Chris Hedges What Is Artifice

Heath can be seen to be a successful leader due to the fact he won the 1970 election, much to Harold Wilson’s surprise. However, many would place the win not down to the

The best politicians out there, are often not the ones that have the best ideas, but rather the ones that can trick and then steal the hearts of their audiences. The people of the world will often support and vote for the candidate with the story that impacts them the most. The stories the candidates say may often not be true, this is what Hedges’ meant when he said that “the most essential skill…. Is artifice.”

Donald Trump before he became the 45th president, his famous campaign motto “Make America Great Again” caught the attention of many Americans, but mostly by white Americans. Trump’s tactics made him a very clever man throughout the election, he had many techniques on how to gain the American vote. Throughout his campaign, he was attentive of the men around him. For example, Trump knew exactly what to say to get the attention of the American people. He already had in mind who he was going to pick in position for foreign policy, national security, and defense (“Donald Trump is the ultimate Machiavellian prince”). With this intention, he brought comfort to Americans, yet the people he was going to pick for these positions all have a common trait, which was all of them are specialist in the Middle East and Russia. Not only, was Trump attentive of America, yet he kept in mind how it was going to affect

He talks about how America is easily manipulated by images. They cannot differentiate between lies in the truth. Many people in America are illiterate or barely literate. They could read somewhere around a 6th grade level. This affects them when they have to vote since they do not make decisions off facts. Moreover, politicians are very aware of that. Their campaigns are made so they could get emotions out of the audience rather than go based off facts. “We prefer happy illusions. And it works because so much of the American electorate, including those who should know better, blindly cast ballots for slogans, smiles, the cheerful family tableaux, narratives and the perceived sincerity and the attractiveness of candidates. We confuse how we feel with knowledge” (Hedges). Politicians use the slogan such as “yes we can” and they would tell stories so we can sympathize in voting for them. They make fake that they will take care of all of your problems as healthcare, schooling, taxes and a nation united. Yet, when the candidate wins, they forget about promise that they made in the campaigns. Matt Taibbi’s article “How America Made Donald Trump Unstoppable” stated, “Like the actual circus, this is a roving business. Cash flows to campaigns from people and donors; campaigns buy ads; ads pay for journalists; journalists assess candidates…Nine out of 10 times in America, the candidate who raises the most money wins. And those candidates then owe the most favors” (Taibbi). This quote shows it does not matter if people vote or not, their votes are not a key factor in the campaigns it is the donors. When the campaigns are over, the illiterate have no voice once again. Politics is not about the ideas about the ideas

This book is a bold work by George C. Edwards in which he shares his views of the political system in the US and how it has evolved over time. He has touched almost every president since the 1930s and brought to light some interesting details about how presidents have followed patterns and used their own style of actions to meet their unique objectives. The book describes in detail the attitudes of presidents and reflects his views on presidency. For instance, he has expressed three premises about presidential leadership: public support is used as a social resource by president, presidents must take interest in the problems of the people in order to actually garner support rather than just delivering speeches, and the public can be mobilized successfully by permanent campaigns.

In the excerpt from Empire of Illusion by Chris Hedges, he argues that “the most essential skill” in political leaders is artifice. This means that a political leader’s connection with their citizens is fake and created purely with propaganda. The issue at hand is that too many political leaders are using artifice and are deceiving all of their citizens and are then able to lead as they want and not as their citizens wish. The most essential skill for a political leader should be a balance of skills and not just one skill; Integrity, being honorable, being a good communicator should all be skills (and more) a politician should have to be a great ruler.

Power is always important in human society since society’s existence. Emperors, kings, queens and presidents in every culture and history have tried everything to solidify their reign and enhance their power. One thing they all did is to build a strange and powerful image of themselves. Politicians nowadays use social media and press to build their images which are smart, powerful or trustworthy, Just like things the emperors did in thousands years ago.

Have you ever heard the phrase “a team is only as good as its weakest player”? This idea is opposite for a nation, however. A country is only as good as its strongest leader. Not every president that runs and is elected into office is going to be the best there 's ever been, and it’s true we’ve had some pretty terrible presidents. But those weaker presidents didn’t leave a lasting impression on our country. Only those presidents that were strong and stood for or against something are remembered and studied. This doesn’t just apply to presidents, but to any great men. As great men or women come into our society and make a difference we all grow as a nation and every nation is different depending on its

Across time, political leaders have often been remembered for their greatness by how they faced challenges than with what particular skills or abilities they had during their time in office. This statement is known to be true as political leaders are often expected to solve certain issues or challenges when in office and if their contributions benefit the state or country. Additionally, history books, records, and scholarly journals will take note of a leader’s response to challenges, how they are handled, and if the issue is solved more than whether they adequately used certain skills and abilities to solve the problem. In short, challenges, when faced, allow the political leaders to be remembered more so than their talents.

When election time comes around, the question everyone should be asking is, “What are the qualities of a good leader?” Edmund Burke said “All persons possessing any power ought to be strongly and awfully impressed with an idea that they act in trust, and that they are to account for their conduct in that trust to the one great Master, Author, and Founder of society.” Edmund stated here that he believes a leader of any sort should trust in God, and give Him the glory for their accomplishments, for He is sovereign over society. However, in a country like this where the opinions of the people really do matter pertaining to the future human leadership, the people must be sure to have the right ideas of what a leader should look like. Generally, qualities that

The 2016 presidential election had been a contentious one even before the primaries began. A divide within parties and between the public grew increasingly evident over the past year, ultimately leading to a candidate with no prior political experience beating out a candidate with forty-plus years on her resume. Scandals plagued both campaigns, however, polls and positive media coverage stayed firmly in Hillary Clinton’s favor throughout the duration of the election process with Donald Trump even claiming that the polls were “rigged” and the media was biased. While the veracity of these claims cannot be verified, today we know that the polls were wrong and the media that all but handed the election to Clinton were wrong as well. So how did Trump, someone many said would need a miracle to make it to the White House, beat all the odds and his seemingly strong opponent to become President? Though pundits are still struggling to understand it, the rise of Donald Trump shouldn’t have surprised anyone. For the pioneering German sociologist Max Weber, it would have been entirely predictable, a classic example of the politics of charisma.

The modern presidency has in a sense become a double-edged sword in that presidents have become beneficiaries of anything positive that can be attributed to government, but also can be blamed for anything bad occurring in society. Quite simply, the modern president has become the center of our political system (The Modern Presidency, 2004). The men who have dealt with this double-edged sword known as the modern presidency have often walked a very fine line between effectiveness and ineffectiveness, but all have attempted to use their power in one way or another.

"Get on the goddamn phone. I know you got an intercom system. Call up there and tell Elvis I wanna visit with him. Who the hell does he think he is? Tell him the Killer's here to see him!" Jerry Lee

Media is known as the “king maker” for many reasons, such as shaping candidates in audience’s perspective. Television has been a big influence in shaping voters choice and labeling political parties, even though some believe media information can be scant in regards to candidates. Media can be anything from television to social media networks and how many people think that media is a great influence, some also think it can be a problem. “It only takes 140 characters to damage a political campaign” in which Smith is referring to social media as being a problem. (Smith, K. 2011. Pg. 9) At the state and local levels party affiliation remains the most important. “In television age, journalist became the chief influence in the selection of candidates

Donald’s Trump’s victory in the 2016 election is very complex. The political mishaps that have occurred since JFK’s presidency reshaped the American psyche of who the president should be. This chain of dissatisfaction with the federal government led the American people to hope for a president who is honest, free of corruption, and supportive of the middle class. Trump recognized the American need for a new kind of president and took on a persona that perfectly exemplified this. The Trump Mythology is the belief that Donald Trump is a transparent, honest politician; however, this is only part of the equation. Belief in the Trump Mythology contributed to his victory, but it is also important to acknowledge the respective roles of demographics, voter turnout, and Hillary Clinton’s flaws. An interesting difference between the Kennedy Mythology and the Trump Mythology that is worth noting is the role of the media. Throughout the Kennedy Era, popular media fed the people’s fascination of Kennedy’s Camelot, perpetuating the mythology. Donald Trump, however, was largely hated by popular culture. American media ultimately discounted Donald Trump as a viable contender for the presidency.