Eloquence of Empty Promises

“We love eloquence for its own sake, and not for any truth which it may utter, or any heroism it may inspire”

            Thoreau states that we love the elegance of writing because it is persuasive, not because it is truthful or inspiring. This is true in today’s society. We believe the things that sound good to us whether or not they are genuine.

         Many politicians will campaign to make certain changes in their areas however they most likely will not follow through with them. For example President Obama promised to end the war in Afghanistan in 2014 but continues to prolong the withdrawal. Another example is Donald Trump campaigning to lower taxes and increases the importance of this by saying that America is the most highly taxes nation in the world. However America is more towards the middle in rank for the highest taxes.

            These false claims sound like great ideas. We want them to be fixed to so agree with their claims and promises. We believe what we want to hear and since their big political figures we let believe them.  Pretentious, elegant, good sounding statements make us agree and believe them no matter how much ridiculous they are.

           Often political speeches are long and drawn out. This makes people stop paying attention and analyzing their truthfulness and just mindlessly agreeing with the good things they say. We do not always consider that they would make false promises since they are so powerful and influential. Their words can inspire and change people opinions and points of view even though their promises are empty. The smarter and more profound you sound the more people will believe your words.