The will to believe & a loss of faith

When can a cult brand loose its sheen? When dissonance levels rise to an unmanageable level. When can that happen? When the brand, not just fails to deliver on promises made to the consumer, but does it to the extent the consumer suffers a loss of both the investment he made in the brand, and a subsequent loss of faith.

Are we now seeing such a scenario playing out in the future as far as Brand Obama goes? I am willing to bet on that.

Note Thomas Sowell, 'Not even the most Alice-in-Wonderland actions will arouse the suspicions of those who have what William James once called "the will to believe."

Nowhere was that will to believe greater than in the election of Barack Obama to be President of the United States, not on the basis of any actual accomplishment, but as the repository of hopes and symbolism. His supporters among the voters and in the media are not going to stop believing now.

It will take a lot more than blatant inconsistency for the faithful to lose faith. It may take catastrophe— and there may well be catastrophe.'