Only You Can Set You Free...

Normally I would put a classic (at least to me) song on my arts blog (www.bollzillaswordsonmusic.blogspot.com), but there's a deeper cultural and political message here.

One thing I have noticed and thought about over the last few weeks in my sojourns through my Facebook feed, is how so much of our political discourse, especially around election time, is spent on the building up and tearing down of public images, and the establishments of "personality cults."   This dynamic occurs no matter what side a given candidate is on, and a few became especially adept at this art.  People like Reagan, Bill Clinton, and Obama are prime examples of how personality and public image are marketed and manipulated for the purposes of electioneering.   Obama build up an entire brand around himself - "Change We Can Believe In", "Yes We Can", and his face on those countless posters seen everywhere, matched with his affable, hip nature, drove him to the Presidency over old war horse John McCain, and won him Advertiser of the Year in one of the large advertising associations.   Indeed - those are like the first things that pops in the mind when his very name is mentioned.   Remember Ronald Reagan?  Affable.  All-American.  Folksy.  Cowboys and the "old west" aspects of America.   How bout Bill Clinton? Affable.  Accomplished.  Sax playing.  Relatable.  Slick.   The one-word traits of how we remember these men. 

Even those who don't ultimately win the Big Prize can succeed.   What are the first things one thinks of when the name Bernie Sanders comes up? Probably words and terms like old-and-wise, fighting, caring, progressive, etc.   The same kind of thing is being done for people like Nina Turner and Tulsi Gabbard - whether they intend to or not.     

But it can backfire.  One of the biggest reasons Hillary Clinton lost the 2016 Election is because she did not master the art of the personality cult to her advantage.   What are some of the first things one thinks of when her name is mentioned?  There were two distinct memes: one was that of the feminist trailblazer who possessed one of the most enviable resumes in history.   The other is that of the corrupt, dishonest, warmongering insider.   The latter meme has been trumpeted for over a quarter century, in large part because of Newt Gingrich's own mastery of public relations, but also in part because of Hillary's own doing. Unfortunately, there is objective evidence which shows her to be an unfair player, to say the least.   Then, there was the sense of entitlement, as seen in her ill-advised slogan, "I'm With Her."   The negative memes ultimately won out, sullying any attempts to build her image back up.  

The point to all of this is - personality cults serve as distractions to the goals we say we wish to attain as a society.   They do this by shifting the focus away from the person's actions (which really have an effect on our everyday lives), and towards the person himself or herself.   An image of a person is just that - an image.   An illusion with no real substance.   It's in the actions of these people where the substance really lies.

The mainstream media, which serves a product based on sonic and aural images, finds the building of these cults necessary as they provide marketable sound and sight bites which attract eyes and ears, and ultimately, advertiser dollars.    Obama was about the hope and change, but what really changed in his watch - at least from the economic and foreign policy standpoints?  Bill Clinton claimed to have balanced the budget - but he was also the beneficiary of the tech bubble (which was NOT of his doing) which brought in the extra revenues which were in part necessary to make that balancing a reality.   Don't get me started about Ronald Reagan.

So let's not allow ourselves to become distracted by the sonic and aural images of people who look and sound real good.   Let's look at their actions, and if those actions match up with their words.   One of the lyrics in Living Colour's song is "Only You Can Set You Free".   Well, this is how we can start setting ourselves and our minds free.  

(NOTE: the copyright for the above video is held by Sony Music Entertainment.   I share it here purely for educational/editorial purposes and no infringement is intended.   Upon request, I'll remove the link.)