“Without care, there is no Democracy”, stated cognitive scientist Professor George Lakoff at the end of his February 7th interview on Tavis Smiley. The 24 minute interview and transcript are now available online (alternate link).
A fascinating discussion, Lakoff talked about how the language used by Drumpf & the GOP enabled them to win elections: the use of repetition, the how and why people hear what they want to hear.
Tavis Smiley: Linguistically, size up Donald Trump for me.
George Lakoff: Well, it's not just linguistically, it's mentally. He knows how not just to speak, how to change your brain, and to affect your brain very affectively. He is a super salesman....Ideas are in your neural circuitry. And if you have a world view, your understanding of the world in general, then that’s a lot of neurocircuits.
Those neurocircuits for a world view are fixed. Once they’re fixed, they become what you might call a neuro filter. You can only understand what your brain allows you to understand. So if you have only one world view, you’re stuck to understand things that fit that world view. And if information comes in that doesn’t fit it, it’ll be either not noticed, ignored, ridiculed or attacked.
Regarding speech patterns when talking to Conservatives and combating the lies (I'm simplifying):
Lakoff: First, repetition. Over and over and over, language means something. It activates what’s called a frame in your brain which is part of a world view...
Take regulation. Trump says he wants to get rid of regulation. What does that mean? From a corporate point of view, a regulation is something that imposes on your freedom, is a burden and it’s costly. But from the point of view of the public, regulations are there to protect you. They’re to protect you against unscrupulous corporations in all kinds of ways.
So what happens is behind the scenes, regulations are getting rid of, but they’re not called protections. If you said, look, Trump has said he’s going to get rid of 75% of the government protections in the following areas, Food and Drug, clean water, clean air, how do you feel about being poisoned, right? Very different understanding.
What Drumpf et all are trying to do to this country and how the media should report it:
George Lakoff: …What the Conservatives are trying to do is get rid of public resources. That is what’s happening every day in Congress, getting rid of public resources and public protections. Absolutely crucial, and it is being hidden because people are criticizing Donald Trump. Now what Donald Trump is taking, making a front for that and criticizing Donald Trump directly is like saying don’t think of an elephant… you negate something and it makes people think of it, it strengthens the people you’re arguing against. What you need to do is argue for, always frame things from your point of you when you start… So suppose you’re in the press and you have to cover Trump, you’re in the media, what do you do? …First of all, is he going to try to divert attention to someone? Start with the real issues confronting the country and confronting him first and tell the truth about those. Then, when you see a diversion..tell the truth about that diversion first. Then say, oh by the way he has tweeted the following which doesn’t fit the facts in this way. You say that in 30 seconds and then you go back to the real issues. And here is the diversion, it’s a way from these real issues and then you go back to telling the truth.
Tavis Smiley: There is one big problem with that argument and I totally concur with it. Donald Trump sells… he gets ratings…that ain’t how TV or radio or newspaper business works, man.
Lakoff: You got it...
Smiley: We need click baits, we need click baits on lying stuff.
Lakoff: This is absolutely right…You can be telling truths all the time, saying things from the point of view from the public, not from the point of view from Conservativism, but you have to find a niche where you can do it. You have to find a way to do it and ultimately, the people in the press have to get the courage to stand up to it.
Smiley: How does the press find its spine?
Professor Lakoff's recommendations to mainstream media are actions that Daily Kos writers do:
Lakoff: You can be telling truths all the time saying things from the point of view of the public, not from the point of view of conservatism.
But you have to find a niche where you can do it. You have to find a way to do it and ultimately the people and the press have to get the courage to stand up to it.
The link between the head and heart should not be ignored. Social media and language matters stated George Lakoff.
Lakoff: You see from Trump somebody who is aggressive, who is trying to dominate you, who is trying to put you down...you see it actually physically in his face, in his mouth, in his hands, in his hand gestures, all the time.
Tavis: So if he’s going to be some version of — I was thinking about the movie, “The Manchurian Candidate” — I mean, if he’s going to be wired that way for the next four years, what are we to do? How do we sustain our hope for the next four years?
Lakoff: Well, that’s why we have a citizens communication network we’re setting up [laugh], you know. We’re trying to get everybody out there using social media and, every day, saying, “Look, you say protection. You don’t say regulations…
Tavis: Language matters.
Lakoff: Language matters, and actions matter, certain kinds of actions matter. Why was the Women’s March what it was? And why did it have to be women? Because it was about care. The criticism was each of those women had a different view, a different issue, etc.? No. They all had one issue: care.
And the point of a progressive Democratic government is it’s not just about elections. It’s about citizens caring for other citizens and working through that government for that care. Without care, there’s no democracy.
So, listen to the complete interview, read the transcript. I feel that Lakoff's points should be applied to all the congressional campaigns, and why the Democrats lost a good portion of the populace over the years. Professor Lakoff is creating a citizens communications network.