5 Words And Phrases Democrats Should Never Say Again

[jtuck004]

18. George Lakoff wrote an article concerning this

said liberals are reinforcing conservative belief systems when they write or talk in a way that negates each point, as above. His research indicates that offering conservative words first reinforces physical pathways that contain those values in their thinking. Article [link:http://www.huffingtonpost.com/george-lakoff/santorum-strategy_b_1338708.html|here.

What is being reinforced?

"The idealized conservative family is structured around a strict father who is the natural leader of the family, who is assumed to know right from wrong, whose authority is absolute and unchallengeable, who is masculine, makes decisions about reproduction, and who sets the rules -- in short, the Decider. Children must be taught right from wrong through strict discipline, which is required to be moral. This maps onto the nation. To be prosperous in a free market, one must be fiscally disciplined. If you are not prosperous, you must not be disciplined, and if you are not disciplined, you cannot be moral, and so you deserve your poverty."

Their scary-ass ideas about government, torturing women, increasing poverty - all of that vile crap stems from this. Praise the Lord, as Santorum might say.

His suggestion would probably be to avoid writing lists like this and put the negative after, if at all. (I'm guessing here).

These Are Progressive Moral Values, Don't use the Language of the Radical Right

1. Talk about how we Earn our Benefits, such as Social Security.

2. People who work deserve Fair Wages.

3. Employees EARN their Health Insurance, paid from their Wages.

4. Your taxes are your Investment in your neighborhood, city and country. Argue about how it is invested.

5. Who should decide, You or an Unelected Corporate Government? We think YOUR voice should count for more.

One could then go on to talk about how opponents will try to twist your words. Don't let 'em.

I think he has a point. You want to be able to argue the real merits, and calling things entitlements or corporate in those contexts immediately shifts the argument to something else.

That's just me, though, ymmv.

Thank you for this. Training for the masses.