The Politics of Hope and Fear
Dec. 21st, 2004 12:33 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
forsythOkay, I'll start by admitting up front that I'm an idealist and optimist, which is part of why I'm so bitter and cynical these days, the world should be better, but it's not, damnit, and the people who could easily do it don't. BUT!
The way I see it, there's no point in getting involved in politics, unless you're going to be the Good Guys. Well, okay, the acquisition of personal wealth or power, but that's not why I'd do it. The thing is, being the good guy doesn't mean you have to be an idiot. Nor does it mean you can't fight back just as hard, just means that you avoid certain tactics, like, y'know, outright lies about yourself or your opponent.
People seem to have gotten confused, many of the Democrats especially. They seem to think being a nice guy means you can't say mean things about your opponent, even if they're true. Means you won't attack them on perfectly reasonable grounds, and won't do to them what they plan to do to you. This is wrong. Being good doesn't mean being soft, even if you don't relish fighting. Being good doesn't mean you don't call your opponents malevolent lying bastards when they are, in fact, malevolent lying bastards. If your opponent's record consists of running several business into the ground and then becoming governor and running the state's budget into the ground, you are allowed to point these facts out. If your opponents are going to try and unseat your allies in every way they can, you do the same to their allies, just legitimately. A large part of politics is fighting and arguing, you have to be good at these.
When your opponents entire platform depends on frightening people, so they're scared and run for whoever promises to be "stronger", you don't let them have their story. Hope can beat fear, even if doing the right and smart thing doesn't always look "strong." When it's a dick-waving contest over being "stronger" the bullies who'll hit anybody will always look "stronger" at first than somebody who avoids fighting unless they have to. Until the bullies lose.
The story, the framing, is a key element. People respond to stories, even when they know the stories aren't real, it's how Hollywood and video games make their money. They'll respond to the story that first their experiences the best, whether or not the story is actually related to the facts or reality at all. And no, I'm not excluded from this myself. The key thing here is strategy, if you're fighting on the battlefield of the opponent's choosing, fighting inside their story, they already have the advantage. You have to fight on the same level, with a story of your own, that's as good or better than theirs. And that's one of the things the not-batshit side was lacking last election, a story to compete with Bush/Cheney/Rove's "Terrorists are going to blow up your kiddies, but Daddy Bush will keep them safe" (Well, aside from the "Holy SHIT, what are these people DOING to our country?" story, but that's reactive, and doesn't have the same traction with people who don't see the full extent of things).
So, what beats fear? Hope. Hope for a better world, for us and everyone else. Hope for a better future, not an endless, undefined war. I'm not sure exactly what needs to go into this, but I can think of several things. Honesty. Respect. Intelligence. Courage to face the real problems, not swagger around in a flight suit. That kind of thing. And yes, I think, despite all the "just folks" Bush BS, and his "street cred" as a C level student and so on, intelligence has to be part of things. When somebody does something stupid, that makes things worse, it should be called as such. And yes, this includes your own side.
Truth, Justice, and the American way sounds like a good start on values, doesn't it?
[meta: politics]
The way I see it, there's no point in getting involved in politics, unless you're going to be the Good Guys. Well, okay, the acquisition of personal wealth or power, but that's not why I'd do it. The thing is, being the good guy doesn't mean you have to be an idiot. Nor does it mean you can't fight back just as hard, just means that you avoid certain tactics, like, y'know, outright lies about yourself or your opponent.
People seem to have gotten confused, many of the Democrats especially. They seem to think being a nice guy means you can't say mean things about your opponent, even if they're true. Means you won't attack them on perfectly reasonable grounds, and won't do to them what they plan to do to you. This is wrong. Being good doesn't mean being soft, even if you don't relish fighting. Being good doesn't mean you don't call your opponents malevolent lying bastards when they are, in fact, malevolent lying bastards. If your opponent's record consists of running several business into the ground and then becoming governor and running the state's budget into the ground, you are allowed to point these facts out. If your opponents are going to try and unseat your allies in every way they can, you do the same to their allies, just legitimately. A large part of politics is fighting and arguing, you have to be good at these.
When your opponents entire platform depends on frightening people, so they're scared and run for whoever promises to be "stronger", you don't let them have their story. Hope can beat fear, even if doing the right and smart thing doesn't always look "strong." When it's a dick-waving contest over being "stronger" the bullies who'll hit anybody will always look "stronger" at first than somebody who avoids fighting unless they have to. Until the bullies lose.
The story, the framing, is a key element. People respond to stories, even when they know the stories aren't real, it's how Hollywood and video games make their money. They'll respond to the story that first their experiences the best, whether or not the story is actually related to the facts or reality at all. And no, I'm not excluded from this myself. The key thing here is strategy, if you're fighting on the battlefield of the opponent's choosing, fighting inside their story, they already have the advantage. You have to fight on the same level, with a story of your own, that's as good or better than theirs. And that's one of the things the not-batshit side was lacking last election, a story to compete with Bush/Cheney/Rove's "Terrorists are going to blow up your kiddies, but Daddy Bush will keep them safe" (Well, aside from the "Holy SHIT, what are these people DOING to our country?" story, but that's reactive, and doesn't have the same traction with people who don't see the full extent of things).
So, what beats fear? Hope. Hope for a better world, for us and everyone else. Hope for a better future, not an endless, undefined war. I'm not sure exactly what needs to go into this, but I can think of several things. Honesty. Respect. Intelligence. Courage to face the real problems, not swagger around in a flight suit. That kind of thing. And yes, I think, despite all the "just folks" Bush BS, and his "street cred" as a C level student and so on, intelligence has to be part of things. When somebody does something stupid, that makes things worse, it should be called as such. And yes, this includes your own side.
Truth, Justice, and the American way sounds like a good start on values, doesn't it?
[meta: politics]
