Rhetorics, Politics, Modern Society

Rhetorics, Politics, Modern Society

Sonnet Xu

The use of rhetorics is often not obvious in everyday life. This is less because they are hard to distinguish but more because of the lifelong exposure we’ve had to them, often unconsciously. With the 2020 presidential election behind us, I thought that it’d be interesting to explore the prolific use of rhetorics in politics.

A lot of time in politics every policy is a double edged sword. While it may help the economy, it might not help the people, while it may help us with unemployment, it may strain our foreign relations. That’s what makes events like these so interesting, because there often is no objective right. The cornerstone of politics is getting as many people as possible to support you and your platform so you can push your agenda forward, hopefully for the benefit of the people.

Politicians regularly use the techniques of ethos, pathos, and logos very obviously. Take for example ethos. More often than not, with people in high government standing, you’ll see them as ivy university graduates and well-distinguished in their field before entering the world of politics. They might have been a Harvard law professor, successful businessman, or well known doctor. While they don’t talk about it as much, every election season many news sources take the time to dig this information up. A “bad” school reflects poorly on them, while a top tier institution reflects nicely. These small things add to their overall credibility and help portray them as knowledgeable and a good candidate for presidency.

Taking this idea with us and looking beyond politics, a lot of the same ideas resonate. Particularly with applications, be it for college or work, people look at your resume to see your credentials. They want to be able to believe that you can do what you say you can do, and do it well. A lot of the times these metrics may pass up a better candidate. Schooling, GPA, and previous experience don’t necessarily make you better at a job, it really just makes your resume more persuasive, and the people hiring you believe that you are capable.

These instances and the sometimes pervasive presence of these concepts within our lives show the impact that persuasion can have on success and futures. Maybe things would be better without the art of rhetorics, but then again, maybe it wouldn’t.