Category:Road shows, Dogs and Ponies

Many Americans are familiar with the polictical meaning of these terms, "Road Show" along with "Dog and Pony Show" in the sense outside of the literal meaning, like non-activist rock concerts.

'Road Show' is an agenda on wheels, peddling various doctrines using misleading methods. Snake Oil salesmen can be included in this catagory, those who sell false promises. Internet networking could be considered the 21st Century highways for these agendas for the peddlers of change. Promises of change might relieve one ailment, but does it ultimately maim or kill the patients?

Dog and Pony Show refers to phrases such as "tugging at the heartstrings" as a methodology of gaining attention towards agendas, with the implied promise of the good intentions of the sponsors. It's a necessary and effective marketing method used to bring awareness of an issue to the public's attention, in order to rally funds and to help charity. It's an effective method to move people to act. It's validity, however, rests on the honesty of those who implement it. Validity in the implied trust of honest oversight of those collecting funds, and those distributing funds. Validity also in the transparency of purpose and effectiveness of the actions, in other words, accountabilty.

Once the implied honesty is breached, however, the effectiveness of rallying funds and public support remain intact, but the promise of good intentions becomes superficial, serving only to mask broader or hidden goals, or to promote ill-concieved momentum. Even if superficial goals are met, "We raised awareness! We sold t-shirts! We trained more trainers!", the donars and ground volunteers are not privy to the fact that their efforts may supporting different, even undermining and conflicting goals, "We didn't know good intentions have consequences; We didn't know the WCC had been infiltrated with government officials of xyz country! " Donars and volunteers maybe supporting ultimate self destruction, or goals that cause more damage than they solve; non-viable goals can also be used as a diversion as agendas perculate. The amount of resources, time and talent spent in unchecked good intentions, which HAVE BEEN flooded with an unknown toxicity level of subterfuge is historically incalculable.

The use of Dog and Pony Show methodology has become a form of political propoganda, but is not without weaknesses. One risk of using propaganda is maintaining it's shelf life. Without exposing themselves, the messages have to ride the line between losing the audience through attrition or casuing them to stampede. This is what has made propaganda in general a double-sided coin, a blunt instrument of change and a matastatic one. It's masqarades as something offered, but it distorts the offering, and it eventually has to cause an explosion to spark action. Yelling fire in a crowded building is sometimes the result of a tragic firestorm of manipulation

In the ashes, some people see the true nature of propoganda only after the damage is done, others remain true believers of using blunt instruments; they march forward, infected by the flip side of the coin; the goal has matastitized, and has become a trajectory of idealogy, not grounded by results. The Dog and Pony show has taken to the road.