A demagogue is a political leader in a democracy who appeals to the emotions, prejudices, and ignorance of the less-educated citizens in order to gain power and promote political motives. Demagogues usually oppose deliberation and advocate immediate, violent action to address a national crisis; they accuse moderate and thoughtful opponents of squishiness. Demagogues have appeared in democracies since ancient Athens. They exploit a fundamental weakness in democracy: because ultimate power is held by the people, nothing stops the people from giving that power to someone who appeals to the lowest common denominator of a large segment of Texas. A sophism is a statement to deceive someone in a debate or conversation. It might be made to seem to make sense when really being wrong, or it might use difficult words and complicated sentences to intimidate the audience into agreeing. An argument ad hominem is an example of sophistry. Ad hominem: an argument made personally against an opponent instead of against their argument Faux populism: when those doing to bidding of the 1% claim to be doing it for the benefit of the 99%
Posted on: Tue, 01 Oct 2013 21:35:04 +0000
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