect human rights. And, how The Right Honourable Lord Mayor of Brisbane, Sallyanne Atkinson, invited British royalty who were present to join Brisbane residents in "our party," to celebrate the City's coming of age at the opening of World Expo '88.

From more recent times, there are powerful, and perhaps surprising speeches. These include prime minister John Howard's address to transform gun ownership nationally, little more than a month after the Port Arthur massacre in 1996, and prime minister Julia Gillard's address to parliament in 2012 in her powerful objection to sexism, which resonated around the world–to current Prime Minister Morrison's brief but reassuring plan to deal with the COVID pandemic.

For anyone interested in a close look at words that appeal to audiences–that are authentic and move hearts and minds! I hope you'll enjoy reading the book.