On page 34, Socrates states that “rhetoric (is) a branch of flattery.” I think this is one of his core arguments in the first part of the book. This is core to his argument as Socrates finds flattery contemptible, so he accordingly finds rhetoric contemptible.
On page 40, Socrates plainly says “I mean that in actual fact there is nothing worse than doing wrong.” This argument of Socrates is more explicitly stated than his other arguments. Socrates is able to convince Polus to his point of view on this after Polus originally says he believes otherwise. Polus’s original argument was that even Socrates would envy those who could do whatever they please. The argument goes on with Polus stating that those people who do not face consequence are happy. Socrates says that this is the opposite of what actually happens. On page 47 Socrates says “that punishment alleviates their condition somewhat” when referring to criminals.
There is also a large section on page 18 that discusses the decisions made in a community. In this section, Socrates states how decisions are not made by rhetoricians, but by experts in the field concerned. I found this to be a very interesting passage as today I believe the opposite to be true. I often see politicians with little expertise in a certain field campaigning for one choice over another. This politician will often use rhetoric to gain the popular vote of the community.
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I think you are completely correct in your assertion about politics. We are entering a era of falsehoods, in my opinion, because not only those in politics, but also ordinary citizens live believing they are informed, but , in reality, know very little about most areas of expertise. It makes trusting in democratic processes like voting quite a gamble.
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