Deception In Chris Hedges's 'Empire To Illusion'

In the early 19th century in Alabama and many other states our country had a very serious racial divide. Most of the white community was deeply racist which lead to an experiment in Alabama known as “Bad Blood” to the local black people. The government was calling it the Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis in the Negro Male.

Philips brings to light that once you lose the confidence of others you can never regain their trust. Bruce Avolio (2005) in his book Leadership Development in the Balance backs this principal by the statement, “There is no doubt that the bar has shifted upward in terms of what is required of leaders to build trust, as well as the impact their mistake has on our trust in them” (pg. 124). Both writers are calling our attention to the fact that we need leaders of integrity in their public leadership as well as their private lives. This life of integrity inspires trust, honesty, and loyalty in those that follow this type of leader.

deception that these two, ironically, realize they were lying to themselves, and that they do, in fact, love each other, showing that deception can overcome the opposition men and women have for one another.

Deception is defined as a crafty procedure or practice meant to deceive or defraud. People tend to view this as a sinister action. No matter how sinister it can be, it can also be utilized to gain information and knowledge. How a person uses deception varies among different people. Generally, the more clever people tend to utilize deception very efficiently. Odysseus masters deception in the Odyssey by disguising himself. Odysseus isn't alone for Athena also uses disguises. With that being said, disguises allow Odysseus to succeed in killing the suitors.

In the excerpt from Empire of Illusion by Chris Hedges, he argues that “the most essential skill” in political leaders is artifice. This means that a political leader’s connection with their citizens is fake and created purely with propaganda. The issue at hand is that too many political leaders are using artifice and are deceiving all of their citizens and are then able to lead as they want and not as their citizens wish. The most essential skill for a political leader should be a balance of skills and not just one skill; Integrity, being honorable, being a good communicator should all be skills (and more) a politician should have to be a great ruler.

Subsequently, Hedges adds “...The consistency and emotional appeal of the story are paramount…” thus emphasizing the importance of a personal narrative. Paramount meaning that the reactions are endless and will help the candidate obtain their goal because the opinion of the public is of utmost importance. In order to appeal to the public, convincing them to choose a leader must be gained through emotional manipulation. Pathological thinking is done often throughout this process as the candidates let the citizens hear what they want to hear, not what they need to hear. Essentially, the candidates will go to the ends of the earth to gain empathy from the audience because that is the key to winning as explained by Chris Hedges. Entertaining them and keeping their trust is part of the political

Deception can involve being tricked by others, or tricking one's self. In Card's novel, trickery and false promises are parts of both games and deadly conflicts. Discuss the ways that deception is figured in the novel.

Deception According to Hyman (1989) deception implies that an agent acts or speaks so as to induce a false belief in a target or victim. Deception can occur in everyday life. Whether it is telling someone they look nice or not telling them that they look fat. This is an important process for forming relationships and general social interaction.

The art of deception is an essential skill, especially in moments such as political debates and commercial promotions. In today's society, artifice is a widely utilized skill to persuade the public. The commercial market connects producers to consumers through propaganda which appeals to consumers through elements such as pathos, ethos, and logos. Utilizing these elements, the audience is immediately drawn into the viewpoint of the deceiver. Politicians tried to appear as ordinary and modest as possible to seem more appealing to their audience. But, it can be a deception. As Chris Hedges said in his Empire of Illusion, a story is the best form of artifice because the “consistency and emotional appeal of the story are paramount.” Often politicians tell stories to create a persona making themselves look more trustworthy.

Another essential aspect of my ethical framework is whether or not I, as a leader, would be forced to lie or deceive in order to go forward with the action. As a person I value trust and honesty, but moreover, as a young twenty-something with my eye on corporate America, I believe trust and honesty are absolutely essential to uphold your integrity and credibility as an organization. With so many stories of fraud, betrayal, theft, embezzlement, dishonest business transactions and so forth apparent in current US corporate society, I strive to uphold my belief in the truth as a foundation for any situation; even if some may consider a "small white lie" absolutely necessary in the matter, I vowel to never lie or be dishonest for any type of gain or protection. This can go hand in hand with how I value confidence and its role in my framework, which I elaborate on below.

The human mind is easily fooled. Anyone can fabricate a thought, trick others or even themselves into thinking that something ought to be in the status quo. In simple terms, we lie. Lies spill over our lips as if they were the lyrics to our favorite song. We lie to avoid punishment, assist self-deception, manipulate the behavior of others and a multitude of other reasons.

‘His power to manipulate people comes from his insight, not only into their weaknesses, but into their good qualities. He sees what they are, and plays unfeelingly on good points and weaknesses alike. Often he lies, but often gains his ends by actually telling the truth.’*

Deception is defined as a scheme to get what one needs in a dishonest way. The act of deception is one of the theme of the novel, The Maltese Falcon. It starts from Miss Brigid telling Mr. Spade that her sister had run off with a man called Thursby to San Francisco. That act is seen as a deception because she was not telling the truth. Miss Brigid was being deceptive because she wanted Spade and Miles to think that Thursby is a dangerous man and in the process when she kills when one of the deceptive, she will be able to pin it on Thursby easily.

This September will mark the 13 year anniversary of the modern day Pearl Harbor also known as 9/11. In these thirteen years our world has changed immensely. Our government went from being the proponents of democracy to seldom acting like tyrannical warlords. The Patriot Act suspended due process for anyone deemed an “enemy combatant”. Defense contractors were given the biggest contract in American history. As a nation, we went to two different wars and almost destroyed the world’s economy. All of this occurred to ensure our safety as citizens of this once great nation. But are we truly safer from terrorist attacks today than we were in 2001? There was a poll that appeared around the five year anniversary of 9/11 that

Being deceptive is an important trait for leaders to have according to Machiavelli’s book The Prince and how it deciphers the best kind of leader. The ability to lie so well that no one bothers to question an individual’s promise is important mostly because it keeps the subjects at ease. Feeling comfortable that the leader is doing what is best for them is all that the people need as they lack the intelligence to deal with upper matters anyway. “Having good virtues can, in some instances, limit your ability to rule, so a more