How The Left Tricks People Into Thinking Socialism Is Plausible
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
What on earth has happened to the Democratic Party? Even by liberal standards, the policies the left now advocates appear insane. To say they are an order of fries short of a Happy Meal is an insult to McDonald’s.
I’m used to childishness from the Democratic Party, but something is very wrong in the Land of Unicorns and Fairy Dust. Is all of this just the usual hyper-liberal reaction to a Republican presidency, or is there something more insidious and dangerous at work? Tthe latter may be the case, in the form of something called the Overton Window Principle. Let’s recap the last several weeks in Lala-Land.
Consider the “ Green New Deal ” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez supports. Her resolution before Congress calls for America to entirely divest itself of fossil fuels within ten years. This is such a ludicrous proposal that anyone with a scintilla of common sense or over the age of 25 should burst out laughing when informed of it.
A Frequently Asked Questions page that appeared on Ocasio-Cortez’s website before it was taken down actually said: “We set a goal to get to that net-zero, rather than zero emissions, in 10 years because we aren’t sure that we’ll be able to fully get rid of farting cows and airplanes that fast…” That is a real quote from an actual document posted to a bona fide congresswoman’s real-life website.
Yes, it’s uproariously stupid, funny, and deserving of ridicule by Rush Limbaugh, Mark Levin, Chris Plante, and all the other entertaining commentators on conservative talk radio. Ocasio-Cortez is an endless source of fun, and I hope there’s a microphone nearby every time she opens her mouth. May she be the one Democrat who has a long and voluble career in Washington.
But here’s the concerning part: as of a week ago, 67 adult members of Congress signed on to support Ocasio-Cortez’s Green New Deal. Moreover, her ridiculous plan has been mirrored by a Senate resolution sponsored by a wizened, crusty old Democrat machine politician, Sen. Edward Markey, who has decades of legislative experience and surely knows how absurd the Green New Deal’s provisions are.
The Method Behind the Madness
So what gives? Has Markey lost his marbles? Not only that, have all the other Democrat luminaries running for president who have endorsed the GND—like Bernie Sanders, Cory Booker, Kamala Harris, Elizabeth Warren, and Amy Klobuchar—lost their minds as well?
It’s within the realm of possibility that Donald Trump has finally succeeded in snapping the tenuous hold these leftist politicians have on reality. But it might be explained by the Overton Window theory.
I first learned of this sociological principle several years ago when I came across an entertaining novel by Glenn Beck called “ The Overton Window .” Beck’s protagonists are a “radical” band of conservatives who are desperately trying to thwart the socialist takeover of America in a dystopian future. In his tale, Beck’s protagonists have grasped that the evil socialists—the Ocasio-Cortezes of the future—have employed a technique to move society unwittingly further and further to the left, where more and more government control of society becomes acceptable. Although serving as a literary device for Beck in a work of fiction, this technique is a very real theory of mass psychology manipulation.
The Overton Window theory was developed by an engineer-turned-lawyer and political theorist Joseph P. Overton , who tragically died young in a plane crash. His theoretical contributions may long outlive him. He developed his eponymous theory while he was a senior official for the free market think tank Mackinac Center for Public Policy .
In simplest terms, the Overton Window theory—more fully, the Overton Window of Political Possibilities —posits that in a republic such as ours, where politicians are at least partly accountable to their constituents, there is a band, or “window,” of policy options that a politician can propose or vote for in any particular area of social policy. That window is governed by what the politician’s constituents find socially acceptable to consider.
While there may be better or worse policy options outside of that window, the politician won’t risk his career by proposing or voting for them, resulting in a backlash from his voters. The politician will always put his personal political fortunes foremost. Sounds pretty commonsense, right?
Well, here’s what Overton recognized: If you want to effect radical change that politicians will buy into and vote for, what you need to do is not try to convince the politicians directly, but shift the political landscape of what is considered socially acceptable to discuss or ponder. That is to say, you expand the “window” of policy options by getting the “people”—or a large enough proportion of them—to buy into your radical ideas and talk about them. That’s much easier to accomplish today with the explosion of social media.
This Explains Many ‘Rapid Transformations’
Hasn’t it occurred to anyone else that our country witnessed massive sociological change under the Obama administration at seemingly warp speed on many fronts? Take same-sex marriage. The notion that two men or two women could marry one another, thus overturning millennial-old traditions about the basis and purpose of marriage—to procreate—happened virtually overnight. It directly contravened literally thousands of years of biblical proscription and cultural norms.
Barack Obama said as recently as 2008 that he believed “marriage is between a man and a woman.” Hillary Clinton said in 2004 that marriage was “a sacred bond between a man and a woman.” Yet somehow, by 2013 both politicians had discovered their long-held views on the sanctity of one man-one woman marriage were 180 degrees off-kilter and supported same-sex marriage. If one believes Washington Post-ABC News polling data , American support for same-sex marriage flipped in the span of 10 years, going from 59 percent opposing it in 2004 to 59 percent approving it in 2014.
A similarly rapid transformation occurred with the embrace of legislation decriminalizing marijuana use. The percentage of Americans who answered “Yes” to the question “Do you think the use of marijuana should be made legal, or not?” went from 31 percent in 2000 to 66 percent in 2018, according to Gallup .
The left in America railed for decades against the evils of the tobacco industry, which produced those nasty, cancer-causing “nicotine delivery systems” known as cigarettes. They very successfully waged legal warfare against tobacco, resulting in a decline in tobacco use in America from a high of 42 percent of American adults smoking in the early 1960s to a current low of about 14 percent of American adults smoking.
Yet somehow that same left that demonized tobacco has embraced marijuana, a smoking product that I learned in Drug Enforcement Agency school many years ago is far worse in its health impact than tobacco on multiple levels, from its carcinogenic effects to cognitive damage to neurological impairment. But state houses are legalizing marijuana like it’s the new gold rush.
Saying Crazy Stuff Normalizes It
The list of bizarre social changes occurring with lightning speed in recent years goes on: Grown men allowed in public restrooms with little girls, dubious and subjective “hate crime” laws being passed, and most recently, abortion-on-demand bills being rushed into law. How are these massive societal transformations occurring so rapidly?
Are these lightning-like changes in public policy just society evolving naturally? I don’t think so. They might be explained by a coordinated, sophisticated strategy from leftist shot-callers. Democrats are firing up all their little leftist nonprofit organizations to push Ocasio-Cortez’s ideas, like transforming the entire U.S. economy within ten years to run on “renewable” energy sources (you know, like windmills), eliminating all transportation that emits carbon dioxide (you know, like airplanes and gas-fueled automobiles) and replacing them with high-speed trains and such, and “guaranteeing” a job for everyone. The resolution reads like every leftist’s fantasy. Unicorns and fairy dust galore.
It is eminently mockable, and I enjoy the mockery as much as the next right-wing grouch. But the point is that all the countless new media outlets run by young leftists are prepping the ground for Ocasio-Cortez’s ideas, such as they are, working in concert with the key strategists in the Democratic political machine and the old-line leftist media in order to shift the public debate—to get people to think that a 70 percent or a 90 percent income tax, as Ocasio-Cortez and her fellow socialist traveler, Ilhan Omar , have respectively proposed, is within the realm of the possible.
By pushing these insane ideas and getting a “groundswell” of highly orchestrated political activists to clamor for them, they get everyday Americans discussing them, and thereby expand the Overton Window of public policy options that would heretofore have been considered insane and unfit for public discourse.
Then Just as Crazy Stuff Seems Moderate
What happens next? As a friend astutely observed to me recently, what happens next is that a “reasonable” politician like, say, Michelle Obama, steps in and says, “Wait! A 90 percent tax rate is just too much. Let’s be reasonable and shoot for a 60 percent rate.” Michelle then appears to be the “savior” of capitalism and is hailed as the “voice of reason,” simultaneously taking us a huge leap “forward” toward Venezuela.
That’s how the Overton Window Principle operates. You change the political landscape and shift the discussion of policy options that are considered conceivable. It’s very Saul Alinsky, but then, we’ve had Saul Alinsky’s spirit in the White House before.
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Saying Crazy Stuff Normalizes It"
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Trumpp to a T, with a little pp at the end
So the Dems have their own official version of Trump with the official D behind the name and everything? Cool./S
Just like Trump tried to trick the American people into believing that Mexico would pay for his obsessed wall all across the American-Mexican border.
Yet now it turns out that was a blatant lie that he new would never happen.
So now the Trump rabid supporters are demanding that the American taxpayers, sans his rich friends and golf club members, pay for the wall.
So how does Trump and his rabid supporters dare to accuse anyone else of being a trickster and liar?
i'd have to go with
projection
IMHO, I think it is more like gross arrogance mixed with a healthy dose of gross stupidity.
It is like the old saying...."You can some of the people all of the time. And you can fool all of the people all of the time. But, you can't fool all of the people all of the time."
When Mexico point blank said they would not pay for the wall, Trump still continued to try to fool the American people that Mexico would indeed pay for the wall. When that didn't work, he has tried to boondoggle the American taxpayers into paying for it in some way or another, trying to use scare tactics one way or another.
What they love to forget is that anyone whose family is not Native American is the product of aliens who came to America from a foreign country looking for a better life, or as slaves and/or as criminals.
No matter what our heritage is, or where we came from, there is one thing that is very clear.......we are all human beings, and we all just want a decent life. For those who declare all people from other countries as being criminals and disposable goods makes them less human than those they choose to dehumanize.
My opinion.
Bernie is a great example of a leftist using the Overton window to attempt to drag the country into socialist destruction. Early on in his 2016 campaign NPR did a radio interview with him and he clearly stated he knew he could not win but his goal was to drag the party farther towards socialism. He accomplished his goal.
Bernie is not mentioned in the article, is he?
Oh I concentrated as much as possible, but these anti AOC articles are all so similar, my eyes glazed over by the second paragraph.
I should have known that Wm Marshall couldn't write anything about her without
some shots at everyone else he despises
My bad.
No surprise there Jeff.
None at all.
All of the Nordic countries seem to be thriving under socialism. The happiest citizens on the planet.
Nordic nation economies are based on capitalism. They are social democracies.
ALL nation's economies are based on capitalism.
Agreed!
If you understood what capitalism is, then you would realize that the labels you like to apply are on systems which are all variants of capitalism.
If you have a nation wherein the means of production and distribution are controlled by a minority of the population then you have capitalism. There are no nations in existence wherein the people themselves have distributed control over the economy - not even here in the USA. We are quite solidly operating with a capitalist economy and will continue to do so well after all of us are gone.
Some variants of capitalism are net good while others can be tragically bad. This is why I suggest you use proper, well-established terms and phrases for the aspects of a socio-economic/political system that you find to be bad. The term statist is a good one. So is redistribution of wealth. Another is expropriation.
Bernie Sanders, Cortez, etc. are not talking about changing our economic system from capitalism. They do not want the people of the USA to be in control over the economy - they want to do the controlling. They want to regulate private sector ownership and control over the productive resources of the economy. They want to tax business, tax wealth (and, ultimately, tax the middle class again) so that the government has more money to work with. They are statists who are hot and heavy on redistribution of wealth for the purposes of funding statist social programs. In spite of the labels they too misuse.
See how my comment makes specific charges with terms you can look up and find rather clear meaning? Blindly tossing out the term 'socialism' instead produces a vague commentary that does not provide a core criticism and degenerates into nothing more than 'something I dislike'.
Platitudes are a poor substitute for thinking.
Capitalism is historically net positive. It is superior to its predecessors of mercantilism and feudalism. Comparing it to feudalism in particular, capitalism is the result of societal evolution where economic control eventually became available to those who were not high-born aristocrats. Descendants of serfs who engaged in market ventures eventually broke free of the oppressing lords and, through the accumulation of capital, became a new force of economic power. The result of course is that economic power was not clustered exclusively in the hands of lords and kings but in those who were clever and ambitious enough to generate and make effective use of profit.
The question for you to ponder is if capitalism is the best possible system or if societal evolution can continue to produce something even better. Do you have the means to think outside of the box?
It is possible. Of course societal evolution can also produce something worse.
But at this point I would just like to see people think (critically) rather than merely parrot the thoughts of others.
The value of your post is in asking readers to realize that history is not finished. Mega-corporation capitalism is, I hope, not the end of history, since it's kinda sorta dystopic.
Depends entirely on what you mean by 'socialism'. The term, without supplying a definition for your usage, is meaningless.
In Michael Dell I trust!
In Michael Dell I trust!
How The Left Tricks People Into Thinking Socialism Is Plausible
You are a wee bit late in your fears regarding creeping socialism.
Social Security
Federal Highway System
Medicare
Public School System
etc.
Socialism and Communism are two different animals, portions of Socialism are as represented plausible and here to stay. As someone once said " There is nothing to fear but fear itself ".
Of course that would only be if you live in the world of Trump and his lies, which are consumed by conservatives. This is why the gop has lost it. You can't believe and promote lies and expect us to believe you on anything else. (not the personal 'you').
Sounds exactly like the current Administration............
Trump is the Archie Bunker of American Presidents.
Yes, it takes quite an imagination to believe that nonsense. Please do get all the testimonials of how great it is to be an unemployed undocumented immigrant if you can find any. Undocumented immigrants come for two reasons, either as asylum seekers coming from south America where they are fleeing sectarian violence, gangs and oppressive governments or they are coming for work. Most of the undocumented people I've run into in California not only aren't unemployed, they often have more than one job and are very hard workers. Sure, most of the work they're doing is gardening, landscaping, farm work or day laborers, but they certainly aren't sitting on their hands waiting for a government hand out. Most likely have a stolen social security number and are having payroll taxes and social security taxes deducted that they'll never benefit from.
Fact: No American would ever go pick up a $8-$10 an hour likely undocumented immigrant day laborer from out front of Home Depot if there was a line of English speaking American citizens willing to work as hard for minimum wage. I have yet to hear from anyone who's been complaining about what a burden they are on society to claim they actually lost their job to an undocumented immigrant. It's like their myth of the imaginary millions of undocumented voters, they have nothing but fourth hand anecdotal evidence of either illegals taking all their jobs or illegals living large on the American tax payer.
Unfortunately, while stationed in San Fran, lived in Bay Point, right next to Antioch, I and many others saw just the opposite. Every morning, the Illegals were lined up at Home Depot and were PUSHING the English speaking "probable" U. S. citizens out of line so they could get hired/picked up first. Absolutely hilarious was when a CBP truck/car turned into the parking lot, geeeee - total vacancy of ANY Hispanic speaking person and only the few English speaking "probable" U. S. citizens were left for employment.
Am I'm sure you have yet to hear from any of our ancestors being overjoyed when we heard the consoling words of "We're from the gvnmnt and we're here to help you.", right?
Seriously? You're going with more unproven anecdotal evidence that seems incredibly unlikely, undocumented immigrants physically assaulting American citizens in plain sight of customers, as the proof they are a "burden" on society?
"I'm sure you have yet to hear from any of our ancestors being overjoyed when we heard the consoling words of "We're from the gvnmnt and we're here to help you.", right?"
The "government" has worn many faces in the last 240 years, from callous bigoted murderer to unselfish WWII heroes and advocates for the disenfranchised, women and minorities. They have been as diverse as their legislature has been, which was essentially all white and all male for the first 200 years. It has only been in the last few decades that we've seen true advancements in diversity and having legislators actually physically represent the people they politically represent.
So because many of our ancestors never felt represented (and the facts show they almost certainly weren't if they were a minority) few were overjoyed with supposed "government aid".
What was once effectively affirmative action for whites only when it came to education, trade schools and skilled worker professions is now being expanded to be more inclusive, but the push back from the white communities and claims of reverse discrimination should be expected from such myopic viewpoints as many of those who once assumed certain special privileges but are now having to actually work hard for the same opportunity. Equality feels like oppression to those accustomed to privilege.
well then, youre guilty
cause i know, with first hand knowledge that they didn't teach me at Kinder College, that the majority bust there ass and are hard workers
DP - I know you feel you're an expert on many things, but challenging someone else's word - based on your humble, simple knowledge - ain't one of those areas of being an expert. If you're gonna call someone out in the future, I'd recommend more ammunition than just your "opinion".
And, BTW, I didn't say they were "burden's" on society - those are your words.
I merely said that anecdotal evidence that doesn't reflect the reality shouldn't be used as an excuse to make a generalize claim about people. Just because you saw a guy or handful of guys doing something no one else seems to have seen doesn't mean every undocumented immigrant does the same. The fact is in my anecdotal experience, I've never seen a line of white citizens lining up for day labor work, and no one I've talked to has either.
"BTW, I didn't say they were "burden's" on society"
The meme you posted implied they were living here unemployed on government benefits. I'd say that's synonymous with calling them "burdens" on society.
Most of my duty time was spent in the South - Ala, Fl, Miss, LA, GA, VA - but some time was also spent in Cali, NM and OR - and I can guarantee you that I and many others saw a lot of "white" U.S. Citizens in lines at Home Depot/Lowe's/Ace just waiting for job offers for the day. Hell, at each military base I was at, each and every summer, you'd find "white" U.S.citizens standing outside the gates during transfer season begging for jobs. And, yeah, there would be the Illegal Aliens in those lines also.
As you are well aware, there are tons of exceptions to each side. My next door neighbor's brother is in his mid-60's, has taken his SS early and is making only $765/M. He is constantly begging for money, food, clothing, shelter. His brother and I and a number of others keep on reminding him that there are plenty of jobs available - all he has to do is apply. Will he? Hell no - he sez he ain't gonna work for nobody - wrong answer.
As opposed to your unproven anecdotal "evidence" about "people I've run into in California".
The ignorant right believes that one first year Senator runs the whole party. Perhaps it's projection and they think the loonies on the left will take over just like they (loonies) have taken over the right. It's true a wave of populism is being infused on the left, but they aren't leaders of the party, like those on the right. I guess to keep the "war" going they have to keep yelling the, "Sky if falling!" every time someone on the other side comes up with an idea. Even if that idea has no plan.
Bernie is not a first term Senator and Hillary claimed she incorporated ninety percent of his ridiculous socialist ideas into her platform. There is a lot more to this than your comment indicates.
Makes sense if you realize that both Bernie and Hillary are statists. Both view the State as a 'benevolent' entity which should be highly involved in the lives (personal and economic) of the individual members of society.
Toss the overloaded-to-the-point-of-meaningless 'socialism' label - its usage degrades communication.
Bernie is not a Democrat. Most Democrats would like Bernie to go away.
Tell me Dean, when you started believing Hillary? Was it during the 9 Bengazi hearings or during her 2nd failed campaign? Hillary no matter what she says is a Blue Dog Democrat.
I think you are correct, but it will be interesting to see the dynamics. Bernie was a rock star in the backdrop of an unpopular establishment player who had a stronger political machine. Will he be a rock star now or will he limp along and fade away early in the process?
I could still be wrong but neither Hillary or Bernie is mentioned in the article, (and hopefully Hillary isn't running),
but the author seems to have a good case of AOCDS.
Sorta like Trumpp , running as a Republican then, no ?
Cause Trumpp, like Berniem , is Independent, but unkie Bernie, not just of thought and reason
i've chatted with quite a few, but those in government don't care, as they have not the ballz to call out his arcanian asz,
for as long as he pushes forth their religious and far "Right" agenda, and gets the richest even richer, t5heir morals and ethix, can be ditched into the ditcher
That is a matter of semantics only. In the last election, Sanders ran as a Democrat as you well know, because it suited him to do so.
I can't understand why the GOP allowed Trump to run as one of them either.
Weird shit huh?
Yes, I made a mistake.
Stop the presses.
I must have reached my "Isn't AOC the dumbest Democrat ever?" article limit.
Yes, I made a mistake.
Stop the presses.
I must have reached my "Isn't AOC the dumbest Democrat ever?" article limit.
But thanks for pointing it out, one more time BF
He won the populist liberal vote, not the Democrat Party vote. You do remember all the murky shit going on with the party accused of not sharing information with his campaign, correct? He's a Democratic Socialist squatting on the Democratic Party ticket. Much like some Libertarians have run on the Republican Party ticket.
Your turn.
Oh geez, man up and admit you too, made a mistake.
It's easy....
yes, the line below where Bernie was mentioned. lol.
I wouldn't be surprised if she's bipolar. Brain is going way too fast for her mouth.
No irony here.....
Let me get this straight: The Green New Deal calls for opening new markets, new construction, increased production of new technology, and almost guaranteed sales of those new products, no doubt with an influx of public funds, AND the modern capitalists are upset?
How is the Green New Deal different than when the country was building railroads?
The reaction to the Green New Deal is the best argument that we should never, ever take advice from businessmen. Apparently modern capitalists are too stupid to recognize a good deal when they see one. But then, modern capitalists appear to be more communist than anything else. So the reaction should not be too surprising.
If you want to get it straight you need to take into consideration how much existing businesses will be harmed by these new laws and how much their taxes will rise putting them at a disadvantage compared to foreign competitors. You also need to measure if freedom will be stripped through increased government regulations.
The freedom to poison communities if you give enough to conservative campaigns?
What foreign competitors? We aren't living in the 1950s when domestic industry supplied the American marketplace.
Modern capitalists in the United States have gone full commie. The commie capitalists have convinced the public that our economy would collapse without huge trade deficits.
Are you referring to the tariffs?
/s
We're letting you. You're just not holding up your end of the program.
No. Modern capitalists are laughing their asses off at the ridiculousness of the proposal and the childish naivete of the person bringing it.
One is built on the intention of destroying one of the largest industries in America. The other was built on the intention of connecting industries in America.
Riiiiight. We should only take advice from idiotic Millenials who think the world is going to end in 12 years. (her words)
Which would explain their current state of impoverishment.
I confess I have made the mistake of reading your post without my correctly fashioned tinfoil hat, so I'm sure it's the government radiation coming from the Alexa enabled devices they're also using to spy on me that prevents me from seeing the hidden truth I'm sure you intended.
You don't know anything about the green deal
The Green New Deal is primarily a jobs program. The conversion won't be accomplished by robots.
The Green New Deal will open new markets for new products with almost guaranteed sales. That should be a capitalist's wet dream.
The life cycle for alternative energy equipment is so short that the new jobs and new markets won't go away. That means the economic risks are manageable; it won't be a boom & bust economy.
Notice that the factors in favor of the Green New Deal doesn't need to include climate change? The Green New Deal is a more common sense approach.
Don't rush, take your time.
Liberal Type Nirvana.....Then reality hits ! :
Gee that was right wing financed and they flocked to it
hahaha ….. haha ..... ha …... SNORKEL/SNORT/PVVVVVVT...… Sorry.....had to blow my nose on that one !
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