“The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” Jeremiah 17:9
I am constantly amazed at how people are so easily manipulated through their emotions, and constantly disgusted at how politicians will exploit this fact to gain power.
Emotions are an important part of our lives. Emotions allow us to relate to one another, to have friendship, to have empathy for those in need. Emotions can also bring people to fits of rage or send them cowering in fear. Emotion is an important ingredient in art and music.
Emotions, however, are also transitory and unpredictable. They cannot be relied on as a basis of decision making or governance. Emotions are like sand, ever shifting and unreliable as a foundation. Certainly they can be considered when planning or making decisions, but they must be kept in proper perspective.
I still marvel at how quickly some peoples' emotions changed from rage at seeing thousands of their fellow countrymen senselessly killed in the 9-11 attacks to guilt, believing that we somehow brought it on ourselves…and some to mistrust thinking that it was orchestrated by our own government. I also marvel at how quickly many politicians, after hurrying to portray themselves as pro-war hawks, realigned themselves to anti-war doves once their supporters shifted their stand. This was a shining example of the lack of solid principles of many in government.
For decades we have been exhorted to rely more on our emotions. Don’t over analyze things, we are told, follow your heart. This has had the effect of dumbing-down our society. It has been seen in education where we are told it is more important how a child feels about themselves than what they learn…self-esteem is more important than knowledge. This was taken to the ridiculous extreme by some educators who said it was not important that a child properly solve a math problem, but it was how they felt about math that was important. This is ludicrous. A math solution is either right or it is wrong…black and white…and it is important for students to learn math, regardless of how they feel about it.
Politicians know how easily public emotions can be manipulated. “Never waste a good crisis,” as Hillary Clinton and Rahm Emanuel have said. And this government is not squandering any opportunity. We are constantly assaulted with huge appeals to our emotions through so-called crises. They play to our sympathy with images of a baby polar bear on an ice drift and stories of some elderly lady who could not afford her prescription drugs. They elicit fear with horrifying tales of coming natural disasters, crop failures and the end of life as we know it. They make us feel guilty for being so successful when there are those in the world who have so little. And all the while, they tell us that they are our only hope. If only we give them more control, more taxes, more of our lives, they can make it all better. Don’t think or analyze too much they say, now is a time for action or baby polar bears will die…the planet will die…old ladies will die. Trust us, your sacrifice will be worth it.
This is not the way our republic was built. The founding fathers were men of deep passion who were given to fiery oratory and heated disagreements. They were also men of great learning and deep thought. They brought about a form of government that had been theorized in parts by many different scholars for centuries but never before implemented. They drew from history and classical writings. They studied past successes and failures of government. They saw the tyranny of power centralized in the hands of too few and that of power given to the whims of the masses. They crafted the Constitution with great deliberation to give our government a balance between totalitarianism and anarchy that was ingenious and has stood the test of years. The founders, when presenting the new document to the states, appealed to logic and the soundness of the principles therein contained. These principles have provided the United States of America with greater levels of freedom and prosperity for the largest portion of its population than in any other country at any other time.
In these times of 24-hour news cycles and the 30 second sound byte, of constant imagery flooding into our homes, we need to be more careful than ever as to what we believe. We must look at all proposed “solutions” offered by government with a critical and wary eye. Of course bad things happen to good people, but are anecdotal tales of woe worth sacrificing the principles of our great republic? Are the pending crises real, or fabricated to evoke the proper response? And, if real, do the proposed solutions really solve anything, or just gather power to the politicians?
The examples of this type of emotional manipulation are endless, but the point is that in time of crisis, of pending sweeping change, we must appeal to sound reason and solid, proven principle rather than the vagaries of emotion. We must be ever vigilant to safeguard our freedoms and way of life from those who would capitalize on misfortune. Americans are a big-hearted people. We give more to the world and our own in need than any other country. We should not lose that gift…but we should also not lose the gifts of liberty. Care for the sick, the oppressed, those with no voice, but base it on the solid foundation of sound reason.
Feel deeply, but think deeply also, for “Liberty once lost is lost forever.” – John Adams.
