Rhetoric is a tool, always applied toward one specific goal: to abstract an ideological component of reality—one somewhere between the realm of accepted fact and proven fiction—for easier absorption. It can be used to point the way toward maybe-truths secreted behind the banal cacophonies of speech, but can also lead the inquisitive away from fearful—vital—realizations. Only the ingredient intent must change; even a simple tone of voice can boldly lie. Rhetoric, then? Always question it, interrogate it, until just beyond the apex of its intended point; always, but especially when you feel you might believe it.
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