Christians know the power of narrative or storytelling with their testimonials. Movie producers and directors know its power. And Republicans also know its power.
They select and broadcast stories about Government’s wastefulness, its corruption, and its evil all day every day.
What is the Democratic counter-narrative? Crickets as far as I can tell.
Where are the stories that defend and praise government action and the dedication of government employees?
Let me give a personal example of a story.
When I was 6 years old, my older brother came down with Spinal Meningitis. He was near death when my uncle arrived and looked at him. My father, who was old school and was used to home remedies, could not see the danger.
My uncle immediately took him to the hospital. After about a week in the hospital, he returned home weakened but alive. He went on to have a career as a successful assistant State Attorney General later in life.
Now my father was a file clerk and typist for the government but as a low-level government employee, he had good health insurance but few other resources. Without that health insurance, my brother would have stayed home and almost certainly died.
My younger brother is a MAGA fan. He is convinced that government is the problem and is way too big, expensive, and invasive. If it were up to him, efficient, downsized government would have provided little or no insurance, and his older brother would have died.
Can the MAGA brother see the implications of his love of small government and how it would have impacted his family? Likely not.
But tragedies similar to the one that almost happened above will happen on a mass scale if government is vastly downsized. Republicans are mostly idolaters – they worship the god of efficiency and treat people like objects and commodities to be managed and used. The most extreme ones might even take the German approach in WW II and say, “let the weak ones die”. They are a drag on society.
Republicans have resisted the development and tried to end government programs like Social Security, Medicare, and now Obamacare since their inception. They are now closer than ever to succeeding.
There used to be a 1950’s expression – better dead than red (Communist). Today the expression might be better dead than government fed (supported in any way by government).
Think of the tens of thousands of people whose COVID-19 medical bills were paid by government. Some died and some did not. But those who died at least died receiving the best care possible. This is no doubt a great comfort to their surviving relatives.
Those who lived did not go bankrupt under the weight of hospital medical bills – more government sponsored comfort and security.
Think of the thousands of small businesses and churches who received COVID-19 checks from the government. Most employees continued to get a check to feed their families during the pandemic. Some businesses survived, and others went under but at least they were given a fighting chance.
There are tens of thousands of positive stories about how the government heroically saved the day or at least helped people try and save their lives, their loved ones, and their businesses.
The stories of people in life and death situations who were helped by Obamacare and Medicare could easily reach into the tens of millions. Social Security has dramatically helped improve the lives of hundreds of millions of retirees over the decades.
Jewish leaders feel a great responsibility to tell the story of the Holocaust. Democrats should feel a similar responsibility to their fellow citizens to tell their positive stories about government.
Big government has been and remains a literal lifesaver.
Why don’t people tell those stories? Do not allow the right-wing to silence you and make up stories about the horrors of the big, bad government.
Right-wing media is winning because Democrats have silenced themselves and have ignored or forgotten their own histories concerning their positive and life-affirming relationships with government.
They seem to be frozen, passive, chained to a chair, and forced to watch a horror show produced by right-wing media corporations and echoed by their loyal followers.
Democrats must seize the narrative, gain sympathy for government workers and institutions, touch people’s deeper emotions by describing government’s help when they or their families were desperate.
They need to remind their fellow citizens of how government has been and is absolutely necessary for a civil and compassionate society.
Flood the airwaves, Blogs, YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, and your congressman’s inbox with personal stories of how government employees and government services made a huge, positive difference in your lives.
Without strong and vocal supporters, all types of government aid can simply disappear.
Complaining about the dominance and success of the right-wing media is a waste of time. Make your own media by telling your own stories about the virtues of government to others.
