It's all theater

Some people, often those who have spent their life in Hollywood, believe that all life is artifice.

They think --and say-- it's all theater, because they can't conceive of people with integrity, of a focus on facts, of a primacy of existence approach to life.

So, their cleverness consists in tricking others. They appreciate the skills of a liar. They applaud the ingenuity of the trickster. They seek and see inventiveness in dictatorship. Any expedient method, any artful device, any stratagem, any craftiness, any trickery, will be their tool of choice.

The lack of sincerity and deceptive behavior are core elements of their personality. They live by lies and cannot imagine that others don't. For them, there is no truth, just illusions sustained by master performers. Hence their attraction to politicians rather than statesmen.