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What Price, Intention, Spiro?
Our agencies prevent us from having agency.
“Once immersed in a coercive system, we act without conscious control.” Douglas Rushkoff “Coercion: Why we do what They say.”
I happened across an important and excellent story this morning by Elle C. that everyone should read. Perhaps it’s just me and my cynicism toward human intentionality, but throughout the article, I couldn’t help seeing in terms of Coercion and These Truths. While listening to the latter, and hearing about the manipulations that pollsters and polls have applied to the American public, I have been inspired to look for some of the words of past politicians that are quoted. It is surprising to find that the ones vilified by historians often turn out to be a gold mine of wisdom presented as evil by the merchants of death and profits. Today’s pivot man turns out to be the gardener.
“The American people should be made aware of the trend toward monopolization of the great public information vehicles and the concentration of more and more power over public opinion in fewer and fewer hands.”
— Spiro T. Agnew
History has not been kind to Agnew because, well, he was busted for tax-dodging (see “Trump”) and because “Nixon” and the creation of the artificial divide among Americans over guns and abortion (Republicans sacrificed reasonably…
