I think of them as "roadsiders", those who aren't in the band or the parade but watch it, often in feigned jollity because everything is spectacle and pulled out of a world that's not theirs. Sure, they know the usual marching songs and see the pretty local girls with batons and riding on the floats, and they wave at the lines of older f…
I think of them as "roadsiders", those who aren't in the band or the parade but watch it, often in feigned jollity because everything is spectacle and pulled out of a world that's not theirs. Sure, they know the usual marching songs and see the pretty local girls with batons and riding on the floats, and they wave at the lines of older folks in vet group uniforms bearing flags and marching (sort of) , but all roadsiders can do is hoist the grandkids up to see things, hold their dripping ice cream cones for them while they retie their sneakers, and load the folding chairs back in the SUV when the final festooned old Continental carrying their city treasurer rolls by. Then they return to their lives which will continue on their same weary trajectories, and they'll think of not bothering next year. Better to just stay home and clean the gutters because being a roadsider means you're not included, and while the parade moves on, you don't.
I think that's part of it, but I suspect that quite a few of them aren't even watching the parade. Politics is distant thunder to them, sort of like a TV series that they're not all that interested in -- the characters are interchangeable and they can't figure out the plot if there is one. At most it's on in the background. Then an issue comes flying out of the background that connects to them in some way, often because some clever politicians or interest groups are laying the connection out A->B->C. The Civil Rights & Voting Rights Acts of the mid-60s woke up white racists. Roe v. Wade woke up Catholics, evangelicals, and everyone freaked out about women's liberation. In the late 70s Wayne LaPierre woke up the NRA and pretty soon everyone knew that "they" were coming to get your guns.
Notice how in all those cases it was the right that was waking people -- generally conservative white people -- up?? And look how all those awakenings fed into the election of Ronald Reagan? Finally it's the white liberals who are waking up (I hope!) and going "Wow! These right-wingers are serious!" About effing time. I hope it's not too late.
No doubt you're correct in your assessment, especially about issues"coming flying out of the background." A flying fish in the face usually does get folks' attention. And that's all about messaging, something the libs have not been good at. We need new media of types that are unexpected. Notes in fortune cookies, skywriters, blimps, town criers, dog walkers for Dems (sandwich board beagles-- because cats just won't go for it), etc. In October put out that big basket of Halloween candy with a sign that says "HELP YOURSELF and US children by voting for Democrats." Conventional media has already been captured by the CEOs.
I think of them as "roadsiders", those who aren't in the band or the parade but watch it, often in feigned jollity because everything is spectacle and pulled out of a world that's not theirs. Sure, they know the usual marching songs and see the pretty local girls with batons and riding on the floats, and they wave at the lines of older folks in vet group uniforms bearing flags and marching (sort of) , but all roadsiders can do is hoist the grandkids up to see things, hold their dripping ice cream cones for them while they retie their sneakers, and load the folding chairs back in the SUV when the final festooned old Continental carrying their city treasurer rolls by. Then they return to their lives which will continue on their same weary trajectories, and they'll think of not bothering next year. Better to just stay home and clean the gutters because being a roadsider means you're not included, and while the parade moves on, you don't.
I think that's part of it, but I suspect that quite a few of them aren't even watching the parade. Politics is distant thunder to them, sort of like a TV series that they're not all that interested in -- the characters are interchangeable and they can't figure out the plot if there is one. At most it's on in the background. Then an issue comes flying out of the background that connects to them in some way, often because some clever politicians or interest groups are laying the connection out A->B->C. The Civil Rights & Voting Rights Acts of the mid-60s woke up white racists. Roe v. Wade woke up Catholics, evangelicals, and everyone freaked out about women's liberation. In the late 70s Wayne LaPierre woke up the NRA and pretty soon everyone knew that "they" were coming to get your guns.
Notice how in all those cases it was the right that was waking people -- generally conservative white people -- up?? And look how all those awakenings fed into the election of Ronald Reagan? Finally it's the white liberals who are waking up (I hope!) and going "Wow! These right-wingers are serious!" About effing time. I hope it's not too late.
No doubt you're correct in your assessment, especially about issues"coming flying out of the background." A flying fish in the face usually does get folks' attention. And that's all about messaging, something the libs have not been good at. We need new media of types that are unexpected. Notes in fortune cookies, skywriters, blimps, town criers, dog walkers for Dems (sandwich board beagles-- because cats just won't go for it), etc. In October put out that big basket of Halloween candy with a sign that says "HELP YOURSELF and US children by voting for Democrats." Conventional media has already been captured by the CEOs.
I'm gonna try to talk my malamute into wearing a sign. It's not all that different from a harness or a dog backpack!