The Gullibility Factor

I almost laughed out loud! Here was the president of the United States postulating a way to bring down the budget deficit that had been ridiculed several months before. When Harry Reid had proposed it during the battle over increasing the nation’s debt limit, it gained no traction whatever and even prompted Representative Paul Ryan to mock it on the floor of the House.

So what was this howler? What was this plan to save money that was so obviously not a plan to save money? It was asserting that the cost of a new stimulus could be off-set by not spending a trillion dollars on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan that no one had proposed spending.

Ryan said that this was like first passing a bill to cover the moon in green cheese and the next day rescinding it amidst of flourish of trumpets heralding Congress’s frugality. This was nothing other than a transparent verbal gimmick. It did not even pass the smell test.

Hence my question is: Why are so many people accepting Obama’s scheme at face value? Why aren’t many more millions of Americans doubled over in laughter at the temerity of such nonsense?

It isn’t as if no one has noticed that our president is a habitual purveyor of falsehoods. Nor is it that he has never been called out for inciting class warfare. It cannot even be said that the late night TV comedians haven’t been finding humor in his pious incantations about being non-political. They certainly have.

It is also true that the president’s ratings in the polls have been slipping. Nevertheless, they have not plummeted. Many people are still more prepared to blame the Republicans for Washington’s gridlock than they are him. So once again I ask: Why is this so?

One reason is simple human gullibility. Lincoln told us that you cannot fool all of the people all of the time, but you can apparently fool a great many of them almost indefinitely. They are so determined to believe that they put their rational faculties on hold and cruise along oblivious to the most ridiculous twaddle.

So who are these gullible people, and what is the source of their gullibility? One group is the rabid partisans. These are the left-wing Democrats who are upset that Obama has not squandered more trillions of dollars on failed policies. They will continue to blame conservatives for our troubles no matter what Barack does. Although no longer enthralled with him, they hate their traditional enemies even more.

Another group consists of the politically detached. They don’t read newspapers, watch cable television, or check the Internet for current events. For them, what happens in Washington does not exist. They, therefore, continue to support the president because they have no idea that many of his policies might injure them.

Then there are the authority sycophants. They are prepared to defer to people in charge regardless of what they do. These folks do not question what the most powerful man in the world says because they always accede to power—especially if it is articulated in an authoritative manner. And Obama, of course, is good as sounding confident.

Next there are the people who believe in giving the next guy a chance. These tend to be good people who do not want to jump to conclusions too quickly. They are inclined to allow others a great deal of latitude before they conclude that they have failed. For them, three years of ineptitude is still not enough.

Finally, there are those who always believe. They are therefore liable to credit the last voice that they hear. Because they do not analyze what was said so much as take it at face value, they are frequently swayed by a rousing speech. Obama, as we know can give a wonderful speech—and gives lots of them. Consequently, for these folks he is often the last persuasive voice they hear.

If we put these all of factors together, although the president is down, he is not out. Indeed, he is counting on his ability to convince the gullible to join his cause. He is apparently hoping that there are enough of them to provide him with the margin for another term in office.

I, for on one, am hoping that he is wrong. I have my fingers crossed that more people will listen to what he says, rather than the way he says it.

Melvyn L. Fein. Ph.D.

Professor of Sociology

Kennesaw State University