In My Opnion, My Opinion is...

In My Opnion, My Opinion is...

By Joe Renna

This opinion piece is my opinion about opinions. If you don't care about my opinion that's OK. But human nature being what it is, if you read this far you will be compelled to read the rest or the thoughts of what you missed will relentlessly nag you.

Everyone is entitled to his or her opinion. Opinions should be mandatory. Forming opinions should be a subject in school. Too many people don't have their own opinion and rely on others to tell them what they should think. This is the root of our world problems.

Popular opinion is thrust upon a society by cultural leaders. Their methods of persuasion are as diverse as their agendas. But the one thing these leaders all have in common is their ability to influence others. This becomes a problem when the opinion being induced is coupled with bad intentions.

Persuasion in and of itself is not a bad thing. We use some technique throughout our daily lives. It is the basis of parenting, business and socializing. It is truly a craft and its subtle use can make the difference in a child eating his vegetables or getting a date for the prom.

People who are in the persuasion business are not subtle at all. Advertising hits us like a hammer every day. But that doesn't make it bad. In fact, advertising is educational if presented truthfully. It is when the tools of deception are used that a consumer can be turned into a victim.

Ignorance is what devious marketers prey upon. The whole .com wall street fiasco was nothing more than a show of smoke and mirrors. Stock brokers were no different than a sideshow barker enticing a carnival crowd to see the man with the biggest shoes. (His feet were normal but his shoes were real big). Fraud can be very costly. Usually it is tied to economic motivation. Financial ruin can be devastating but it is relatively minor compared to what can be lost.

Persuasion on the grandest scale can cost lives. We see the practice every day in countries that oppress their people. Oppression takes on many forms, the main one being withholding information. When education is denied or limited the result is a hybrid of ignorant subjects, fertile ground for evil to grow.

People trapped in the middle of a sea of ignorance have no other choice than to stay afloat and if there is but one raft the captain becomes their savior. He is their hero by keeping them alive in the water. Even though there is dry land close by, his subjects don't know about it. He never told them. Even if they knew, their memory of how to walk is long gone.

The greatest weapon in a war against an oppressed people is knowledge. It worked against the former Soviet Union and it is being used in Afghanistan. When American products poured into the USSR, the Russian people began to realize what they were missing out on. The populous was dumb-founded by McDonald's Hamburgers and Jordash Jeans. Except once they started eating the burgers they couldn't fit into the jeans. When offered a choice of Coke or Pepsi, I think the kids just passed out.

What Farrah Faucet and Charlie's Angels did to Russian culture during the Cold War, Pamela Anderson and Baywatch could do today. Drop a plane full of Maxim Magazines into foreign military schools. Maybe the students could find something to live for.

I'd be the first to admit this is a wacky metaphor. But the point I'm making is not. Influencing others to do terror is as evil a use of persuasion as can be mustered. The actual breeding of generations of ignorance is criminal. What's worse is that the victims are clueless to their situation. They live and die never exercising free will, rational thought or reasoning. Without options there are no choices.

If you lose a buck on the side show or your house to a 30 year old millionaire it won't kill you. Strapping a bomb to yourself or crashing a plane does. It also kills others.

Not for Nothing But...
ignorance is the felt strip that the Velcro hooks of oppression clings to.