Yes it did begin in the 70s. The Right has been playing the long game and their patience has more than paid off. If you've never heard of the Powell Memo or read it a while ago, it's worth looking at again. It's a diabolically brilliant blueprint that the Right has followed to greater success than they ever imagined.
Yes it did begin in the 70s. The Right has been playing the long game and their patience has more than paid off. If you've never heard of the Powell Memo or read it a while ago, it's worth looking at again. It's a diabolically brilliant blueprint that the Right has followed to greater success than they ever imagined.
Anderson pinpoints the start of this plutocrat propaganda operation with the Powell Memo and with Milton Friedman’s declaration that corporations have no obligation to any group — not even employees or customers — other than making profits for shareholders.
Most people don’t understand the incredible power having an explicit set of beliefs has if you want to radically shift the Overton Window, i.e. what people accept as normal and acceptable. Democrats need to be able to articulate a competing vision and hammer it home.
Personally I think that vision should center on doing whatever is necessary to build and keep a healthy democracy — things like an informed citizenry, a thriving middle class with low levels of poverty which requires a healthy economy that benefits all, good education for all, a decent standard of living and above all STRONG VOTING PROTECTIONS!! The policies Democrats are trying to implement all serve the strengthening of our democracy. Their informal slogan should be “It’s our democracy stupid!”
Well, the problem right there is an informed citizenry. The occasional segments on late night showing just how stupid people are don't make me laugh; they make me want to weep. It's not just those who don't go to college; I see it in comments by "educated" liberals who have no understanding of how the government actually works. I hear it when knocking doors and making phone calls during campaigns. "Oh, there's an election coming up?"
Not to mention getting Dem voters to consider voting a civic duty that must be undertaken no matter what—and come out strong for every election, not just when it's time to choose a president. I'm so tired of the "I need to be excited by a candidate" bullshit or "I, didn't get X so I'm staying home."
If these voters haven't learned from four years of Trump and from losing Roe, I don't know what will get through to them.
But I like the "it's our democracy stupid!" Though frankly, this is an issue they shouldn't even have to keep repeating. If you live in any of the 7 states where they have consistently tried to undermine the vote or watched any of what happened on 1/6, you should be steaming mad and itching to get to the polls.
Voters in this country, including a number on the left, have much to answer for.
If you try to point out how Democrats in Florida who voted for Nader or just stayed home put Bush in office you get nasty denials but it really is true. People should be encouraged to think about how much better off we would be had Gore been elected and Carter re-elected. By now we would have done so much more to combat global warming. Both of them also were dedicated to making our government more effective and efficient.
As for messaging I think Democratic leaders take if for granted that people know what they are proposing will strengthen democracy but most people need to hear that repeatedly said and explained. Most people don’t realize that a hallmark of all strong democracies is a large, thriving middle class. We had a decent democracy (at least for white people) back in the 50s and 60s when government policies helped grow the middle class and there were far fewer uber wealthy people. The more we have increased the number of extremely wealthy people the weaker our democracy has become.
And by extension, if people really knew just how awful Republicans are at governing, how wasteful, inefficient and inept they are, this is something that should also be reiterated over and over, until it’s the go-to thought process for people in the general public. I’m all for taking the high road, but sometimes the truth just has to be told, no matter how harsh it may seem.
And herein lies the problem. How do you educate a citizenry inundated with propaganda from the right, and aided by rightwing media and supposedly neutral media?
Forget the right wing media, as Steve Bannon has said it’s the mainstream media that does the real damage to Democrats. He said he used Breitbart to keep the base energized but always work to get things like the Clinton Foundation and Biden/Ukraine slanders into outlets like the NY Times and WaPo. Both of those smears came from books written by Bannon’s partner Peter Schweitzer.
Most of the public still gets their news from the mainstream media, particularly the NY Times, WaPo and network news which drives the rest of the MSM coverage. For years we have seen how their coverage drives perception among Democrats and independents.Just look at what they did to Gore.
It’s not that I don’t think right wing media is a serious threat to our democracy but if the MSM stopped trashing Biden and the Democrats and started making it clear just what they have accomplished it would make it much harder for Republicans to increase their power. It was just reported that our economy grew at almost 7% last quarter, far greater than predicted. but I bet we will hear much more about inflation, rising interest rates and stock market decline than we will about our high growth rate, the impressive number of new companies being formed or our very strong jobs growth. Republicans’ chance of regaining power is greatly increased as a direct result of that kind of unbalanced reporting.
The "shareholder revolution"—hand in hand with "trickle down economics" really screwed us, as did the demise of pensions and the rise of 401Ks in the 80s. (And then there's health care, big banks, big Agra, and big Pharma.) The 80s are a real gold mine for historians. Everything that's wrong with this country now kicked into gear on 11/4/80.
A hilarious side note: Carter won Georgia and West Virginia in that election.
Yes it did begin in the 70s. The Right has been playing the long game and their patience has more than paid off. If you've never heard of the Powell Memo or read it a while ago, it's worth looking at again. It's a diabolically brilliant blueprint that the Right has followed to greater success than they ever imagined.
https://law2.wlu.edu/deptimages/Powell%20Archives/PowellMemorandumTypescript.pdf
Anderson pinpoints the start of this plutocrat propaganda operation with the Powell Memo and with Milton Friedman’s declaration that corporations have no obligation to any group — not even employees or customers — other than making profits for shareholders.
Most people don’t understand the incredible power having an explicit set of beliefs has if you want to radically shift the Overton Window, i.e. what people accept as normal and acceptable. Democrats need to be able to articulate a competing vision and hammer it home.
Personally I think that vision should center on doing whatever is necessary to build and keep a healthy democracy — things like an informed citizenry, a thriving middle class with low levels of poverty which requires a healthy economy that benefits all, good education for all, a decent standard of living and above all STRONG VOTING PROTECTIONS!! The policies Democrats are trying to implement all serve the strengthening of our democracy. Their informal slogan should be “It’s our democracy stupid!”
Well, the problem right there is an informed citizenry. The occasional segments on late night showing just how stupid people are don't make me laugh; they make me want to weep. It's not just those who don't go to college; I see it in comments by "educated" liberals who have no understanding of how the government actually works. I hear it when knocking doors and making phone calls during campaigns. "Oh, there's an election coming up?"
Not to mention getting Dem voters to consider voting a civic duty that must be undertaken no matter what—and come out strong for every election, not just when it's time to choose a president. I'm so tired of the "I need to be excited by a candidate" bullshit or "I, didn't get X so I'm staying home."
If these voters haven't learned from four years of Trump and from losing Roe, I don't know what will get through to them.
But I like the "it's our democracy stupid!" Though frankly, this is an issue they shouldn't even have to keep repeating. If you live in any of the 7 states where they have consistently tried to undermine the vote or watched any of what happened on 1/6, you should be steaming mad and itching to get to the polls.
Voters in this country, including a number on the left, have much to answer for.
If you try to point out how Democrats in Florida who voted for Nader or just stayed home put Bush in office you get nasty denials but it really is true. People should be encouraged to think about how much better off we would be had Gore been elected and Carter re-elected. By now we would have done so much more to combat global warming. Both of them also were dedicated to making our government more effective and efficient.
As for messaging I think Democratic leaders take if for granted that people know what they are proposing will strengthen democracy but most people need to hear that repeatedly said and explained. Most people don’t realize that a hallmark of all strong democracies is a large, thriving middle class. We had a decent democracy (at least for white people) back in the 50s and 60s when government policies helped grow the middle class and there were far fewer uber wealthy people. The more we have increased the number of extremely wealthy people the weaker our democracy has become.
And by extension, if people really knew just how awful Republicans are at governing, how wasteful, inefficient and inept they are, this is something that should also be reiterated over and over, until it’s the go-to thought process for people in the general public. I’m all for taking the high road, but sometimes the truth just has to be told, no matter how harsh it may seem.
And herein lies the problem. How do you educate a citizenry inundated with propaganda from the right, and aided by rightwing media and supposedly neutral media?
I like the “It’s our democracy stupid”.
Forget the right wing media, as Steve Bannon has said it’s the mainstream media that does the real damage to Democrats. He said he used Breitbart to keep the base energized but always work to get things like the Clinton Foundation and Biden/Ukraine slanders into outlets like the NY Times and WaPo. Both of those smears came from books written by Bannon’s partner Peter Schweitzer.
Most of the public still gets their news from the mainstream media, particularly the NY Times, WaPo and network news which drives the rest of the MSM coverage. For years we have seen how their coverage drives perception among Democrats and independents.Just look at what they did to Gore.
It’s not that I don’t think right wing media is a serious threat to our democracy but if the MSM stopped trashing Biden and the Democrats and started making it clear just what they have accomplished it would make it much harder for Republicans to increase their power. It was just reported that our economy grew at almost 7% last quarter, far greater than predicted. but I bet we will hear much more about inflation, rising interest rates and stock market decline than we will about our high growth rate, the impressive number of new companies being formed or our very strong jobs growth. Republicans’ chance of regaining power is greatly increased as a direct result of that kind of unbalanced reporting.
Fair point. The MSM is the real threat.
The "shareholder revolution"—hand in hand with "trickle down economics" really screwed us, as did the demise of pensions and the rise of 401Ks in the 80s. (And then there's health care, big banks, big Agra, and big Pharma.) The 80s are a real gold mine for historians. Everything that's wrong with this country now kicked into gear on 11/4/80.
A hilarious side note: Carter won Georgia and West Virginia in that election.
Yep. As a child of the 80s, I can attest to this analysis.
I grew up across the Ohio from WVa and I remember that it was a Democratic stronghold back then.