'Play with people's fantasies': the ideas that inspired Doria's inauguration speech.
The mayor of São Paulo quoted the American writer Robert Greene, author of best-selling books on manipulation, power, seduction, and control.
The author's choice is revealing. Greene is a writer of best sellers about manipulation, dissimulation, power, seduction, and control. In the aforementioned book, he – along with fellow writer Joost Elffers – proposes rules to be followed for the conquest of power by leaders in various fields such as businessmen, politicians, and scientists. Rules that are not exactly based on ethics or humanism. The book compiles experiences and events from various periods of history, with ideas from emperors, conquerors, religious figures, and also mobsters.
"Play with people's fantasies," for example, is a rule described as follows: "People capable of generating romance or conjuring fantasies are like oases in a desert: everyone flocks to them. There is enormous power in exploiting the fantasies of the masses." This passage aligns with the constructed image of "João Trabalhador" (John the Worker), used by Doria's mayoral campaign. The slogan helped dismantle the image of the businessman, heir to a noble family with a history in politics dating back to his great-grandfather, and create that of an entrepreneur who succeeded in life.
Another action by Doria that seems to follow this "Law of Power" was dressing up as a street sweeper for the launch of the São Paulo Cidade Linda program, yesterday morning (1). The mayor stressed several times that the measure was a demonstration of "humility" and "simplicity", of how the administration would work for the city. However, Doria spent an hour talking to the press and only picked up the broom to pose for photos. The place was cleaned by urban cleaning teams the day before.
The opening of the book description in the newspaper. The New York Times It is significant: "Amoral, cunning, ruthless, and instructive." 48 Laws of Power "It's the ultimate guide for anyone interested in winning, observing, and securing total control."
Along the same lines, a bookstore's website describes it. "The Laws These include, among others, the ability to wait for the right moment to attack, to create an aura of mystery to confuse enemies, to know how to win people's hearts and minds, and to cover all actions with smoke and mirrors. Kings, politicians, generals, diplomats, and religious figures – as well as courtesans, bandits, and charlatans – serve as the basis for the 48 Laws that govern power and influence over others.
Greene is also the author of The Art of Seduction e The 33 Strategies of WarThis last point also served as a basis for Doria in another part of his inauguration speech. Criticized for making promises or statements and then backing down, the mayor said that the administration will know how to listen and will have the humility to "whenever necessary, and if demonstrably necessary, retreat in order to move forward," justifying, then, that "this is proof of greatness."
In his book on war, Greene argues that retreat is a sign of strength. And he proposes other rules such as expose and attack the weak side of your adversaries, strike them where it hurts, and defeat them in the details: the divide-and-conquer strategy.