Comrades – Naysayers “doubleplusungood”

UPDATE:  Although too late to go into detail – I believe I have quite literally, with some indirect help from Gord Henderson; as well as some careful consideration of the events in the last few months, stumbled upon the rationale behind the plan.  It is everything that has been said; but more importantly it is everything that has not been said (That’s a small clue).

But I need my sleep.  So until tomorrow, comrades…

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Comrades.

For the purpose of controlling public opinion, the Central Committee deems it necessary at this juncture to set up a central control commission in accordance with the Official City Line.  Its aim is to tighten civic discipline in the new period of intense class struggle, step up the struggle against all kinds of violations of the Official City Line and of discipline and in particular guard against the recurrence of cases like the naysaying alliance which seriously jeopardizes the interests of the Official City Line.

Against them we are always invincible.

We should take this attitude towards these comrades, that is, we should not only observe but also help them, in the hope that they will correct their mistakes. In other words, we should not only observe them to see whether they are going to correct their mistakes but also help them to do so. Everybody needs help.

Okay – enough with the dramatics – I believe those who follow and actually understand my blog will understand the point I’m making.

What prompted this unusual outburst you ask – the headline of the Star article on the fifth page today:

“Naysayer calls plan pie in sky.”

My initial reaction is reflected in the prose above adapted from a speech of the Central Planning Committee of China in 1955.

Several writers to the Star forums and a few commentators on this blog have discussed the fact that we already have a “canal” in Windsor called the Detroit River that is underutilized.

In going through the Star archives I attempted to find evidence of those who have spoken out against specific plans presented and the treatment they received in the coverage.

The most recent example I could find were those “handful” of people opposed to the development of a riverfront Peace Beacon.  The sentence that best illustrates this is of Gary Parent of the District Labour Council:

Parent said he and other objectors will be “following very closely” any future commercial development on the riverfront.

Today, “naysayer” is repeatedly used to describe those who opine against an official city line and directed at taxpaying Windsor residents nonetheless.

Princeton University defines naysayer as, “someone with an aggressively negative attitude,” and an objector is defined as, “a person who dissents from some established policy.”  Dissent is described as, “non-agreement or opposition to an idea.”

Therefore, naysayer = “negative” and threatening; “objectors” = “non-agreement” or passive.   A consciously made decision, in my opinion.

The above mentioned headline was certainly eye-catching with readers wondering, who is the naysayer?  I could see in my minds-eye, thousands of Star subscribers flocking to the article.

Especially when Mayor Francis immediately upon the announcement of a $65,000 feasibility study said:

“When you ask, ‘Is this really going to happen?’ Just watch us,” said Francis, who, like Lewenza and other speakers at Tuesday’s art gallery announcement, denounced the “naysayers” lining up to predict this latest in a string of grand plans for the downtown west side will lead to nothing.

And I do have to ask, what naysayers?  Other than those few “co-workers” of Gord Henderson’s there weren’t any naysayers – not until Mr. Henderson and Mayor Francis “denounced” them that is. 

This was a predetermined tactic (More on that tomorrow).

But why?

Although not an expert on the subject, I have studied through my university courses the use of propaganda in political messaging.

Wikipedia has a rather apt definition of the topic:

Propaganda is a concerted set of messages aimed at influencing the opinions or behaviors of large numbers of people. As opposed to impartially providing information, propaganda in its most basic sense presents information in order to influence its audience. Propaganda often presents facts selectively to encourage a particular synthesis, or gives loaded messages in order to produce an emotional rather than rational response to the information presented. The desired result is a change of the cognitive narrative of the subject in the target audience to further a political agenda.

Not only did Gord Henderson’s column appear early in the evening before the announcement denouncing “naysayers,” AM 800 as well Mr. Creighton on A-Channel gushed over the plan and, in the case of AM 800, denounced naysayers as well.

We’ve moved from a “handful” of opponents to “quarters” of “naysayers,” (Windsor Star Editorial, July 29) which leads me to believe that the opinions, questions and/or outright criticisms of these same naysayers present a “threat” to the official city line or any possible political agenda.

For example, WeACT and other residents were successful in one respect, in getting a Mayor with an 80% approval rating to ask the Ministry of Housing and Municipal Affairs to order an audit of the Windsor Utilities Commission last year that he and some councillors oversee.  And according to a ministry spokesperson, June Kasperski Wild at the time, “It’s not automatic. It’s not a done deal — in fact most times I say it doesn’t happen.”

But it did.

Citizen angst over a proposed property tax increase, in conjunction with Tax Cut Now Day did result in a lower rate increase.

Naysayers and bloggers with their research are clearly listened to and considering the orchestrated campaign against previously non-existent ”naysayers” this time around – feared. 

And the “Central Control Commission” comprised of the Office of the Mayor and mainstream media are ready this time to combat it.

The outstanding question – if the plan is solid; acceptable and as “visionary” as stated, why the orchestrated campaign?

So comrades, ask no questions.

Ignorance is strength.

Naysayers are doubleplusungood.

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Tomorrow a discussion of the feasibility study.