New Year’s Resolution
The secret to all demagogues is fear. That shouldn’t be a revelation. Fear is a powerful motivator. There are a number of people that are afraid of any number of things. It usually comes down to an us versus them situation. The them just changes depending on who you are talking to. It could be all of the immigrants pouring over the border with drugs, mayhem, and the ability to work for cheaper wages. It could be the LGTBQ+ community as it seems to grow by the minute. It could be racial or ethnic minorities that seem to want more and more things. It could be women and their desire for bodily autonomy and equal rights. It could be the so-called woke mob that seems to want to indoctrinate our kids with whatever nonsense they have. I could go on and on.
When we see terms like liberty and freedom being misappropriated we see this and exactly this going on. People are afraid THEIR freedom will go away because more of THEM are appearing in their lives. When you are being bombarded daily about invasions and mobs of woke people then you think your rights and your freedoms are being threatened. Therefore, it becomes paramount that you pass laws that protect your way of life by limiting those other ways of life.
This is how demagoguery works. Someone takes those fears and absorbs them like some kind of evil antibacterial cream they can rub into the body politic. They rail against those people. They hate those people. They promise to fight for you and your values. They promise that those other people (whoever they may be) will never succeed in changing your way of life.
So, we get to the part of constructive suggestions. I’ve said this before, but it bears repeating. The lunatic fringe has 35-40 percent fairly entrenched and ready to vote based on their fear. Trying to convince them otherwise is a waste of time. It is important to understand where they are coming from if only to navigate our relationships with them. If you know the motivation then you can tiptoe through conversations and family gatherings without too much incident. That is of course unless you enjoy the fireworks.
The key group is not the right or the left. The key group are the people we might label as the “I don’t cares.” I’m not calling them undecided voters anymore. They rarely vote because they don’t see the relevance to them. They are unengaged by their own choice. They see this as a both sides are corrupt kind of deal. So, the key thing is making them see the distinct difference between what both sides view as freedom. How do we define freedom? What realistic limits do we set on freedom and why? Most importantly, how does it impact you?
The key is in identifying who these folks are and targeting them with repeated messaging. It is about bodily autonomy and not just abortion. It is about what they want to censure next and not just a few books in the library. It is about what will happen to you if THEY deem you as unfit. Are these fear tactics? Sure they are. We should be afraid and we need to make sure everyone sees what it at stake.
Some people have been groomed to react to dogwhistles, such as “freedom”. How often do you hear politicians (especially GOP) say it to their base? I used to think people forgot the word that goes hand in hand with freedom: responsibility, but now I’ve come to realize these folks enjoy freedom with no responsibility. They see it everyday: SCOTUS taking “bribes”, recently the $7mil given to tfg, and so on, so they want freedom without responsibility for themselves. It’s hard to fight selfishness and greed.
1Having re-read the essay it seems that my secondary point was lost. In the new year I’m still going to complain, but try to offer constructive criticism to balance that out. In short, I want to offer solutions. The solution is not to bang our heads on the wall and keep offering facts. Facts don’t matter to a lot of people. Feelings matter and if you continue to fight their narrative with our own then we have a fighting chance. The narratives of dozens of women with dangerous pregnancies being denied care is a powerful one. The narratives of children huddled in closets and underneath desks is a powerful one. The narrative of children in cages or being drowned in the river is a powerful one. Obviously, some will enjoy those narratives, but there will be some non-voters that become horrified and maybe will finally see what is at stake here.
2Democrats: We have nothing to fear but fear itself.
3Republicans: Be afraid. Be very afraid.
“Fear is the mindkiller.”
4Over the years I’ve learned that there is very little I actually fear. There are some things I have a healthy respect for.
Yep, the great FDR nailed the GrOPer mindsets to the outhouse wall about 90+ years ago.
They’ve only gotten much worse, and we still don’t have another FDR to effectively vanquish their sorry asses.
Joe Biden is doing well overall, but he just doesn’t have the awesome skillsets that Franklin Delano Roosevelt possessed.
C’mon Joe, start kicking some GrOPer asses. Actually, he’s supposed to begin doing that tomorrow, marking the January 6 attempted coup d’etat.
Let’s hope that he comes out with guns blazing.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:First_Inauguration_of_FDR_-_Fear_Itself_Excerpt.ogg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_inauguration_of_Franklin_D._Roosevelt#Inaugural_speech
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin_D._Roosevelt
“Inaugural speech
Roosevelt proceeded to deliver his 1,883-word, 20 minute-long inaugural address, best known for his famously pointed reference to “fear itself” (paraphrasing Thoreau)[3] in one of its first lines (emphasis added):
So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is…fear itself — nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance. In every dark hour of our national life, a leadership of frankness and of vigor has met with that understanding and support of the people themselves which is essential to victory. And I am convinced that you will again give that support to leadership in these critical days.
5…”
The problem stems from 2 1/2 centuries of white dominance and subjugation of minorities. Now that they’re on the cusp of being a minority, they’re afraid of being treated as they’ve been treating others for the past.
They are afraid, VERY afraid.
6Watched Joe’s speech from Valley Forge the other day and the speech at Mother Emanuel today. Excellent!!!!!
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