A Lethal Weapon

There are ways to corrupt people and then there are the ways to corrupt people. Most of the inhabitants of the terrestrial globe seem to believe that power and money corrupt people more easily than might do other things. Indeed, power and money tend to alter, dramatically in some cases, people’s behaviors, but rhetoric is a far more powerful device because it can pretentiously modify people’s thoughts, otherwise known as mind contents.
Power and money, which seem to be interrelated, have for centuries been considered the major source of corruption for men. People who are believed to be drunk in power are thought capable of anything and everything. Since power structures are an intrinsic part of how society works, it becomes easy to attribute them responsibility for many of the terrible happenings in the world. It is a widely held belief that if someone acquires too much power or has a substantial economic fortune, then those people have long been lost to the dark side. Of course, it is true that such can be the case, but there is much more to corruption than what money and power can do whether alone or combined.
Language and its persuasion power are far more compelling. Money and power are but two of the tools it employs in order to achieve its varied ends. Actions do not matter much when people speak of what others do. Deeds are more important than words it is said, but one must not forget that people also believe what they hear more easily when they have not seen actions taking place whether these words speak positively or negatively. Most importantly, however, is what someone’s speech can do to someone else’s mind directly. Ideas can be planted on people’s minds and can be cared for in order for them to grow healthy, as do seeds planted on the soil. In the same way that when the soil is not good enough to grow the seeds that have been planted, the soil is manipulated in order for it to produce so can people’s minds be twisted through language in order for the newly acquired ideas to developed into attitudes. There is precisely where the danger can be detected. Persuasion can be an evil power not only a good way to encourage others to improve and continue on their path however difficult it might seem.
Persuasion is a tricky device because it is difficult to detect as well as difficult to master. Yet, when used correctly it can have both positive effects and negative ones. Its positive effects are, however, well known since among them there is the renowned practice of persuading people to believe themselves capable of things beyond their reach. The negative ones are more devious since at first glance they appear to walk the ranks of the good intended. Hence, persuasive abilities are utilized in diverse ways that sometimes go beyond the expected. One can make people accept as true the unexpected if worded correctly. In that same category, is included the fact that one can change people’s minds contents if only one has a more convincing filling to place in the emptied space as soon as its former contents begin to drift out. In this way, language can corrupt minds, which is a capacity that money and power alone do not share.
Thus, the power rhetoric exudes is not comparable to anything else because it can control the mind. The mind is the most significant part of the human body as means to control a person because the body follows the instructions the mind provides. If through language one can achieve control over a human mind, then one has acquired complete control over the person. Money as well as power only allow for limited time control over someone. But with language, one empties the mind and fills it with whatever one pleases. The rest is history, but with money and power one must constantly work to distort people’s ethics. There is a need for reassurance. Rhetoric does not necessitate such practice.
It is imperative to pay close attention to what people have to say in order to learn how to understand the power of oratory. In such a way, one can at least attempt to prevent others from slowly converting us into puppets without our notice. It is key to be able to differentiate between our ideas and who we are and whom others try to make us become.

xoxo,
Poison Drops


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