Rhetorics and Politics Task 3: Major

Essay
BY - LIAM MORKHAM
What is entailed in using a rhetorical approach to make sense of rhetoric?

Rhetoric, a term sometimes mistaken as a negative connotation through public understand of

argument, is the driving force behind mobilization for the human race. Rhetoric denotes the
art of arguing for the sake of persuasion and communication and it is through observing the
rhetorical approach of communicating political issues and what is involved in order to
successfully provoke change, that we can begin to understand how a rhetoric is developed
and applied. Drawing upon the rhetorical methodologies of powerful figureheads in the
ongoing disputes in the blooming telecommunications industry (more specifically the NBN
political debate as well as the deregulation of Telstra) and the methods that each actor
communicates their position, the rhetorical approach can then be deconstructed into an
observable process with unambiguous factors involved to assist in understanding the term
rhetoric. This shall also be achieved through in-depth analysis of financial media and
culture by understanding how the return of neoliberalism has stimulated a new wave of
techniques in persuasion as well as through topical political debates affecting global and
national finance such as the most recent budget proposal. By sourcing key actors on all sides
of the ongoing debate as to the direction of the financial industry and to the relevance of
liberalism as the foundation of current financial culture, the definition of rhetoric can be
promulgated through observations as to how these actors persuade and communicate to
audiences.

With the growing rise and demand for connectivity and advancements in technology within
Australia, the national broadband network has become a subject of heated debate by the
opposing governments within Australia over the past few years. The proposal itself isnt so
much what is the concern as the vast majority believe it is time for Australia to advance in
order to remain competitive with overseas markets within the telecommunications industry.
The point of concern rests within the means of how the NBN will be rolled out. With the
Labor and Liberal party taking two evidently contrary stances on the topic, this has led to a
large amount of division and therefore has prompted the need for the various actors to apply
their communication and persuasive skills in order to direct the majority of Australia towards
their proposition in order to mobilize their version of the NBN. With the Liberals appeal to
the taxpayers through contesting the cost of Labors proposed strategy and Labors counter
argument that investing now will help economic and financial growth in the long term.
During this political tug of war it becomes the job of the masses to formulate an opinion and
through majority verdict, an issue can either continue to spark debate and therefore require
further conflict or simply die out once a side no longer retains support. In order to avoid this,
all actors employ persuasive techniques to keep their motions relevant. D. Leith and G.
Myerson (1989, p. 196) bolster this point by suggesting that Rhetoric can offer clearer
access to our own experiences. This quote suggests that a fundamental component as to why
there is a necessity to communicate opinion is that it can assist in provoking thought in others
and therefore allowing them to become active participants in these issues and begin to take
sides. This however can be recognised as a negative also as it means that in order to mobilize,
it is required to gain the uncontentious support of the masses, therefore provoking the need
for a rhetorical approach that appeals to everyones personal agendas to political issues such
as the NBN debate, as without the backing of those being governed to an almost unanimous
level, issues will not be able to be fully resolved. If those in power were to pre-emptively
initialize/mobilize a solution it would be contended. Where there is power, there is
resistance (Foucault, 1998: 95), and where there is resistance, there will be little to no ability
to successfully mobilize.

Paul Buddles 2014 interview on an ABC Radio Broadcast consolidates the statement above
by highlighting that through achieving Bipartisan support the NBN dispute could move
forward but also suggests that until this is achieved, the parties will continue to argue the
topic until a bridging consensus is achieved not only between the 2 proposed schemes, but
also with the other actors such as the citizens of Australia, and in order to gain their support,
different persuasive techniques are employed. With the liberal party consistently referencing
the effect it will have on the taxpayer's wallets, they are employing fear tactics to disenchant
the public from siding with Labor, while Labor has focused much of their efforts on directing
the audience's towards the idea that it will keep Australia in the leading countries in
technology and communications and therefore creating new business possibilities. It is
through these arguments we can begin to observe the Rhetorics formulate of each actor
involved in conveying arguments. The key notion to be extracted from this particular
example, is that while topical issues themselves may have discernible actors and ideas that
are positioned to a varying stance, the approach involved in conveying these ideas is no
different between all actors involved, and while the specific chosen persuasive techniques
may be chosen differently based on what works best for that sides views, at its core, the
rhetorical approach is employed simultaneously matching way for all actors involved in any
argument.

As acclaimed musical composer Brian Eno once said, Culture is everything we do not have
to do, however recent financial debates surrounding the 2015 Budget proposal have led the
siding actors involved to convey that Australias financial status and composition is a
necessary point of interest in order to build a stronger, safer and more prosperous
Australia as Joe Hockey said during the 2015 Budget delivery speech. This particular speech
as well as the broader implications of financial changes within Australia can assist in
dissecting the methods that actors formulate their arguments and execute them as well as
what this can result in. The most important topic to focus on in regards to financial media and
culture in understanding rhetoric is through analysing the democratization of finance through
the resurfacing of the economic framework of neo-liberalism.
With the inception of how to finance guides (Langley 2008, p3.) as well as through the
evolution of technology and commercial understanding of finance, finance has become a
subject understood to a degree by the larger populace rather than remaining a subject only
understood by an elite group. Through this change, politicians and businesses alike have re-
evaluated the means in which they can convey arguments and advertise change, now that they
must cater to the broader populations desires in the finance industry and not solely those
elite groups. This has sparked a major change over the past few decades as to how actors
approach arguments and what rhetorical devices they use. Joe Hockeys budget delivery on
the 12th of May 2015 had a heavy emphasis on the topic of the intangible concept of The
Economy with Hockey using the Economy rhetorically to imply that the budget will be
beneficial to everyone. While this concept of the economy has been referenced for decades, it
is a primary factor in gaining support from the masses as it has now come into the light as a
key issues that people want to see changed for the better despite the lack of public understand
that any concept of The Economy is too global and fluctuated to be manipulated on such a
level. By having Hockey supposedly propose resolutions to current issues in The Economy
he is forcing the audience to take a stance and through focusing on mainly the positive
outcomes of his partys proposals this heightens the chances of his argument as being
accepted rather than rejected.

Investing itself can be made out to be a more enticing reskin of gambling through the way
advertisers depict this booming concept as well as through social understanding on a
rudimentary level as to the benefits of being involved. With society understanding the
relationship between risk and return (Langley 2008, p103), companies and those with more
financial competence can manipulate the masses into becoming investors through painting an
enticing image as to the rewards for being an investor. This strategy, while not being
necessarily new, has become much more common due to the sizeable increase in the amount
of investors and opportunities in the past few decades. The methods in which actors entice
blooming investors as well as those more seasoned in this area, is achieved through a
paralipsis (Leith S, 2012 p.70) by drawing all the focus onto the return side of investors
and not focusing on the risks or negatives.

This notion of a paralipsis in finance culture can be drawn again, back to Joe Hockeys
budget speech which only focused on the positive outcomes and did not mention which areas
would be suffering budget cuts. This same method can be expanded to finance media as it is
impossible to repudiate that newspapers and other forms of finance media have conditioned
the audiences to focus entirely on either a positive or negative stance on an issue depending
on the agendas of the media at the time. While this is not the case for unbiased news outlets
and media, they are not so much concerned with rhetoric anyway as there is less need for
argument when presenting an unfiltered and unbiased view of a topic. The global financial
crisis as well as the day to day politics of the finance industry provide critical examples in
providing context to this point as through the negative or positive depictions of finance in the
media, sporadic change can occur due to the ability for the media to encourage investors to
act a certain way based on information presented from more credible and up to date sources
that investors will more than likely accept the view of straight away.
A partially enhancing factor as to how finance media is shaped is through technology and
globalised media outlets, as these mediums have become the undisputed primary source for
most investors due to their superior ability to reach and assimilate the position of the masses
almost instantaneously. S. Leiths 2012 chapter on the first part of rhetoric: invention
presents three principle concepts in presenting arguments; Ethos, Pathos and Logos.
Finance media is such a critical and dominating factor in the finance industry today because
of how successfully it applies Aristotles means of persuasion. At the high end of the
spectrum, finance media already has achieved Ethos, as investors have been conditioned to
believe that news sources and media present predominately unbiased facts, and while this
may not always be the case, even in situations when facts are being warped or an argument is
biased, audiences still will take in such information as fact due to the nature of audience
perception of media content. Therefore the main means that the media report and convey
views on finance in order to mobilize or convey a particular view is through Pathos and
Logos. Through appealing to the viewers emotions and logic we can begin to observe that
rhetoric is formed through the amalgamation of the viewers personal views on a topic
alongside finding a middle ground with the actor(s) who is presenting information.

In summary, Rhetoric is not defined as a system of rigid categories but as a process in the
production, transmission and interpretation (Leith, D & Myerson G, 1989 p xii.) of language
itself. Through the analysis of fundamental and topical events of the 21st century as well as
recounting earlier events and figures who have shaped our understand of the art of persuasion
and communication, it can be established that there is a discernible method to conveying
information, but this method cannot simply be broken down into a step by step process as it is
already embedded into the human race as a natural means of expressing information for the
purpose of mobilizing. However the amount of resulting success of an argument is solely
dependent on how well the actor(s) employ specific persuasive devices such as Aristotles
means of persuasion alongside a plethora of persuasive techniques. With the rise in investor
and public interest in both the telecommunications and finance industries, rhetoric has
become the backbone in mobilization as well as in retaining firm public relations.