Class 7 :: October 12, 2004 Questions on Don't Think of an Elephant Ideology of corporations - various versions of how corporations enter into (and whether) corporate thought. - DNC has been pretty good about getting corporate donations (not as good as RNC). - What about the evils of corporations? - Corporate interests == good for jobs? Politicians have to get $ somehow. Barbara Boxer has to raise $35K a day. Pragmatism - how does this affect politics around corporations? What are the framings used about corporations? [Corporations give jobs] Paper on Alternet - The Living Wage paper. Read for next week. Living wage arguments have to do with understanding of corporations - what it is, how it's constructed, market as force of nature. What is ethical globalization? Metaphors of Left & Right. Problem is linear order where there's a middle. This allows Moderate to come out as an idea. This misses what we've been talking about - people having both models. - Swartzenegger is not in the middle.. he just has some positions that are liberal even though most are conservative - right as correct is definitely exploited... left as sinister Kerry: pointed out Orwellian language, but he muffed the line. The way to say it is: there are words that are used to mean the opposite of what they mean. Compassionate conservative is against everything we would normally talk about compassion. People use this when they're weak, when they can't say what is true. Requires renaming things... this is what Kerry was trying to say but forgot how to say it. Gay marriage issue. Gov't shouldn't tell you who you should and shouldn't marry. Question of freedom. Question of civil rights. What should be done: good gov't and bad gov't. Bad gov't: gov't that intrudes and comes into your bedrooms. On military bases, women can't end their pregnancies if they're raped. You start arguing that the gov't shouldn't have control over people; they should protect people. Switch the language: our government wants rape victims to bare the children of their rapists - do you? Global test: test of trust and credibility. This president has no credibility or trust on a global level. He's also failed the national test of trust. Why? More than 1/2 of Americans don't trust him to take us in the right direction. Test of trust, test of trust, test of trust. You can't trust him. Issue of trust is to bring it up over and over again. What is a deficit? Future unpaid taxes. A deficit will have to be paid by taxes sooner or later - either you or your children. In future, it's with interest. What the president has done by creating a deficit is to raise your taxes and your children's taxes. He's raised taxed for future. Tax raiser. Future unpaid taxes. "I have a plan" - attempt to overcome wishy-washy view. He needs to then name the parts of his plan. Just name them. Don't go through them in detail. Rally the allies. Train the Iraqis. Want the details? Website. Name it and then go on. Pro-active frame. Making it specific takes it out of the "i have a dream" view. Need 3 or 4 specifics and then STOP. That's a plan. 85 things is not a plan - it's a program. Should hammer: you still haven't captured Osama. Back to the book. Framing vs. spin: Spin is just about words. Framing occurs naturally. Spin is the intent. Framing invokes values. Offense vs. defense? Spin is manipulative use of a frame where there has been a potentially embarrassing case and you're trying to reframe it to be positive instead of negative. Framing is just there. There's always frames. Manipulative language. Choice words you seek to obscure the completion of a meaning. Clean coal. Orwellian manipulative language. Death tax - manipulative that don't mean the opposite of what they say. Impose a frame that is not accurate, but fits with conservative position. Honest framing - what you really believe. Lots of that on both sides. "He voted 88 times against those." How does it work? Can't trust his words - you have to trust his pattern. "He voted against body armor for the troops." Metonymy. He voted against an appropriations bill for $87B. With every appropriations bill, there are good parts and bad parts. He liked the part about giving troops armor; he didn't like parts of it, like giving $ to Haliburton. By metonymy - he talks about using the small bit to represent the larger bit. Uses this to be manipulative, not really showing what he believed. Vote distortion. He distorted the vote. Use this to point out why we can't trust this man. Make an issue of it, but the Democrats don't. In final question for Bush, Kerry should've talked about how Bush can't admit mistakes. Kerry can't deliver a punchline. Back to book. Conservative. Strict father model applied to different aspects - economics, morality, government, neo [power of state -> foreign policy mostly], thoroughgoing [power of state-> everything]. Libertarians are pulling out strict father model to government. What divides progressives? Modes of thought: Identity politics, environmentalism, socioeconomic, spiritualism, anti-authoritarian. Local interests: idealism vs. pragmatism (will it work in the world? will it work politically?). [Refusal to compromise vs. willingness to compromise.] Degree of activism, degree of change that you want -> are you really radical or just a moderate? 1. Everything we do has to work politically - maximize political power now. 2. Everything we propose has to work in the real world. 3. Given division in the country, we have to go step-by-step incremental. 4. Most of the issues in the country are socioeconomic issues. This is a liberal like Hillary Clinton What unites progressives? Nurturant model. Values of empathy, responsibility, protection, fairness, etc. Common enemy. Principles: equality, equity, democracy [everyone gets a say, open government, transparency] Policy directions: fair opportunity to prosper / economic protection, equal public education, everyone gets health care, protection from harm, clean healthy safe environment, preserve nature for future generations, equal and well-informed by the media, open transparent gov't, equal rights. Policy of moral norms - nurturant moral norms. "Leader of the Free World" -> framed used for Clinton, but not Bush. Values, principles and policy directives that everyone shares. If you want to have a progressive democratic party that unites all democrats, focus on a vision that is overall and in common that is positive (not just a common enemy). Don't start with programs. Programs enact policy directions, but then you're directly faced with the division bits - which priorities? how pragmatic, etc? Programs are specific enough to divide people. Can't base a party or a vision on programs. As soon as they go to committee, they get changed. Policy directions give the most support possible without dividing. You don't want to start with dividing. Not just stronger military - stronger America. Effective vs. smaller. Family values vs. mutual responsibility. Ethical business. Responding to Conservatives Letter from a fan. Civil conversation is part of a nurturant model. Embattled conversation is part of a strict father model. Forcing everyone to move to civil conversation. Screaming battles mean that they win. Progressive values are traditional American values. Present yourself as a patriot. Show respect. Listen to people you disagree with. Avoid cheap shots. Be sincere. They require a cultural war. They're always saying that they're under attack, that they're defending themselves with this larger force. If you aren't attacking, they can't use that with you. Never get into victimhood. Never plead. You are strong. Don't use rising intonations. Show optimism in body and voice..... Lots more in the book. Cheney will start everything with "yes, i agree with you on this point." Starts with small point where the big issues falls his way. Saffire: you don't get partial credit for Iraq. That's fantastic! There's no first part of the war - we're still in the war. William Crystal tries to reframe it for himself - you can't say ignore Iraq - flubbed after that. What the right wants. Don't believe the Orwellian language. Why are they so interested in testing? In vouchers? What is the issue with evolution? Pledge? Fox was proud to announce that it wouldn't disturb its audience by showing pictures of Abu-Ghraib. When they say smaller gov't, do they mean it? What do they mean by democracy? Why a culture war? What about God? Faith?