Question: My name's Nick; I'm from Philadelphia. I have a question that's somewhat specific to organizing, but it's also more general. I find that, in organizing out in the field, we're on campuses all day, talking to people in our generation. And I find in myself, it seems almost like a type of bipolarity, where I go back and forth, between being able to be very honest to people, and really tell them the truth; and when I'm speaking truthfully, there's a different effect. And then, there's times when I'm very overcome by fears, and kind of pander--really. I mean, I'll say some things that are interesting, single out some political issues, but for the most part, I will not challenge them. I won't say something that is going to create any tension. And, it almost seems, for the most part--until recently, it had seemed very beyond my control. Recently, I have found that, in asking for help from other people, specifically in the organization, but actually asking for help from other people, I'm able to overcome this at a quicker rate.

And, one of the things I'm curious about, is 1) what causes that bipolarity? And 2) why is it that help from other people seems to be the only way I can get out of it, not just pure willpower?

LaRouche: Well, first of all, they're not unfriendly! That's the first thing; that's a big help, isn't it? When you can actually talk to people in a friendly way, and the prejudice is not there. But, there are two other aspects to this things, which are extremely important: First of all, think of reference to Plato's dialogues. A good discussion will resemble, very much, a Platonic dialogue. And the more it approaches that, in terms of rigor, the more effective it is.

Now, you're getting two things out of that kind of dialogue. One thing, you're actually focusing on your creative powers, to develop new insight into things that you did not have clarity on, beforehand. Secondly, you are getting a sense of what the mind of society is. You get a sense of what certain strata of the population is. See, you go up to a stranger-- what frightens people, you're talking to a stranger. They react. You don't know how to deal with the reaction you get from them.

Now, most of the time, of course, you realize--and this is the simpler aspect--that most people who answer your challenge, are faking, most of the time. Because the American population is a great nation of fakers.

They learn that from television, especially from hearing ads, and reading ads, they become fakers. Look at almost any ad; just take any advertising, in modern advertising. What is the advertiser doing? He's faking! He's not really telling you anything of value. He's trying to motivate you by so-called "subliminal methods," by suggestion, by symbolism. That sort of thing. Now, the typical American is going to respond, he thinks he's advertising: He's selling himself on the street. The great American idea is, sell yourself. How do you get a job? You sell yourself. How do you sell yourself? You lie. Your basic job application is based on the art of lying. And people who make a lot of job applications, become experienced liars. They learn what works and what doesn't work.

Now, the employer knows the applicant is lying. But, the employer says, "I'm smarter than the applicant. He thinks he's fooling me. He's not fooling me; I can fool him!" That's how it works. You get the job, and you find out how you're being manipulated. You're being used. And, your lying is being held against you psychologically, because that puts you always at a disadvantage with respect to that employer: Because you knew you lied. And, you suspect he knows it, too.

So, this is typical American behavior. So, when you're dealing with this, you have to cut through this garbage, to get at reality. When you talk with people and discuss with people, in a dialogue mode, you are actually cutting through it, because you're actually discussing the issues.

And you realize, that what you're discussing, in this discussion, does pertain to what's going on in the mind of a lot of people in the population. Now, you meet it on the street, and you recognize behind the mask, behind the fakery, what's really going on in the guy's mind. And, you're effective, when you say, "Look, what you're saying to me is..." "What you're telling me, is..." "What you're trying to sell me on, is..." Hmmm? And, when you say that, he stops--"Okay, now you understand me."

And your best response in the general population is when a guy says, "Okay, okay, okay, okay. You're right. You're right. Okay, now you understand me, right? Now we can talk, can't we?" And you get a different level of conversation.

What happens, generally, in working the streets and working with population, you get into precisely that kind of situation. You get people who respond to you honestly, the way you put it. And you learn, in the process of doing it, how to present: What would more likely get an honest response, than something else? It's not trying to put something over on the guy. Not trying to sell the guy on something, in the sense of putting something over on him, which is what the typical salesman does on television, huh? or in the ad. You're not trying to put something over, that's the first thing you've got to overcome: the desire to "put something over" on somebody.

The key thing, is to have an insight into the population. And before you speak, think about what it is you could say, which is going to get the guy's attention--the attention of the guy inside the guy you're addressing, not superficially. And you will find, that when you are alert in that way, that you will generally get a response. Because people are very lonely, in this society--extremely lonely. Their wife doesn't understand them. Their husband doesn't understand them. Neither their wife nor their husband understands them, in some cases. [laughter]

So, in this society, it's a lonely society, in which people are wearing a persona, a psychological costume, to protect themselves against what they think they're hiding. And, the key is to get through that persona. They're just out there, waiting, for someone to say something, that they think is useful to them, about the conditions in this society. Health care is important to them, other things. But, at the moment, the most important thing they're concerned about, which comes up with my candidacy, why is my candidacy the most effective selling-point we have? It's not because I'm some kind of a special product. I may be, in one sense, but not in that sense. It's because, people are saying, "Well yes, what you say is fine, but, who is going to do it?" "What you say is fine, but how can you get the politicians to accept it?" "What you say is fine, but how can you get Washington to go along with it? Who's going to deal with the Congress? Who's going to deal with Democratic Party leadership? Who's going to deal with Republican Party leadership?" The question of "who is going to do it?"!

"Look, I'm a me! I'm a little me! I'm a small guy! Hey, look! I'm not going do this! Sure, I'd like to do it. But, I'm not going to be able to get these guys to do that!" "Who's going to get these guys, to do, what I need to have done?"

So, if you're not talking about, "who is going to change things, at the top," or somewhere near the top, you're not talking about reality. So, when you're going out with slogans, like advertising slogans to sell "the sizzle," it doesn't work. And especially, you know, "sell them the sizzle, not the steak," was the slogan back in the '50s and '60s. But it doesn't work any more. You can't sell sizzle, when there's no steak. And so, that's the problem. These are the things we have to deal with, we have to think about. And, to think about the whole society, and the guy you're talking to is a part of the society, and is aware of the fact that he's part of the society, he situates what he's concerned about as a problem in this society. He has a sense, if he has any brains about it, and has thought about it, that the problem is not just an individual error. It's not a single issue: It's systemic. His sense is, "Look, we're all being screwed." If he's in the lower 80% of family-income brackets, his thought is, "We're all being screwed." He's thinking about health care. He's thinking about education. He's thinking about job opportunities. He's thinking about the community life. He's thinking about everything else involved. So, he's thinking about the systemic problem. That he's a victim of a society, which is not responsive to the real needs of the people in it. And therefore, he says, "Who is going to change the system?" Not, "who is going to get this legislation through," "this single issue bill?" But, who's going to change the system?

So, it comes down to "who"? And, you say, "I'm working because we have to change the system, and it can be done. We can't guarantee it's going to happen, but it can be done, and it's the only thing worth trying." In that direction, you can be most effective.

If you get trapped into the small issues, the petty issues, the detail issues, the problem of credibility comes up. Because, "who is going to get them to do it?" That's one of the key problems to focus on.

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