To Spot a Demagogue...

By the Professor...

Webster's defines a "demagogue" as a leader who makes use of popular prejudices and false claims and promises in order to gain power.

Demagoguery is defined as "to manipulate, to obscure, to distort with emotionalism and/or prejudice, using rhetoric and propaganda".

I rather prefer H.L. Mencken's quote; "a demagogue is one who preaches doctrines he knows to be untrue to men he knows to be idiots."

Of course Mencken's comment is rather insulting to women, as female demagogues are in great abundance in modern times.

Political scientists sometimes define modern demagogues as being government employees or elected officials who attempt to use their positions to coerce, intimidate, legislate with false stated intent, and make other attempts to manipulate the lives and behaviors of those citizens they look down upon as inferior beings. This is a sad, but true, statement on the reality of human behavior; that those who are given responsibility too often become seduced by the power that comes with that responsibility.

But the trick, now that we have defined a demagogue, is to spot them. Some are far too easy...almost as if they are setting themselves up as examples for our discussion.

When the current house speaker, Nancy Pelosi, stated that "every month we don't take action...500 million more Americans lose their jobs" pretty much fills every possible requirement of a demagogic statement. It's obviously untrue; not only because there are only some 300 million Americans total in our population, but for more subtle reasons.

She was attempting to rabble rouse a crowd to support the so-called economic stimulus bill then in Congress. Creating panic and stress, promising disaster, threatening complete and total calamity if the people did not immediately do as she was instructing...all are huge flashing electric signs of demagoguery. The 500 million remark is more a facet of her complete failure to understand numbers in any way, shape, or form.

So some demagoguery is painfully easy to spot. More subtle examples exist in abundance. From lawmakers and bureaucrats we can watch for key phrases:

We can't afford to wait
It's a fact...not a theory
Tax breaks for the rich
We have to change
We have to make (plug in just about anything here) fair
Health care/ housing/ food (plug in any product or service) is a right...not a privilege
Now is the time
Those whom society has left behind
We must take action now
We cannot afford to wait for a discussion of the issues...there is simply no time
The words "fair" or "fairness" used in almost any form or context

These, and many more"hot button" phrases, are constantly dragged out by demagogues. This is done partly to put the listener's brain to sleep, and partly to arouse emotion over rational thought. Rational thought is the demagogue's enemy.

Listening to recent street interviews by news reporters indicates how effective demagoguery truly is. One might recall how a large number of respondents, following the 2008 US national elections, were jubilant in celebration as they were certain that "car payments would now be made by the government," that they "don't have to worry about my mortgage payments anymore", and now "everything is going to go my way." These are the classic examples of people completely seduced by the propaganda of a demagogue.

Of course this propaganda wins elections; and that is why the classic "chicken in every pot" campaign promise will never go out of style. The promise of something for nothing, whether made by a con artist lifting an elderly person's life savings, or a politician doing the same, tends to find plenty of ready and willing victims.

Other signs; a politician speaking out for the taxation of, and control of, any and all means of communications. Government already controls many facets of the communications industry; and many in government want to control everything. The free-flowing Internet is seen as a threat to demagogues and they constantly speak of "taxing" and "regulating" it.

Open media is demagoguery's worst nightmare. The advent of cable television, Internet and satellite radio, and talk radio forums are all seen as aberrations which must be forced by law to be "fair"...fairness, of course, is to be defined by the demagogue.

Demagogues exist in business and other organizations as well. During the allied invasion of Iraq, a number of reporters who were embedded with US troops began to send dispatches back to their home offices praising the actions and discipline of our fighting men and women. Dozens of these reporters were suddenly cut off from home office communications or were actually fired while in-country. Some stayed on in Iraq at their own expense and ended up writing successful books about the conflict. Others ended up being hired by other news organizations in allied countries or competing news organizations. It was a fascinating example of demagoguery in the corporate context.

Why is it important to separate demagogues and demagoguery from the pack? It's because demagoguery is the tool not only of less than scrupulous politicos and other characters, it has always been the starting point from whence ambitious men attempt to steal power away from the people. The demagogue doesn't always successfully become a tyrant...but every tyrant starts off as a demagogue.