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What The Martians Must Think |
By:
Kenrick Cleveland |
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Indulge me for a moment while I veer off into the world of fantasy for a moment. The world of make believe, our crazy political world from a martian's perspective.
Put yourself in the head of an anthropologist from Mars. Let's pretend we're a team of anthropologists and we've taken on human form and landed in Washington DC, circa 2007.
What would be our conclusions about American politics were we to come down fresh, understanding very little of the political system?
There's blue and red, there's elephants and donkeys. These represent the "two sides".
Two sides. . . how can so many people be divided into just two groups of thought? They can't. There are many philosophies, but only the most powerful are given voice.
So these are the two realistic options. Third or fourth candidates are not allowed to compete, really. They have "no chance of winning" or there's the fear that the third party will take votes away from "real" candidates.
So the red and the blue appear to really dislike each other, but they're two sides of the same coin, always in line to keep out the fringe and so they have some common interests.
Then things start to get good. . .
Both sides consider 'the media' to be an enemy, and yet they both refuse to stop getting exposure from 'the media'.
'The Media' claims to be unbiased, but it isn't true. They are loyal to whomever is in power and whomever owns the media outlet.
More exciting, and extremely advantageous to the media, both sides also have more titillating common enemies:
Prostitutes. Most recently Louisiana Senator David Vitters who gives an awful lot of lip service to abstinence only sex ed, was identified by the DC madam and the Canal Street Madam as being a client.
Under aged boys. Well. . . boy might be a bit of a frame, they were not yet eighteen, let's put it that way. Recently US Representative Mark Foley, once considered a crusader against child abuse and exploitation, got caught sending dirty e-mails and instant messages to boys who were almost eighteen. . . doesn't that count?
Women. Specifically wanton women. There was this one time, the woman was wearing a blue dress. He liked cigars. . . . At least Bill Clinton had the sense to make sure the woman was over the age of consent.
Other enemies to both camps. . .
Closeted homosexuality. (There was that one guy Senator Larry Craig and his "misunderstanding" in the Minneapolis airport and let's not forget New Jersey Democratic Governor Jim McGreevey. He likes men. Wow! Wouldn't have been a problem if he weren't in the closet.);
Extramarital affairs. The list is too long. And really, is this even an issue people care about anymore?
And women who don't like being groped or harassed (The Terminator).
I could go on and on. There are obviously other enemies - crack cocaine (Marion Barry), voter fraud, blah, blah, blah.
Blue, red, elephant, donkey, they seem to want to make all the laws and then break them.
In our research as Martian anthropologists, we'd have to conclude that some form of perversion or criminal record is mandatory for political candidates.
We'd also have to conclude that the non-politicians, the ones who vote (or don't vote), have such a short attention span that really, it doesn't much matter. It's football season and there's a new season of "The Biggest Loser" and it's back to school time and the kids need new backpacks. And before you know it, it's the holidays again.
Jumping into this little fantasy world sometimes gives us a fresh perspective. It's all about framing. Putting a new lens on life.
Try it with your life and your persuasion. See how it goes. Tell others about it, tell me about it on this blog. Create a discussion, invite your friends and colleagues to join the discussion here. Lord knows we need to step back from the craziness every once in a while and talk to each other intelligently about what we observe.
Kenrick Cleveland teaches strategies to earn the business of affluent clients using persuasion. He runs public and private seminars and offers home study courses and coaching programs in persuasion strategies.
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Article Source: http://www.statssheet.com/articles/article53494.html |
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