How To Be Manipulated by jnow1101

Taking his cue from Machiavelli, but aiming his lesson at the "would-be ruled" rather than the "would-be ruler," Andy Nowicki considers how people are essentially manipulated into slavish obedience through two methods, representing the proverbial carrot and stick: that is, through fear and flattery. Recalling the Neil Labute movie "The Shape of Things," in which a hapless schlub is manipulated by a beautiful but unscrupulous girl, with shocking results, Andy ponders the extent to which our neediness makes us vulnerable to tyrants of the heart, mind, and soul.