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So, I read the Lippmann and Bernays readings. When reading "The Disenchanted Man," I had no idea where Lippmann was going with the whole voting example. It didn't appear to have anything to do with rhetoric or what Ramage has ever said. Then again, I don't follow anything that has to do with politics or the like... I know, I'm horrible.

At one point though, Lippmann said something that completely agreed with Ramage's idea of "persuading the audience." On page 40, Lippmann writes, "Since the general opinions of large numbers of persons are almost certain to be a vague and confusing medley, action cannot be taken until these opinions have been factored down, canalized, compressed and made uniform. The making of one general will out of a multitude of general wishes is not an Hegelian mystery, as so many social philosophers have imagined, but an art well known to leaders, politicians, and steering committees."

I think that statement alone agrees with most of what Ramage was talking about in Chapter 3 with persuasion and propaganda. It also ties in to what Lippmann was saying about voting--politicians constantly try to figure out ways of getting more people to vote for them, or to just vote in general. What better way to do that than to use the power of persuasion? I know I constantly persuade people and argue to get MY way.

Bernays' "Manipulating Public Opinion" also agrees with Ramage's idea of using propaganda as rhetoric to persuade an audience. Bernays' opening paragraph is very Ramage-esque: "Public opinion is subject to a variety of influences that develop and alter its views on nearly every phase of life today. Religion, science, art, commerce, industry are in a state of motion. The inertia of society and institutions is constantly combated by the activity of individuals with strong convictions and desires."

So, yay, everyone is like Ramage and thinks the way he does. I don't know if that is a good thing or a bad thing, but all I know is I cannot wait to move AWAY from "Ramageland" completely. I have a headache.