Future Strategies for Progressives

To begin, all progressive minded individuals need to eradicate their faith in revolution, or as it is commonly called in the parlance of our times, "waking people up". Every time you think people are going to magically "wake up", follow this proceedure:

Go to the grocery store and look at the masses of dead-eyed, sleepwalkers contently waddling down the aisles. Those are your voters. Repeat the Following Mantra:Your political message is for them, not you.Your only Job is to turn your message into actual votes.If you think elections are won with reason, truth, or moralityThan dear lord my friend, politics is not for you.

The GOP and Karl Rove understand , and take advantage of this fact. As a result, those dolts keep winning elections. It's a sad fact that Republicans are yet to lose on account of overestimating the stupidity of voters.Notes on Language:Here's a few hints on crafting messages: don't bring up controversial social issues unless necessary. We should take back the language! Humor me, and contemplate the differences in your responses to these two sentences:

"It's a woman's right to have an abortion! We must stop these fundamentalists fromcreating their theological fascist regime!""The radical fringe of the Republican party are attempting to use the coercive force of law as a means of imposing their controversial beliefs on every American. They think that a moral and ethical society will come by force; they see themselves as being chosen by god himself as leaders of a great moral experiment. However, society is not a machine to be "experimented" with; Americans are not gears which can be greased by passing arbitrary laws. In such a diverse society, it should be God -not Congress-- who makes the final judgment."

While the above frame is an overly verbose rough draft, it's an example of framing a pro-choice without exluding women or villifying christians. Most importantly, it paints the opposition as foolish, dangerous, extremists, and "out of touch with the main stream".Notice the language "fringe", "coercive force", "imposing", these words evoke danger, chauvinism, totalitarianism - such language is effective on both the base of Democratic activists as well as Nascar Dad.Its important that the progressive cause begin to tailor its issues to society as a whole, instead of a plurality of interests. On a final note, be sure not to say anything which evokes images of dead fetuses, or gay sex. Remember that your message should be designed for the waddling sleepwalkesr at the grocery store. Make gay marriage about the government preventing you from entering monogomous and moral relationships. I'll tackle cognitive frames in more detail later. However, if you have any ideas, than drop them in the comments box. The more off the wall, the better.Protests:Finally, let me say some words about the value of protests. Now, lets be honest: How does clogging streets, yelling campy chants, and holding signs with slogans cause "change". In all seriousness, when was the last time that a protest achieved anything besides satisfaction among the protesters, and traffic jams for everyone else? I meanreally, name one achievement brought about by protests in the past 20 years?Even in the past, when protests worked, they were also combined with strikes, civil disobedience which brought entire cities to a halt. The signs and chants were simply a bi-product and tradition from an age before television. Face it, most modern protests resemble civil war reenactments: they provide a whimsical way to relive historical events. I dare someone to challenge my judgment.