Why the Young Think We Are Full of S***

We have to talk about the elephants in the room.

We are engaged in epic moral battles on behalf of the American people. So why are we marketing them as local jobs programs? Young people can be forgiven for thinking that we can’t SEE the bigger picture, because we never TALK ABOUT the bigger picture. When will we learn that it's never about “what we’re doing for you.” It’s always an epic battle between right and wrong.

This newsletter is a mess.

I have been wrestling with this particular newsletter for weeks!

I started with a perfectly good idea about how we “grown up” people have internalized limits about what is or isn’t politically realistic, and in doing so, have mentally tabled some pretty big problems. Young people have not yet internalized those limits. They still see everything in terms of big moral rights and wrongs. They (at least some of them) see capitalism as a failure, the climate as a looming disaster, democracy as something that “left the building” years ago, and our support of Israel as morally bankrupt.

When we try to take credit for specific things we have managed to achieve without addressing those larger problems, young people feel like we’re just fiddling around the margins, and we’re either completely oblivious to these “elephants in the room” or worse, we’re full of s*** and we’re trying to gaslight them.

I thought about how, instead of dismissing our young friends and trying to make them be “realistic,” we should let them remind us of our own idealism. This was working pretty well up to this point. However, as I went on to think about specific issues, I realized something:

We’re NOT holding back based on internalized ideas of what is politically “feasible.” We are, in fact, doing radical stuff. We’re just not talking about it as radical stuff. We’re taking victories in epic battles over right and wrong and marketing them as local jobs programs.

Once again, it comes down to framing.

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It’s NOT the economy (and you’re not stupid.)

Take the climate, for example. People who expect to still be alive in the future are pretty alarmed at what’s going on, and they don’t see us talking about it with the sense of urgency that they feel. On the other hand, the Biden administration, along with Democrats in Congress, have made monumental progress, but you wouldn’t really know it based on our communications. We sort of buried it in the Inflation Reduction Act and the “Bipartisan” Infrastructure Act (thus giving away half the credit.)

We’re out on the campaign trail, talking about how we’re building a bridge here, and maybe a charging station there, or even a microchip factory, and how it will bring 50 or 500 jobs to your town. That’s all fine and dandy, but it falls into a trap that we’ve been jumping into for decades. We still act like people make rational decisions to vote for the person or party that will deliver them personally the greatest economic benefit.

Here's the problem. The social sciences, as well as the advertising and marketing industries, have known for 100 years that this isn’t how people make decisions. We bang our heads against the wall, saying, “Why, why, why do these people keep voting against their own self interest?” Then we keep doing the same thing.

Cognitive science tells us that people make political decisions based on a larger understanding of right and wrong that lies at the very core of their identity.

Our mission as communicators is to help people see the world and judge right and wrong the same way that we do. If we do that, then they will they vote for us because it makes them feel like they are a good person, like they are doing the right thing for their community and their country.

I’m not suggesting that people don’t have feelings about what is going on with the economy, only that they will tend to make a decision about the economy based on their perception of what is the right thing to do in the larger sense, as opposed to their personal benefit.

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The Elephants in the Room

The Climate

Young people see the climate crisis as a moral outrage. To paraphrase their feelings:

We’re veering very quickly into unknown territory. You’re playing Russian roulette with all of our lives and our futures in particular. We should be pulling out all the stops, but the fossil fuel industry has too much influence over our government, so neither Party is standing up and doing what needs to be done. Everybody sucks.

Meanwhile, we’re doing epic stuff. We’ve passed legislation leading to the greatest investment in the clean energy transition in history. We’re rebuilding the infrastructure necessary to move our country into the clean energy age. We’re building a network of charging stations and the power grid we need. We’re fighting to have higher fuel economy standards. We’re battling with oil companies to make them cap their methane emissions, which is way bigger deal than people realize.

But we’re still largely talking about it in terms of “what’s in it for you.” Granted, we’re learning to sell quality of life, which is better than financial gain, but it’s still, “Here’s what we’re doing for you” instead of “Here’s what’s morally right.”

How to speak in terms of values and moral imperatives:

We are biologically dependent on this climate. We must do whatever it takes to preserve the delicate conditions necessary for human survival. The truth is that every country has to convert to 100% renewable electricity, as soon as humanly possible. It is up to all of us.

We will invest and take risks. We will change our behavior. There will be many new jobs and great benefits in terms of improved health and quality of life. Most industries will gain. A few will lose, and we will take great pains to see that no-one gets left behind. But even if it cost us every penny we had, it would still be the right thing to do.

The Biden Administration and Democrats in Congress have passed two bills that together represent the greatest steps forward ever in the transition to our renewable energy future. (Insert details here.) We are turning the tide in this great battle. (Give people hope.) Cracking down on methane alone will provide dramatic benefits right away and buy us the time to make the rest of the changes we need. (Make hope credible.)

The biggest obstacles we face are the corporate-backed Republicans in Congress, a Republican nominee in the pocket of Saudi Arabia and Russia, and global oil conglomerates that are using their vast greed-driven profits to fight us in the courts. What good will it do all of them to hoard their wealth, if no-one is left to buy their products?

Every single one of us has a moral obligation to come together, set aside our differences and rise to meet this challenge. There is no more time. There is no greater priority. There is no alternative. There is no cost higher than the cost of doing nothing.

Talk about how we all depend on each other, how this is bigger that money: it’s about survival, interdependence, and mutual responsibility. Give people hope and a few reasons to think that hope is real. Frame our current efforts as hard-fought victories in a larger ongoing war.

Young people wear their moral outrage on their sleeves, but everybody makes political decisions based on right and wrong.

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The Economy

People want our government to do more to intervene in the market on behalf of the American people. The big secret is that we are. The big problem is that it’s a big secret!

Young people, once again see this as a moral outrage. To paraphrase:

We’re doing everything we’re supposed to do, yet we can’t afford rent and we can’t buy a house. We got a raise but it got eaten up by rising costs. College costs three times what it cost our grandparents. We’ve got an Obamacare plan with an $8,000 deductible and a $700 premium. Child care is impossible. Retirement is unimaginable. The “free market” has crashed twice in our lifetimes, and even Obama didn’t hold anyone responsible. Capitalism is a f-ing  joke, but you talk about Democratic Socialism, the Republicans call you a Commie and you get scolded by the Democrats for using the wrong words. Everybody sucks.

Once again, what we’re doing is epic. The Biden administration, with the support of most Democrats in Congress, has stood up to corporate power in ways not seen in decades. The President has renewed support for labor rights. We’re seeing aggressive anti-trust enforcement. President Biden re-regulated the shipping industry. When was the last time we re-regulated an industry? He’s going after grocery stores, meat packers, pharmaceutical companies, you name it.

So why are we talking about it in terms of prescription drug costs and overdraft fees? If you take expensive drugs, yes, this make a huge difference, but my sense is that the positive polling around these points is because they represent somebody standing up to big power on their behalf. We need to put our actions into that larger context.

In terms of values and moral imperatives:

The American “deal” is broken. You work hard, and you’re supposed to be earning a wage that you can raise a family on, with a little breathing room. Clearly, many people in the corporate world aren’t holding up their end of the deal and your generations have suffered most of all.

We are fighting like hell for you right now, against the global corporate monopolies that are squeezing the life out of all of us. The Biden administration has sued apartment rental companies for conspiring to raise rates. They are going after private equity firms that outcompete families who try to buy homes. They sued to break up monopolies in meat packing and pharmaceuticals. And they’re doing everything they can to support your right to organize and negotiate for better wages at work.

No administration since FDR has done more to stand up to the power of concentrated wealth on your behalf. The mega-rich have a lot of power and influence, and corporate-backed Republicans in Congress are fighting us every step of the way.

We need your help. Re-elect President Biden and send him a clear majority in Congress so we can fight for economic fairness and make corporations live up to their end of the deal.

Why is the Biden Administration’s incredible anti-trust work not front and center in our messaging? We need to use the kind of “right and wrong” language that will show our young voters and others that we see and hear them, understand what they’re going through, and are fighting for them.

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You get the idea.

Young voters are emotional. We have to start, not by dismissing their feelings, but by acknowledging them. After all, none of what they are asking for is actually radical. In most cases, the majority of Americans agree with them.

We are already doing the hard work of fighting to fix many of these problems, but we are grossly underselling our achievements. We should be framing all of these efforts as epic battles between right and wrong.

I was going to write about the issues of democracy and Gaza, but this newsletter was already way too long! I have included links below to previous posts that include framing language on several topics. I will have to take on the issue of Gaza in a future newsletter.

Thanks, as always, for reading and subscribing! I hope this serves you well in your work and activism.

In solidarity,

Antonia

NOTES

Moral Operating Systems: How Swing Voter’s Brains Work

Our Earth: It’s Not About the Money.

Reframing the Threat to Democracy

Democrats Are The Party of Economic Fairness

It’s not just ESG, it’s BHD and it’s a BFD