Monday, August 22, 2016

The Ad Hominem Based Politics of the Populist Superhero Effect: Shifting the Blame on the UN

Argumentum ad hominem, defined by Wikipedia, is a logical fallacy in which an argument is rebutted by attacking the character, motive, or other attribute of the person making the argument, or persons associated with the argument, rather than attacking the substance of the argument itself (bold mine)

Today’s headline. From GMA (bold mine)

President Rodrigo Duterte threatened to "separate from the United Nations" amid continuing criticism from rights experts over the rising death toll attributed to his administration's campaign against drugs.

Duterte made the pronouncement early Sunday morning following a statement from UN special rapporteurs Agnes Callamard and Dainius Puras calling on the Philippine government to stop the extrajudicial killings of persons linked to illegal drugs.

"Maybe we'll just have to decide to separate from the United Nations. When were you here the last time? Never. Except to criticize," he said.

The issue is certainly NOT the UN.

But the focus has been shifted to the UN in order for the latter to take the heat for censuring the government. This has been designed to deflect on the argument or the object of criticism. It is a sign of logical infirmity. It is also a sign of the administration’s emotional paroxysms. And most importantly, this represents intolerance for diverse opinion.

As for anyone who criticizes the government, the mechanical response by the administration has been to burn the critics as though they are witches during the witch hunt era. For now, the response have been about isolationism. Don't like my way then we leave (applies to UN or media in June). Eventually things may turn out worse. 

Of course, this has been channeled through the politics of populism through trial by publicity.  

Once again the politics of populism has been founded on the superhero effect, which also finds roots on the halo effect. For avid followers anything said by this administration represents gospel truth. The administration, thus is, infallible and morally immaculate therefore above the institutions

For now this things work. Eventually they won’t. The law of diminishing returns ensures this.

As for the issue of leaving the UN, that may be a good proposition.

Instead of a collegial body pretending to work for the interest of the world, the UN have signified as an instrument of hegemonic powers designed to intervene in local affairs to promote the former's interest. Example, UN proposes a uniform global tax regime and a global tax authority intended to remove tax competition. Doing so prevents firms from moving out of bankrupt western nations and places the onus or discriminates on emerging markets.

But then again the issue is NOT the UN.

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