Friday, September 26, 2008

Anger and What People Know

People are angry. They're pissed about the economy, about Iraq, about gas prices. So it's no wonder that folks are angry about the proposed trillion dollar buyout to hopefully fix a looming economic crisis.

Anger and other strong emotions have an interesting relationship with knowledge. In general, emotions tend to increase motivation but hinder learning. Pissed off people pay attention, but the emotion gets in the way of reasoning. The result is often a focus on individuals, someone to blame. Scapegoats.

Enter, the CEO.

I agree, I want someone to blame as well. Public execution of a few CEOs, with pay-per-view television, might go a long way toward helping with the bailout. Since that doesn't seem likely, we may have to go with the Bush plan, with some changes. It took me a few days to accept this after some heavy reading, thinking, and acceptance that my pay-per-view idea was never going to fly.

But some GOPers in the House, for philosophical and political reasons, are balking. I'm not a partisan, and yet here's my gift to the Dems. A line that may or may not work:

Let a Hundred Herbert Hoovers Bloom.

Yeah, ya gotta be historically knowledgeable to get the line, but what the hell, I'm a PhDweeb, so boiling that down any more wouldn't work. Maybe a good preface, like: "As well all remember, Republican Herbert Hoover failed to blah blah blah." And then let the hoovers bloom.

Not a bad line for the debate tonight, if there is one.

My money? McCain walks in at the last second to a rousing ovation.

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