Manipulating the masses

“About that,” he said. “Considering the effects that they’ve had on the Bay, some of the Directors think that you should be broadcasting to a broader audience. Others are worried about the implications of using a Master to control the population of the United States.”

 

“I don’t master people,” I said. “And even if I could, it’d be because I tailor the message to each individual person, or at least to the people in a closely related group. When you are speaking to a multitude of people, from different backgrounds, ideologies and belief systems, you have to generalize your message, which weakens the overall impact. You’ll never be able to convince everybody of anything, no matter how good you are unless you’re a Master. There could be a pandemic on, and there would be people who wouldn’t wash their hands because they’d think it’s a government plot to take their freedom.”

 

“You’ve made a difference here,” he said.

 

“I’ve tailored my message to certain kinds of people,” I admitted. “To the people who want to help, but are too afraid to be the first one. There’s a lot of people like that, and there’s other people who wouldn’t help if one other person was out there, but if there were two… it creates a kind of ripple effect. Even with everything I can do, we’ve probably got less than ten percent of the population out trying to make a difference.”

 

“That’s huge,” he said. “Tens of thousands of people trying to make the city better in the face of thugs with guns… how much better would your results be if it was safe?”

 

“If it was safe, they probably wouldn’t need to volunteer,” I said. “If the police are working, then the trash guys and food delivery people probably are too.”

 

***

 

Ready