We are being hornswoggled

I think that one of the most egregious informal fallacies we Americans are bombarded with is prescriptions camouflaged as descriptions. Prescriptions are things established or decreed by fate or nature; a prescription is just what is and cannot be anything else.

The value of education lay in its monetary value, GDP is an accurate measure of a nation’s accomplishment, the environment is not an issue in the Corporate bottom line, well-being is the Corporate bottom line, the Corporation is responsible only to their share holders, health care in America is the best, CEO pay is meritocracy in action, etc. These are all understood as descriptions of reality rather than being the prescriptions of those who profit by such things.

I am claiming that we are led to accept as truism that it is natural for education to be valued in dollars, a GDP growth of 4% is a measure of the nation’s well-being, Corporations are not responsible for the environment, CEOs get the big bucks because they are what make the institution successful, etc.

That which is ‘natural’ is accepted without question. In such a milieu we easily accept the hurricane as a description of why the poor have lost everything in New Orleans. An examination will, I think, disclose that the poor were doomed to such a happening by the ordination of the powerful over past decades.

Describing the status quo as natural and universal is an effective means for maintaining the status quo. I am claiming that the status quo is described as natural and universal, when in fact the status quo is ordained by the “Wizard”. “Follow the money” is a useful tactic for discovering those who are the elements of the “Wizard”.

Can you think of other such ordinations disguised as descriptions? Can you guess the nature of the ‘Wizard’?

Well, for starters, we should document that the Wizard, in direct opposition to his counterpart in Oz, is a very good Wizard, and a very bad 'man'...

voluntary compliance because the Wizard 'trusts' us
the war on drugs to 'protect us from ourselves'
no-fault insurance to 'be fair to all'
inactivity fees to 'remind' us to make more money
packaging,packaging,packaging to 'keep it sterile'
welfare (remember the book "Pass the Poverty Please"?) as a 'safety net'
1,000,000+ words in the tax code to 'address every concern'
Business/Political doublespeak to 'be precise':
(this is a quote: "The rate of pay for the offices referred to under section 703(a)(2)[B] of the Ethics Reform Act of 1989 (5 U.S.C. 5318 note) shall be the rate of pay that would be payable for each such office if the provisions of section 703(a)(2)[B] and 1101 (a)(I)(A) of such act (5 U.S.C.5318 note and 5305) had not been enacted." Go ahead and post what you think this is and I will tell you if you're right.)
the proper rations of the '4 basic food groups' to 'live healthier'
necessity of credit cards for safe verification/non-monetary transactions (especially galling)
...siding with Bush to demonstrate one's patriotism


In all these cases, the stated reasons are not the actual reasons. That took about 3 minutes. Scary how many more at the end of an hour.

QUOTE

Can you think of other such ordinations disguised as descriptions?