By William M. London
Quacks and alarmists often use anti-establishment rhetoric. They speak of “Big Pharma,” “the allopathic medical monopoly,” “the medical industrial complex,” etc. to suggest that powerful institutions are nefarious enterprises concerned with profits, but not the well being of consumers.
It’s a message that doesn’t rely on well-supported arguments to be effective. It’s persuasive for a variety of reasons. It appeals to cynicism. It appeals to paranoia. It appeals to alienation. And it even appeals to sympathies for mavericks, cranks, and other sorts of underdogs.
It’s a message that doesn’t rely on well-supported arguments to be effective. It’s persuasive for a variety of reasons. It appeals to cynicism. It appeals to paranoia. It appeals to alienation. And it even appeals to sympathies for mavericks, cranks, and other sorts of underdogs.