Take a word of advice from someone with deep, broad personal experience with a sociopathic narcissist like Donald Trump—you will NOT make him back off via confrontation. In fact, the more pressure put on him, the more dangerous and likely to resort to violence—and I mean literal violence—he will become.
Take a word of advice from someone with deep, broad personal experience with a sociopathic narcissist like Donald Trump—you will NOT make him back off via confrontation. In fact, the more pressure put on him, the more dangerous and likely to resort to violence—and I mean literal violence—he will become.
I fully agree these huge rallies need to be used to organize and prepare, but this unfortunate tendency I see of the main response being confrontation and mass protest isn't going to work. I wish it were otherwise, but they rely on massive levels of media coverage to have any real effect because they're a tool for encouraging others to become part of the movement. It's a given that coverage is not going to happen, or will be twisted into reinforcing the gaslighting it's a bunch of rebellious kids and "domestic terrorists".
This isn't the 19th or the 20th century. What worked against the Vietnam War won't work now for the simple reason the audience comprises people who think they know everything because "Google". Unfortunately, was Will Rogers mourned 90 years ago, “The problem ain't what people know. It's what people know that ain't so that's the problem.” To which I would add "…and what they don't know they don't know". Unless we plan on that understanding, we're just going through the motions.
I know that, like far too many victims of Reagan's Education Reform™, young people are unable to compose a coherent sentence that makes clear just what it is they're asking. Not your fault.
Yeah I'm also not hugely convinced that this approach would guarantee a win, but Blanc is correct that Bernie/AOC should be creating organizers instead of just passively mobilizing. RIP Jane McAlevey, we still need everyone "on the left" to deeply understand the difference. Organizing is our only way forward even if there's no guarantee of a win against these people.
I would suggest a good first step would be to stop accepting the establishment vocabulary that slaps on the “leftist” label knowing they’ve firmly established it as the dichotomous opposite of “MAGA”. We’re working with a deeply gaslit population indoctrinated by experts, and that’s going to be a major obstacle unless we learn how to get around it.
I agree with Varn that the left is too obsessed with trying to get messaging right. We need organizing skills a lot more than skills related to using the right words. If messaging is in an organizing context cool. If it's just more internet stuff it doesn't matter.
It’s not about the messaging. It’s about how the messaging is presented. And people are so addicted to repeating their cherished ideological scripts they refuse to even consider that using the other side’s language just reinforces the propaganda the other side already has installed, ready to trigger resistance and outrage at the drop of the cue-word.
Take a word of advice from someone with deep, broad personal experience with a sociopathic narcissist like Donald Trump—you will NOT make him back off via confrontation. In fact, the more pressure put on him, the more dangerous and likely to resort to violence—and I mean literal violence—he will become.
I fully agree these huge rallies need to be used to organize and prepare, but this unfortunate tendency I see of the main response being confrontation and mass protest isn't going to work. I wish it were otherwise, but they rely on massive levels of media coverage to have any real effect because they're a tool for encouraging others to become part of the movement. It's a given that coverage is not going to happen, or will be twisted into reinforcing the gaslighting it's a bunch of rebellious kids and "domestic terrorists".
This isn't the 19th or the 20th century. What worked against the Vietnam War won't work now for the simple reason the audience comprises people who think they know everything because "Google". Unfortunately, was Will Rogers mourned 90 years ago, “The problem ain't what people know. It's what people know that ain't so that's the problem.” To which I would add "…and what they don't know they don't know". Unless we plan on that understanding, we're just going through the motions.
So Liz, what do you know cause…
I know that, like far too many victims of Reagan's Education Reform™, young people are unable to compose a coherent sentence that makes clear just what it is they're asking. Not your fault.
Yeah I'm also not hugely convinced that this approach would guarantee a win, but Blanc is correct that Bernie/AOC should be creating organizers instead of just passively mobilizing. RIP Jane McAlevey, we still need everyone "on the left" to deeply understand the difference. Organizing is our only way forward even if there's no guarantee of a win against these people.
I would suggest a good first step would be to stop accepting the establishment vocabulary that slaps on the “leftist” label knowing they’ve firmly established it as the dichotomous opposite of “MAGA”. We’re working with a deeply gaslit population indoctrinated by experts, and that’s going to be a major obstacle unless we learn how to get around it.
I agree with Varn that the left is too obsessed with trying to get messaging right. We need organizing skills a lot more than skills related to using the right words. If messaging is in an organizing context cool. If it's just more internet stuff it doesn't matter.
It’s not about the messaging. It’s about how the messaging is presented. And people are so addicted to repeating their cherished ideological scripts they refuse to even consider that using the other side’s language just reinforces the propaganda the other side already has installed, ready to trigger resistance and outrage at the drop of the cue-word.