I genuinely think one of the things progressives struggle with - when it comes to connection with the public - is inaccessibility of language, a tendency to abstraction, broad brush visionary speeches that are more suited to a different time, rather than this is the problem this is what i'll do.
Comments
https://youtu.be/wPoXOwiEfrQ?si=3A7Jcqur_JHqbUEm
But hey.
Populists like Trump, Farage, or Boris Johnson were / are able to get away with so much more.
Doesn’t work so well on the left, see Corbyn or Sanders.
But even if they did use simple language, they can't compete with misinformation, see
https://youtu.be/wcEiFvyp99I?si=Rz525NH68ePx8_Cl
Republicans do politics,
Trump does politics very well
(in that he knows how to fire up his supporters).
He’s great at antagonising his opponents (which his supporters love).
He’s not great at governing or retaining the loyalty of his closest advisers.
Complex problems require complex solutions.
And the media should stop pretending complex solutions have simple solutions.
It's got sod all to do with the "environment" - it's the way it is framed in the media.
Climate change is good example - a tremendously complex problem. What's your solution for "winning people over with a 'simple' solution"
BS has to be called out. Not placated.
Simple (and often imaginary/impractical/impossible) solutions to complex problems and situations.
See also Brexit - a supposedly simple solution to a complex situation.
And predictably now we have "we must leave the ECHR" to some of the same situation....
Sadly, basic slogans work. Even if they are based on lies.
So I would argue the public is very well educated in Britain.
As is in US and in the wider Western world.
And of course people like to look up, not down, to their leaders.
Demagoguery, pure and simple.
Wave a flag, point at “others”, and shriek the alarm call.
That’s all it takes.
Pre-social media age.
My dad was an electrical engineer, I joined him on building sites. Trump just talks like someone who works on building sites.
He's not created anything, he just doesn't sound focus-grouped!
My dad was an electrical engineer and I joined him on building sites. Trump talks like someone who works on building sites.
Yes, have a narrative. But deliver it like how everyday people talk.
You can argue the opposite plan tomorrow and there will be little detail to tie you to what you said today.
They don't press one side anything like the other. Which is why progressives need to be forceful.
I stumbled on a video of Jonathan Ashworth (ex Lab MP) doing standup comedy and it always struck me how much this feels like a Trump rally.
Relatibility is the absolute key in today's climate.
https://youtu.be/shrKd00S8Xs?...
A) Very simple
B) Attention grabbing
C) Uses social proof
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1j_KSRDodYrvfVbxKT6L49F0coNsSzUaM/view?usp=sharing
https://x.com/robblackie_oo/status/1179378135365750789
But the importance of simplicity isn't.
Which is odd because the evidence for it is overwhelming.
Not impossible. But it is time consuming!
If Starmer said what he wanted, he would be picked apart by the media in minutes. It is now and they are largely on script as it is. MPs saying what they want would be chaos.
Now Hitler, he was a good speaker.
Say X is the problem, Y is the answer is easy. Doesn't make it true though.