Thursday 2 October 2014

ambiguity in politics - part two

Authoritarian governments are always uncomfortable with 'ambiguity':
Jay Doubleyou: ambiguity in politics - hong kong

The Chinese government has been very intolerant of its top artist WeiWei:
Jay Doubleyou: art
Jay Doubleyou: architecture

On the other hand, authoritarian governments might welcome 'ambiguity' - as long as its their ambiguity...

The writer of 1984 and Animal Farm, George Orwell, was very critical of the way in which politicians manipulate language:
Jay Doubleyou: eschew obfuscation
Jay Doubleyou: plain guide to english
Jay Doubleyou: the poetry of english

However, propaganda, public relations and advertising are often very unambiguous in the messages they give;
Jay Doubleyou: propaganda, public relations and manufacturing consent

Meanwhile, there was a very controversial 1960s study on personality and how it affects attitudes to politics. To quote completely out of context:

The whiny kids tended to grow up conservative, and turned into rigid young adults who hewed closely to traditional gender roles and were uncomfortable with ambiguity.

God And Mike Huckabee Heart The Pootin - Page 2 (politics)
Articles: Do Bratty Kids Turn into Conservatives or Liberals?

This research was based on theories of the 'authoritarian personality' and a very influential book:
Authoritarian personality - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Authoritarian Personality - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Which then begs the question of which type of person goes into politics:

Block points out in the study, "Ironically, the sheer variety of changes and improvements suggested by the liberal-minded under-controller may explain the diffuseness, and subsequent ineffectiveness, of liberals in politics where a collective single-mindedness of purpose so often is required."

03.23.2006 - Study linking preschool personality to political orientation draws wide attention

In other words, Chinese communists are conservative - and conservatives might well be rather supportive of Chinese communits:
Why are conservatives now siding with Communist China?
New Statesman | Hong Kong's pro-democracy movement is a challenge to all of Asia's autocrats
.
.
.

No comments: