As an artist....

It's kinda funny to listen to people speak and read posts. I am sort of a diversified artist, I write, I speak, and I create(in a variety of forms). As such, it is fun to read things, especially things where somebody has an agenda to promote. It's curious to watch for certain words, certain poetry and writing keys that show that what the person is writing is not simply to get their point across.

It is also to get their point across and have you agree with them, alliteration, rhyming words, sections that read fast, sections with incomprehensible words and sentence structures so confusing they make M.C. Escher's drawings look plausible. Oh, and comparisons, yes, comparisons will abound as they compare the massive complex systems of internal and external politics to something as simple as pouring water into a glass or fixing a taco.

And when you stop and just think about some of the comparisons, even for a moment, you realize how absurd they are. International politics is nothing like a taco! Yet, you remember, that just a moment ago, you were nodding in agreement with them. You were saying to yourself "you know, that's really true". What's true? They didn't even compare anything, they just said international politics are like tacos.

The argument capitalizes on two things, the first: that you won't be thinking. You will get so absorbed into their writing that you will stop thinking for yourself, and just start agreeing. And second, most importantly, that when you are thinking, you're only thinking with your imagination. if they say international realtions are like tacos, then you'll start thinking about how France is the onions, how Italy are the olives, and how the US is the meat, and the UN is the shell. Or something in that order. And then when you confront them on how you think the system works, they'll tell you "yes". So that you will think you understood this great and complicated topic that they put forth when really you just invented it all in you head.

And the final icing on the cake, the bait and switch. That is they will start talking about "international politics" and comparaing them to tacos, and then they will move on to "international relations" and blurr the two together. And while they are similar concepts, they are not excatly the same as each other. And then it's "foreign relations" and they just keep blurring words around until all of a sudden they're comparaing something that is completly unrealted to the original subject.

However, due to your lack of thinking and heavy use of your imagination instead of the logical parts of your brain that would have told you tacos and international politics have nothing in common, you just sit there and nod in agreement.

Now, kindy stop reading, re-read this post and see where I just did it. ^_^