OPINION:
In discussing voter psychology, author Aldous Huxley said in a 1958 interview, “A democracy depends on the individual voter making an intelligent and rational choice for what he regards as his enlightened self-interest ” Conversely, according to Huxley, TV and radio advertising experts “try to bypass the rational side and appeal directly to these unconscious forces below the surfaces, so that you are, in a way, making nonsense of the whole democratic procedure, which is based on conscious choice on rational ground.”
This explains why TV is especially skilled in manipulating the voter. It has a hypnotic influence over the masses. This was explained in the 1976 movie “Network” by the character Howard Beale, the “Mad Prophet of the Airwaves.” Beale railed against TV by saying, “Right now, there is a whole, an entire generation that never knew anything that didn’t come out of this tube! This tube is the gospel, the ultimate revelation. This tube can make or break presidents, popes, prime ministers. [W]oe to us if it ever falls into the hands of the wrong people.”
Beale continues, “Television is not the truth! Television is a circus, a carnival ” With the election of Donald Trump, America was persuaded to elect a sideshow freak for president. With Oprah, America may elect a man-hating storyteller for that office. Woe to men if this happens.
KEVIN PALMER
Evans, Ga.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.