Dastardly Discourse

Rescuing Rhetorical Capital from Indecency and Incivility

Meg Gorzycki

• Publisher: Resource Publications
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN:
  9781725262232
  9781725262249
• eBook ISBN:
  9781725262256
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Religious Essays
• Index: Social Sciences

Screaming at the television, compulsively firing off tart little tweets, and blogging until we are blue; these signal that we are feeling the effects of dastardly discourse. We live in a world where people feel entitled to use words to hurt, exploit, and publicly degrade humanity. We daily consume rhetoric that makes a mockery of decency and civility. Leaders of key social institutions, including government, news media, and religious organizations, who are supposed to be role models of reasoned and compassionate communication are often the ones with the loudest lies and the hardest hate. We can change the channel. We can unplug. We can even encourage others to do the same. We may not do so, however, until we grasp what is fundamentally at risk in our current norms of communication. Nasty words are just the tip of the dastardly discourse iceberg. What lies beneath is a steady flow of propaganda that aims to control our personal narratives. This book is about that propaganda, the importance of owning our own narratives, and improving our own rhetorical capital--the ability to analyze and evaluate information--for the sake of sustaining human dignity, decency, and civility.

Chapter 1

An Introduction to Dastardly Discourse

Words Matter

What do Jesus of Nazareth, Jon Stewart, Howard Beale, and my mom have in common? Need a hint? OK, let’s explore who is who. Jesus of Nazareth was a Jewish teacher of spiritual wisdom who lived in Roman-occupied Palestine, ruled by Tiberius Caesar. His life and death have for millions of people become a source of moral guidance and salvation. Jon Stewart is an American comedian, writer, actor, and former host of the Daily Show on Comedy Central. His life and activism may have become a source of spiritual wisdom for some, but he is more widely known for his humor and commentary on the hypocrisy and irony of American politics and culture. Howard Beale is a fictional news anchorman who is a central character in the film, Network.1 Beale is the angry prophetic voice against television’s manipulation of public opinion who screams, “I’m as mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore!” He’s the guy who directs viewers to throw their TVs out the window. My mom is the woman who gave birth to me and my five siblings. She worships Jesus, chuckled at some of Jon Stewart’s sarcasm, and thought Beale was too crazy to watch.

Still cannot see the common thread? Alright, let’s try some quotations. Jesus said to his disciplines, “A man is not defiled by what enters his mouth, but by what comes out of it” (Matt. 15:11). In a discussion with CNN’s Tucker Carlson (host of Crossfire), Jon Stewart criticized CNN’s news programs for being too friendly to corporate interests. Stewart pleaded with Tucker, “Stop, stop, stop, stop hurting America.” He continued, “You know. . . you have a responsibility to the public discourse, and you fail miserably.”2 Howard Beale cried out to his audience:

Listen to me: Television is not the truth! Television is a God-damned amusement park! Television is a circus, a carnival, a traveling troupe of acrobats, storytellers, dancers, singers, jugglers, side-show freaks, lion tamers, and football players. We’re in the boredom-killing business! So if you want the truth. . . Go to God! Go to your gurus! Go to yourselves! Because that’s the only place you’re ever going to find any real truth.

My mom? Well, she warned her kids, “If you use that kind of language again, I’m going to wash your mouth out with soap!” And she did.

Each of these individuals is telling us that words matter. They are telling us that it is not right to cause pain and suffering with our stories and comments, and that it is wrong to lie. They are telling us that our words are used all too often to anesthetize our minds, and to distract us from what really matters. Jesus, Jon, Howard, and mom all understood that we can create a hell on Earth by what we say to each other, or we can create communities in which truth and benevolence prevail.

Much of our lives passes before we realize that what was in front of our eyes was a projection of what we wanted to see. Further, many of us have lived with illusions instead of truth, and believed that we were in possession of our thoughts and personal narratives when in fact we were not. Some have argued that illusions are social necessities. They give people a sense of well-being, and they neutralize their desire to rebel and disrupt the peace. Many of us live according internal narratives that contradict the faith we espouse. The stories we tell ourselves about who we are and how we should live are powerful in the sense that they determine the quality of our lives and the lives of others. The scenarios of our lives are often shaped by social norms and persuasive discourse without our awareness. Because narratives and myths are so powerful, they will get substantial attention in this book.

Rhetoric and how our lives are shaped by public discourse matters very much to people who take their spirituality, faith in a sacred purpose for life, and moral excellence seriously. In the U.S., faith and spirituality are no small matter. A 2018 study found that 80 percent of Americans say that they believe in God or a higher power that is a spiritual force.3 In addition, approximately two thirds of those who believe in God talk to God and believe that God determines what happens to them at least some of the time. The study also reveals that 53 percent of those who claim no religion believe in a higher power or spiritual force. Americans are, however, divided on the matter of whether a belief in God is necessary in order for a person to be moral, with roughly one half of Americans on either side of the question.4

For many, religion plays an important role in the narratives that provide people with a purpose in life and a moral compass to get through a world of deception and vice. Spiritually grounded individuals understand that words play a profound role in how they interpret the world, and blaze their moral pathways. Some of the most eloquent and charismatic individuals who speak “in the name of God,” or with executive or expert authority on matters, speak not for the sake of advancing respect, empathy, and justice, but for the sake of replacing our own spirituality and conscience with their agendas and world views.

Being in possession of our own conscience requires us to objectively examine our beliefs and where they come from. It demands honest inventories of what influences our thinking, and the extent to which we adjust our hearts and minds so that we fit neatly into the social groups we love and revere. It means acknowledging that just because we go to church does not mean that we are not hypnotized by commercial and political propaganda. It requires a clear understanding of what theologian Paul Tillich called the “ultimate concern,” or the thing that answers our most profound existential questions about life, purpose, and destiny—the thing that brings all other considerations in our lives into its orbit.5 Everyone, regardless of creed or spirituality, benefits from knowing that lots of people would very much like to manage our beliefs and define our “ultimate concern” in ways that may hurt us.

Propaganda has been around for hundreds of years, and has been transformed into a deadly science. At the turn of the twentieth century, Edward Bernays, the nephew of Sigmund Freud, used his uncle’s ideas to refine and create new strategies sway voters and consumers. He asserted that people must be manipulated for their own good. Bernays argued that democracy depended the success of an invisible elite to shape public opinion and habits, so that people would be compliant and still feel like they were thinking for themselves.6

Bernays held that most people are unaware of their own motivations, and that businesses could improve their profits by understanding and exploiting these motives. He made a fortune showing corporations including General Electric, American Tobacco Company, Proctor and Gamble, and CBS, how to do this. He added to his treasure by consulting with government officials who created political propaganda that targeted foreign countries. Their goal was to convince the masses that unions and reformers were all communist dupes. Bernays helped orchestrate campaigns that allowed United Fruit and other US companies to exploit and oppress our neighbors sou...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Preface
• Acknowledgements
• Chapter 1: An Introduction to Dastardly Discourse
• Chapter 2: Why Get in a Rhetorical Twist?
• Chapter 3: Crusades and Crucibles
• Chapter 4: Democratizing the University and the Bumpy Road of Liberal Arts
• Chapter 5: Seeking the Unattainable
• Chapter 6: Let’s Play Chicken
• Chapter 7: The Church of St. Exceptions
• Chapter 8: The Idolatry of Nationalism
• Chapter 9: God Talk
• Chapter 10: Empowerment
• Chapter 11: A Rhetorical Conclusion
• Chapter 12: Inventories and Across the Aisles
• Bibliography